This luscious, beautifully coloured sauce is wonderful served warm over pancakes, Greek yoghurt or ice cream. It’s super easy to make and will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days or so.
Luscious cherry sauce
December 10 2011
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Roast summer vegetable pizza
December 7 2011
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I don’t often make my own pizza base. Sheer laziness I suspect but you know, I really enjoy kneading dough, it’s quite therapeutic and satisfying. I felt like a bit of energetic kneading recently so I whipped up a simple pizza from scratch, using seasonal vegetables – the best kind.
Roast vegetables are so sweet and the nice hit of salty olive flavour and crunch from the pine nuts was a great combination. And I don’t like a lot of cheese on my pizza; I prefer a handful of good cheese rather than a lot of mediocre cheese and besides, the really cheesy pizzas remind me too much of Tuesday night cheap pizza nights when I was a student (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), I mean I’ll enjoy a takeaway pizza and a beer or two with the best of them but making your own pizza sans beer is a lot of fun and you don’t feel guilty the next day. Pizza and beer guilt, it’s the worst.
Absolutely no need for guilt here.
Baked oatmeal with mixed berries, banana, maple syrup and walnuts
November 28 2011
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Well so much for that rainy weekend we expected, still got some reading in though.
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe, ever since I purchased Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. I’ve been a longtime fan of Heidi’s blog, 101 Cookbooks, in fact hers was one of the first food blogs I started reading a few years back.
I loved this luscious, fruity and nutty dish, it was gorgeous. I knew I was going to like it, aside from using some of my favourite ingredients, around 10 minutes before it was ready the fragrance from the oven was fantastic; all sweet, cinnamony, reassuring and pudding-like, and for breakfast.
I used strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries and sweetened the oats with maple syrup instead of sugar. I also had mine with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a bit more maple syrup. It tasted exactly as it should – this was a treat for sure.
Buttermilk spice cake for afternoon tea
November 24 2011
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I was thinking recently, there just isn’t enough spice around when it comes to baking. It’s not that easy to find ready made spice biscuits or cake in Australia and it’s not a favourite flavour for most people I know. Personally, I love the warmth of spice baked goods and they seem so comforting and sweet.
So I made this buttermilk spice cake the other day. It tasted lovely, all spicy and fragrant and soft with the sweet drizzle icing. I’m pretty sure you could make muffins out of this batter (for portion control, god knows I need portion control or maybe even self control.
Classic bruschetta
November 21 2011
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I pretty much live for this dish in summer.
Diced colourful cherry tomatoes or halved or vine ripened tomatoes, juice squeezed out, finely diced, with roughly sliced fresh basil, a bit of finely chopped spicy red onion (not too much if you don’t like things too oniony), a splash of sweet yet tart balsamic vinegar and fruity extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, piled on top of ciabatta bread which has been sliced, brushed with extra virgin olive oil, rubbed with halved garlic clove and toasted in the oven or under the grill. Oh and if you have an avocado handy, dice that up too.
Oh yeah.
Tuscan salad with cannellini beans, tuna and olives
November 17 2011
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A warm, pretty day. Just right for this salad.
This is an easy, tasty salad I make often in warmer weather. There’s just something about the fresh rocket, savoury tuna, and creamy beans with a salty hit from the olives that works really well. There’s also no standing over a hot stove which makes it perfect for summer.
Excuse me but …
November 13 2011
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Zucchini, potato and tomato gratin
November 10 2011
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I made a rustic (read: messy, I tried to place the vegetables in neat little rows but gave up) gratin tonight for dinner.
Classic summer produce with olive oil, seasoning, some herbs and a good cheese – when baked, this has a lovely, herby oil on the base of the pan which you have to drizzle over your plate. A lovely, crusty piece of bread would be great alongside also.
Tuscan Tomato Bread Soup
November 9 2011
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Today’s featured dish from one of my favourite cookbooks, How to Cook Italian by Giuliano Hazan, is a Tuscan ‘poor man’s soup’ made with a few simple, healthy, fresh ingredients. Historically, this recipe was a way to use up stale bread so it didn’t go to waste (something I still find useful now).
I loved this delicious soup; the broth with a full tomato and herb depth of flavour, made richer by the olive oil and lovely hearty bread pieces thickening it up. The best recipes are like this; good quality, easily-accessible ingredients, no fancy kitchen gadgets or endless chopping and dicing and perfect for everyone from little ones to adults; everybody sitting around a scrubbed wooden table enjoying the company and the food. Vegetable stock was the base in this dish instead of the traditional beef and I used a good, crusty, Italian bread to stand up to simmering in the soup.
This lovely, classic soup is a welcome peasant dish in a world where we tend to lean towards ostentatious, needless fussing over food.
Coloured sugar
November 2 2011
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This isn’t really a recipe but since we seem to be hurtling towards Christmas at a rather scary rate (7 and a half weeks what?!), I thought I’d put together a little festive, girly sweetness to add to your holiday baking.
It’s really just as much white, granulated sugar as you need in an airtight, zip lock sandwich bag, add a bit of natural food colouring and shake it around until combined and at the desired colour (it’s better to add too little than too much), date label the bag and it should last a few months.
I plan on using this to sprinkle on cupcakes and for decorating cocktail glasses when we get a bit closer to celebrating Christmas.
