Well, did you know that there are great iphone apps available to take with you into the kitchen. How fabulous! So, I’ve been going nuts with my iphone and have found some great cooking apps.
Here are my top four:
Quick Collection by Nigella Lawson. This app is only a few days’ old. It is Nigella’s brand-new classy baby and it contains a series of 70 recipes for us busy cooks. There are loads of videos also. Who doesn’t love Nigella and her decadent recipes? I love her style but these are not recipes for the weight-conscious cook.
Epicurious. This app is uh-mazing. If you buy one app this is the one, according to all the reviews and to my playing around on it. Epicurious has over 25,000 recipes, a shopping list and ratings from other users who have tried those recipes. This app is absolutely free – but the downside is that you have to put up with a number of advertisements.
20 minute meals by Jamie Oliver. This app is a little bit more expensive than others but it’s only $7.99. These recipes come with great photos. I love cooking with photos. Great for all the visual learners amongst us. There are 55 recipes. Great for quick after-work meals.
All Recipes Dinner Spinner. This is really great. You can put in which ingredients you want to use, how much time you have and then it lets you choose from a number of suitable meals. This app has thousands of recipes which is great too. If you are like me and try to shop at the fresh market each week then end up with some fresh ingredients left, this is great. It will help you find the suitable dish for them. Best of all, this app is free!
I noticed today that Megan of Not Martha has a free giveaway for How to Cook Everything app, the new cooking app from Mark Bittman. Visit her site and leave a comment.
I hope these make cooking so much more fun!
Mia
xxx
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]]>Gluten-Free Girl. This site has been going as long as mine I think. It is filled with great gluten-free recipes and ideas. I know it can be seriously hard eating gluten-free (as I do). She has some truly great ideas and it is a fantastic read. And her cookbook is finished. How exciting.
Vegan Lunchbox. This is great for non-vegans too. Jennifer has so many ideas on how to fill lunchboxes with healthy great food. I am not vegan and I get great ideas from reading it. She hasn’t updated since January, I think but is still a great read with loads of posts from the last few years.
Kristens Raw. Kristen Suzanne is a raw vegan chef. I am neither a raw foodist nor a vegan. But I love her blog. She has been responsible for extending my food repertoire hugely. I now eat chia, quinoa and use agave nectar as a sweetener instead of sugar in some recipes. Because of her I have tried rice milk, hemp milk and am a regular drinker of a green smoothie in the morning. And her passion just lights me up. I am always attracted to anyone who is passionate about what they do.
Crazy Sexy Life. Ok this is not even a food blog but it has a lot to do with food. Kris Carr, started this blog after she survived cancer. She is a vegan and a raw foodist also. I am interested in her insights into food and the articles by those in the know on her site. I love being encouraged to eat organic foods and when I need a good kick to my diet, I visit here and always remember why I am eating a healthy diet, why I don’t eat junk food, why I eat lots of fresh fruit and vegies – and it just makes me feel good. I have made several of their Recipe of the Week dishes which are in the right hand sidebar – and they were very yummy!
I know these are all vegan and raw-foodist when I am not. But I really enjoy the different foods they try! I will include more links later..
Any good food links to share?
Mia
xxx
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Hi. we are back with another delicious dessert. This one had me running all over the place. I ruined it once and semi-burnt the sugar in the bottom of the saucepan and then had to start all over again. Unfortunately I tried this out on a night when we had guests, probably not the best idea. And I must warn you…. negotiate with your husband beforehand as to who will scrub the saucepan as it’s bit of a killer.
This recipe is adapted from my favourite cookbook, ‘The Cook’s Companion’ by Stephanie Alexander.
Ingredients
4 Bananas
Rum
3/4 c white sugar
1/2 c boiling water
3/4 cup brown sugar
few drops of pure vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
100mls thick cream
Method
To make the sauce, dissolve the sugar in a saucepan over gentle heat until it is a deep gold. Pour the boiling water then stir until it is smooth. (Please note be very careful with this. If you pour the boiling water quickly it is sort of like a volcanic eruption, very scary…. I should know this is what I did the first time around.) Remove the pan from heat and stir in both the butter and the brown sugar until the brown sugar has dissolved. Stir in the vanilla and the cream and leave aside.
Bake the bananas in their skins on a hot barbecue. Turn after ten minutes and bake for a further ten minutes. The skins will be black and the bananas soft and very hot. Peel back one side of the skin. and place them on a serving dish. Warm rum in the saucepan, light with a match (another slightly scary part of the procedure, so be careful!) and pour flaming rum over the exposed banana. Serve with warm butterscotch sauce!
I served with ice cream also. This was very yummy. Even for someone like me who is not all that partial to sweet treats.
Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
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Tonight’s dinner was my favourite dinner! This is just superb with the subtle blend of aromas and flavours. And it is so easy to make. It literally takes about five minutes to prepare and then you just stand back and watch the magic take place.
This recipe comes from Neil Perry, my favourite Australian chef. It is an chinese dish and you may find that the ingredients sound exotic. But don’t be put off. When you have time take a leisurely drive to an asian supermarket and ask the person behind the counter to help you find the correct ingredients. Once you have stocked up on these ingredients you will be able to make the Master Stock Chicken more than once.
And. Once you have made the stock you can freeze it, thaw it, reheat it, add more ingredients and cook another chicken in it. Apparently a good stock can be kept for years and years and they just keep getting better with age…. like a red wine.
Ingredients
1.6kc cornfed chicken ( I buy a Mount Barker Free Range Corn Fed Chicken – it is delicious)
1 1/2 L water
1 cup light soy sauce
1 cup shaoxing wine
150g yellow rock sugar
2 pieces dried mandarin
2 sticks cinnamon
4 star anise
1 large nob of ginger, sliced and peeled
3 cloves garlic
Method
Place all the ingredients, except the chicken into a large saucepan. Put the lid on, turn up the heat and bring the broth to boiling point. Once it is boiling add the whole chicken, breast side down and simmer for about twenty minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook it for about ten minutes on the other side. I cook it with the lid on the whole time.
Remove the chicken from the stock, cut it into pieces and serve with rice. Ladel some of the stock over th top and eat. This meal is great when served with bok choy.
Please give it a go, let me know what you think…..
And don’t forget to freeze the stock, take it out next week and use it again.
Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
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- Day 6 April Food Month: Katsu Chicken with Rice We are on
- Day 14: Baked Flaming Bananas in Butterscotch Sauce Recipe Hi. we are
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Pizza is such a great quick dinner. And can be so healthy. And easily made gluten free.
For this pizza I used two pre-made bases (well not me, Mr Steel, I’d better not take credit). When cooking most meals I try to use as many vegies as possible and make the dinner as colourful as possible because I just like pretty things.
When making pizzas, it is great to experiment as much as you like……
These pizzas were made with a tomato paste base. Smudge a thin layer of tomato paste onto each base. Then pile on the chopped vegies. We added onion, ham, sweet potato, sliced mushrooms, grape tomatoes, pesto sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese.
Other great ingredients for pizza are capers, goat’s cheese, pumpkin that has been chopped into small cubes and roasted a little in the oven, rocket, fresh mint, yellow, red or green capsicum, sweet corn….. Experiment with different flavours and top with cheese….
Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
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]]>Tonight’s dinner was one of my favourite comfort foods of all time. I love a great Bolognese. And this one is just delicious This recipe I have been using for years and adding to it every now and then. If I have vegies in the fridge which are looking a little worse for wear I will add these too. Please excuse the lack of photos. I hope you all know what a great spaghetti bolognese should look like…
Ingredients
500g minced beef
1 brown onion diced
3 cloves garlic
500ml beef stock – I buy mine but if you have a thermomix why not whip up a very quick vegie stock?
400g tin of chopped tomotoes
1 carrot, chopped into fine cubes
1 stick of celery, chopped into fine cubes
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
A packet of spaghetti
Butter
Optional to add
50g pancetta or
50g bacon
fresh tomatoes
Method
Heat up a big glob (not the right word, I know) of butter in a large saucepan. Add the onions and cook them for a few minutes. Add the garlic, chopped celery and carrot and mix them until they are all soft and you have an amazing aroma coming from the saucepan. Turn the heat to high and add the minced beef. I cook this using a fork to break up all the meat into very fine pieces as it cooks. When the meat is browned add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, red wine, basil, oregano and any other finely chopped vegies you like. Season with a little pepper and a pinch of sea salt ( I love Maldon Sea Salt). Cover the pot with a lid and let it simmer on the stove for an hour and a half. Visit the pot regularly (about every fifteen minutes) to stir and taste).
Cook the pasta in a pot. Pour a ladel-full of bolognese onto the pasta in a bowl and serve with cheese on top.
I hope you like my spaghetti. I love this autumnish weather and am looking forward to using my slow cooker in the next few days….
Enjoy!
Mia
xxx
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So, I promised something sweet. And now after the computer glitches have been sorted, here it is. This is actually an amended version of the banana bread recipe in my book One Hour Craft. The adjustment that I made was to the amount of sugar. Please note that I am not a sweet tooth at all. I find cakes hard to finish and rarely eat sweets, although I do love the bittersweet taste of chocolate. So, I suggest tasting the dough before you bake it and adding sweetness if you think it needs it. The original recipe had 200g brown sugar, I have used 100g for these. I liked it a lot more.
This bread is really tasty. I baked it in baked bean tins and then cut it into cute round slices. The only disappointment about baking it in these tins as opposed to a normal baking tin is that there is not as much crispy top and that is really my favourite part. These can also be baked in those tiny little pots for flowers – just remember to line them. Ok, now I will stop waffling on and let’s start cooking….
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas
2 tablespoons melted butter
100g/ 3 1/4 oz brown sugar
15ml/1/2floz milk
125g/4oz self-raising flour (gluten-free is just as good, if you are gluten-free like me)
3/4 cup (or less) chocolate chips. These can also be substituted with raisins for a tangier taste or nothing and just have gorgeous banana bread.
Method
Peel the bananas and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Preheat your oven now to 180C/350F degrees. Add the melted butter, brown sugar and egg to the bowl. Give it a quick stir. Add the milk and flour to the bowl and mix it on high for two minutes with your amazing electric mixer. Of course, a wooden spoon will also do the job. Make sure the mixture is well-mixed and that all of the big floury lumps are gone. Fold the chocolate chips into the mixture with a wooden spoon. Grease your tin (or tins) with butter and line them with baking paper. Spoon the mixture into the tin until it is 2/3 full. Now bake the bread for 35 minutes at 180C/350F degrees. Allow the bread to cool for ten minutes. Tip it out and slice it.
This bread is so yummy! I hope you enjoy it.
I was also wondering. When I was little my mum used to make a gorgeous sweet called frozen banana bar. I think it was a non-cook sweet made from bananas of course and iced with a layer of dark chocolate. It was set in the freezer. I have memories as a child of sneaking into the freezer and cutting myself a piece of banana bar, running back to the bathroom and locking the door to gobble it down. Now, I have been looking for this recipe for the last few years. Mum doesn’t have her copy anymore. Auntie Jean, who originally gave mum her copy, also doesn’t have hers. I have asked nearly everyone I know and I have hunted for it on the Net. Now, has anyone heard of this delicious treat? If so please leave the recipe in the comments section below. I will be forever grateful.
Enjoy!
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I missed yesterday – oops- but I have a good excuse. I was spoilt with crayfish cooked with melted butter and garlic. Mr Steel went diving and caught them with his own two hands just a few weeks ago.
Tonight the baby beetroot finally got cooked. This salad is really lovely when served warm. The beetroot turns the cous cous a vibrant pink colour. And this is the food I love, simple, fresh and colourful.
Ingredients
1 sweet potato
1 bunch baby beetroot
2 cups of cous cous
1 handful of sugar snap peas
Dressing
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 tablespoons of honey
Juice of one lemon
A few handfuls of fresh mint
Harissa (if you like it hot!)
Method
Firstly, peel a sweet potato and a bunch of baby beetroot. Chop them into cubes and place them on a baking tray. Splash them with olive oil and a little sea salt. Place them in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes, making sure you turn them over once. Blanch the sugar snap peas. Then prepare the cous cous, with one cup of cous cous to one cup of boiling water. When the vegetables are ready, add them to the prepared cous cous and toss the salad in a bowl.
Dressing
For the dressing put the oil, honey, harissa, lemon juice in a glass together. Mix them thoroughly. Chop up the mint leaves and add them. Pour this delicious dressing over the salad and mix well.
We ate this with leftover crayfish. It was sweet and tangy. The baby beetroot are so sweet when roasted. And I am so glad that the baby beetroot finally got cooked!
And tomorrow? Maybe something sweet? Ideas?
Mia
xoxo
PS Day 10 & 11 are coming… just having a few computer hiccups!
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Contents of the Bento Boxes: (Top Photo) Box Number 1 (Left Hand Side) – Purple rice flavoured with seeds, moulded and wrapped with nori, sugar snap peas, pickled ginger, 1 boiled egg half, love-heart shaped carrots, pickled gherkins. Box Number 2 (Right Hand Side) – Beef Stir Fry, 1 baby tomato halved, curly green lettuce, shredded apple and a kiwi fruit. One box has a heart-shaped moulded boiled egg.
Because we’re on holiday, Millie and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen today and produced three bento boxes. Unless I learnt some really quick ways of producing these, this is not something that my normal weekday could include. Maybe using leftovers, making a big salad and storing it in an airtight container to be used for a few day’s worth of bento, putting plain rice in one section, using some pre-made foods would make production easier and quicker.
I loved making these. The things I love most about them are that they are so healthy and filling. I love the ability to play with patterns, colour, texture. I loved learning all the new skills like moulding rice, moulding eggs, designing the box.
I’d love to teach how to make these but as a beginner I found some amazing resources on the Net, people much more qualified to teach this artform. Firstly, feast your eyes on this and tell me that you are not intrigued. After this visual dream, I recommend reading lunchinabox.net thoroughly. I found it to be the most comprehensive in all my hunting.
Enjoy! Let me know how you go…
Mia
xoxo
PS And still the baby beetroot is waiting patiently to join in all the fun. Tomorrow will involved baby beetroot and a loss less fuss…
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We are on holiday this week. Today Millie and I spent a lovely morning together. We went to a gorgeous little Japanese shop in subiaco (Hay Street behind the Nando’s) called the Green Tea Shop. We sat at the bench and had a leisurely tea tasting while chatting about the hundreds of benefits of green tea. What a kind, quirky man and what a shop! We spent a longer time perusing the wonderful wares of the store, the lovely textiles, the tea sets, the bento boxes.
And this made me think about how much I love Japanese food. And how I really should cook more Japanese food. So after visiting a Japanese food store we decided to make Katsu Chicken for tea.
I have never made it before but it is very easy and so tasty. Katsu chicken is chicken crumbed in Japanese bread crumbs and served with a special sauce. Apparently it is possible to make the sauce from scratch too, but we bought ours at the Japanese store. This chicken turned out wonderfully. The only thing which may be a drawback is the amount of oil used to make it. Maybe a once-a-month dish rather than once-a-week.
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts ( or how many you need)
1 egg
All purpose flour
Panko – Japanese breadcrumbs
1/2 cup oil
Tonkatsu Sauce
Rice
Pickled ginger or any japanese pickled vegetables
Method
Slice the chicken breast in half by placing a chicken breast flat on a chopping board and putting one hand firmly on top. With the other hand slice the breast in half, so it is about 1.5cm in depth. This will ensure that frying it is a lot quicker and easier.
Lightly whisk the egg in a bowl. Cover one dinner plate with flour and another with the panko. You may subsitute the panko with Western bread crumbs but the Japanese ones are better for this dish. Dip the chicken breasts in the egg, followed by flour and then the breadcrumbs.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the breasts for about 4 minutes each side. To check if they are ready make sure that the outside is a gorgeous golden brown colour.
When the breasts are cooked, slice them. Serve them with rice and Pickled ginger. I use a Japanese rice seasoning sprinkled on top of the rice. It is made from nori (seaweed) pieces, salt and some seeds. It is the perfect way to finish this meal.
And tomorrow, more Japanese. Amelia and I are planning to have a lot of fun in the kitchen…
Mia
xoxo
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