Roast pumpkin & pomegranate salad

This is another one that I made a little while ago now. I went through a stage of doing a lot of cooking but not so much into the writing side of things. I have had a rather busy month. It has been pretty busy at work and I have other things going on. I have been trying to do a few things around the house but I haven't had too much success with getting too far on that. I have managed to pack some more stuff away in storage containers. There is so much stuff in my house as I just packed up my old house and moved every thing with me. This house is quite a bit smaller so there has been stuff shoved in nooks and crannies and there isn't a third bedroom as such because it is full of stuff. I did get rid of some stuff last year but there is some that I am not sure what to do with so I am packing it in storage containers and storing in my storage areas under the house. I plan on going through some of the stuff in my kitchen again too. Time for some stuff that hasn't been used in a while to go. 

This was a quick and easy salad to whip up to go with some chicken sausages that I got on special. I am a huge fan on pomegranates and always buy them when then are available. I think they are wonderful in salads as they add a bit of a tangy burst. 

Roast pumpkin & pomegranate salad 

1/2 medium size butternut, peeled & chopped into bite size pieces 

1 tbsp oil 

cracked pepper

1 small lebanese cucumber, peeled, quartered and sliced 

1/2 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved

handful of pomegranate arils 

marinated feta

wild rocket to serve

Pre-heat oven to 180 C. 

Place pumpkin on a roasting tray, drizzle wtih oil and grind black pepper over then mix together until each piece is coated in oil. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked. Remove, set aside to cool. 

Once cool, combine all ingredients and mix well. Drizzle with a vinaigrette if desired, I used just raspberry vinegar. 

Cake decorating - Bananas in Pyjamas

My friend's husband turned 40 this year and they were having a big party. My friend asked me if I could make a cake. She asked if I could make a bananas in pyjamas cake for him for a specific reason. When she asked me if I could make the cake she said that the B1 & B2 figures were difficult to get where we live. I just said that I could make something. I was so happy with how they turned out. I made them from fondant with a bit of tragacanth added to harden things up.

To make life easier I bought the satin ice blue fondant. The colour that showed on the website was nothing like what I received. It was an incredible electric blue so I ended up combining it half and half with some white. I had a few issues when it came to covering the cake. I was so worried about the heat and humidity affecting the fondant that I had my air conditioning cranked up but I think I probably should have had it at a higher temperature as the fondant dried out some and there was a little bit of, not cracking exactly, but certainly "pulling" on the edges in some places. I also had real problems with the corners. I have no idea why. I have never had any issues with corners before. It was rather frustrating.

For the lettering I purchased some of the Clikstiks cutters. They are so easy to use. I have a set of the Wilton letter cutters and I have never been able to get letters out of them without destroying them. I also have a set of FMM letter cutters. They are okay but still a lot more difficult to use. They are smaller though so they have their place. 

I was so very happy with the resulting cake and it was completely devoured at the party so everyone else loved it too. 

Cherry & red wine ice cream

I made this a month ago now. I really should have blogged it before but at least it is getting done now. During the Christmas break I did some day trips. One of them involved going on a bit of a foodie tour around one of the regions nearby. There is a large amount of stone fruits available in the area. I bought nectarines, apricots and blood plums as well as 2.5 kg of cherries. I did a number of things with them including just eating a large amount of them. The first thing I did though was to make this cherry & red wine ice cream. 

I don't normally make custard based ice creams. I find them a bit rich for me. I tend to make a half cream/half milk ice cream. It is a bit harder and not quite as smooth but I like it. Not saying this wasn't good. It was fabulous but I found it very rich even when eating just a small amount. Make sure that you use a good wine as the flavour does come through. If you couldn't sit and drink the wine don't use it. Actually, that applies for all cooking, especially when they involve a large amount of wine. I bought a bottle of one of my favourite wines, Wolf Blass Silver Label Shiraz. Actually, my favourite Wolf Blass is the Grey Label but I while I was willing to sacrifice half a cup of the silver I am not willing to sacrifice half a cup of grey for anything. I haven't tried the black or platinum ranges, perhaps one day, at this stage the grey is at the top of my price range. 

This was an easy ice cream to make, most are really. It also let me use my Kitchen Aid ice cream attachment again. I haven't really used it a lot but it does make good ice cream and sorbet when I have used it. I am planning to try frozen yoghurt in it some time soon. The cherry flavour wasn't all that strong in this. I actually think that this would have been wonderful with some of the sweet strawberries that I had purchased while on my trip.

Cherry & red wine ice cream 

750 grams cherries, pitted
1/2 c caster sugar, plus 2 tbsp extra
125ml shiraz, (a good one)
2 star anise
1 1/2 c cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 c milk

Combine the cherries, sugar, wine and star anise in a pan over low heat stir to dissolve the sugar bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cover with a lid leave for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer until cherries are soft and liquid is syrupy approx. 15 minutes. Puree and strain. Cool.

Bring the cream just to a boil. Whisk egg yolks and extra sugar to combine, pour over the cream and return to a clean pan, on a low heat stir until the mix coats the back of a wooden spoon, make sure to keep stirring, it can easily turn to scrambled eggs if you take your eye off it. 

Strain through a fine sieve into cherry puree with milk and mix thoroughly. Cool and then churn in an ice cream machine.  

January 2013 - Posh cheeseburgers

Like every year this delicious magazine is a double issue for December and January so you get the pleasure of another recipe from this delightful issue. 

I have been back and forward through this issue so many time trying to decided what to make for January. I have decided and changed my mind so many times. 

The first recipe that caught my eye when looking through this issue was the jellied ham. It just looked perfect, nice and Christmasy. Finely chopped ham, cornichons and capers in jelly made from gelatine leaves and chicken stock. I really wanted to make it but I don't have any home made chicken stock in the freezer at the moment. I should have made some while I was off work during the Christmas/new year period. I will keep the recipe noted for when I next make stock. 

The next recipe I really wanted to make was the sweet & spicy duck with pineapple chutney. If you have been reading my blog for a while you may have noticed that I always seem to pick out duck recipes as ones I would like to try. I know full well that I will not get a chance as I cannot get duck here. Well, I can, but only frozen whole ducks and all I really want are duck breasts. The only time I did see them here was in one of the supermarkets and one of the trays contained very obviously off meat. I had a hard time convincing the meat department person that it was off so I decided that I wouldn't buy any of their other duck or, in fact, any meat there at all. Besides I have my excellent butcher to buy meat from. As per usual the duck recipe is a pipe dream. However I might make the pineapple chutney at some stage. 

The other recipe that I really, really wanted to make and will make soon is the Lamb meatballs with barberries, yoghurt and herbs. I bought barberries some time ago for some reason that I cannot remember now. I will make this so that I can use them. 

In the end I decided to make the posh cheeseburger. The recipe used eye fillet, I didn't have any but did have a thick cut porterhouse. Next time though I would use scotch fillet as I much prefer that cut. I marinated the steak overnight rather than just for an hour. I made the slow roasted tomatoes but I guess the romas that I bought weren't all that good as they took a lot longer to cook and were a bit 'meh' taste wise. Instead of onion jam put some of my home made chilli sauce on and used some of the cheese I got on my recent foodie trip instead of bocconcini. I really enjoyed it. I could have added some more chilli, garlic and thyme to the meat marinade. It was good but would have love a bit more of a flavour hit. I would probably use either roasted cherry tomatoes or bought semi-dried tomatoes next time.

Posh Cheeseburgers

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp thyme leaves 

2 tbsp olive oil

400 g porterhouse or scotch fillet

4 crusty bread rolls, toasted

Sweet chilli sauce, rocket, semi-dried or roasted tomatoes, bocconcini, aioli and shaved parmesan, to serve

Combine garlic, chilli and thyme in a bowl and mix well. Add steak and turn to coat. Marinade at least an hour or preferably overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 200 C. 

Heat a frypan over high heat. Sear beef until just browned on each side and then place in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove and rest for at least 10 minutes. 

Spread each roll with aioli top with rocket, tomato, top with finely sliced pieces of steak and then add cheeses and drizzle with sweet chilli sauce. 

Mushroom & smoked chicken risotto

I decided that the next thing I would try in my Thermomix was the risotto in the cook book that came with the machine. Risotto is one of my favourites and I thought that it would be a good test of it for me. I would have liked to have tested it with one of my favourites, either the pumpkin or beetroot risottos, but I decided that I would stick with the one in the book this time. 

I used leek in it instead of onion and I sliced that myself however it did get caught around the butterfly blade. I would probably just use onion next time. I also added extra garlic, thyme and some chopped smoked chicken breast at the end. I didn't think that it was quite as creamy as I seem to get it on the stove. However, I haven't made risotto in a while so the rice has been sitting in the cupboard for a while. I am not sure if that would make a difference though. It was still very good and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I will try some a pumpkin one next.

Mushroom & smoked chicken risotto

50 g Parmesan cheese, cubed 

1 leek, finely sliced 

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp thyme leaves (I would put more in next time) 

50 g olive oil 

350 g arborio rice

100 g white wine 

2 tsp chicken stock powder (I haven't made the tm stock concentrate yet) 

200 g sliced mushrooms

1100 g water 

1 smoked chicken breast, cubed

20 g butter 

Pulverise parmesan for 10 seconds on speed 9 and set aside. 

Add leek, garlic, thyme and oil and sauté for 2 minutes at 100 C on speed 1 with MC off. 

Insert butterfly. Add rice and wine to bowl and sauté for 2 minutes at 100 C on Reverse + soft. 

Add stock, mushrooms and water and cook for 15 minutes at 100 C on Reverse + soft. 

Add chicken and cook for 2 minutes at 100 C on Reverse + soft. 

Season to taste and add parmesan and butter.