Cinnamon and Banana Pancakes for Naiara

Info for everyone else - Naiara and I were flatmates in Melbourne. We lived in an awesome pink house in North Carlton, that was very close to all the good places to be - the city, Lygon Street, Fitzroy. It was fun. I remember talking to her and Jose (her boyfriend) one day about what they would eat in Spain for breakfast. The thought of eating savoury food for breakfast solicited a very strong negative reaction from the two of them, so the fact that Naiara asked me to post a recipe for this is very very fitting. So Naiara, this is for you. And I hope you like it! I am taking a Spanish class at the moment, but I don't think I am quite at the level to write it is Spanish...

1 cup plain flour

1¼ tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

a pinch of salt

¼ cup of brown sugar, packed

1 cup milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon) in a mixing bowl. In a seperate bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients (the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla). Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix. If there are still lumps, its okay. 

Add the bananas, mix gently, and allow the batter to rest for 20-30 minutes.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, and lightly grease the pan. When the pan is hot, add the batter - about ¼ cup per pancake. Wait until there are bubbles forming on the top, and then flip. I am very bad at the flipping part, but perhaps that is just me! Anyway, leave to cook for another minute. If you are making a lot, I would recommend putting them in a warm oven  until they are all done. 

Serve with butter and whatever syrup you like - although they are very sweet, so if you are not such a fan of the sweet stuff, perhaps strawberries and yogurt would be nice.

Naiara, I hope this is a good reproduction of what you had in Melbourne!

And if anyone else has something they want me to try out for them, just let me know.....

Lentils

This dish was invented while I was living in London. At the time I had a French flatmate, Fabian. I had never really known anyone French before, and Fabian and I used to cook each other dinners quite a lot, and I was inspired by his... Frenchness, for lack of a better word. Anyway, lentils suddenly came onto my food radar as something kind of glamorous when cooked in a French (or at least what I imagine to be French) style. Its pretty simple, but I really think its one of my favourite things to eat, and has been a staple ever since. It also featured quite heavily while I was going through my anaemic stage, as lentils are kind of a miracle food in terms of iron.

1 cup French (de Puy) lentils

water

1tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced in half moons

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme

¼ cup fresh continental (flat leaf) parsley

1 tbsp butter

extra olive oil, for drizzling

salt and pepper

Put the lentils in a small saucepan, with enough water to cover, and bring to the boil. Simmer until soft, making sure there is enough water and adding more if necessary.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat, and add the onion. Cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes, making sure the onions are not burning or cooking too quickly. You want them to soften, and get slightly brown but not crispy. Add the garlic, and turn the heat down, and leave for a further 5 minutes. Make sure the garlic doesn't burn.

When the lentils are cooked, drain, if necessary, and stir through the onion and garlic, herbs, butter, extra olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.

Serve with salad, and green beans or something equally French.

Its really not the most attractive dish in the word, but it is pretty good......

Barramundi Tacos (or burritos)

This is based on a recipe for Swordfish Tacos from my Mexican Cookbook by Jane Milton, but as usual, because I'm terrible at following directions, I changed it. Firstly I used Barramundi, which was probably farmed. I have heard debate about the difference between the taste of farmed and fresh Barramundi, and I have to admit that fresh Barramundi is LOVELY, but I think in this instance, it doesn't really matter.

300g Barramundi, cut into chunks

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, sliced into half moons

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 jalapeño (or however many you can or can't handle)

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground coriander

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp Chilli powder

3 tomatoes

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan (preferably one with a lid) and add the onions. Sautee for a few minutes and then add the garlic and chili, being careful not to burn.

While you are sauteeing the onions, score the bottoms of the tomatoes, and then cover them with boiling water. After a few minutes, take them out, peel and chop them.

When the onions are soft, add the herbs and spices, and the tomatoes. Put the lid on and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the Barramundi, and put the lid back on. It will only take a few minutes for the fish to cook. Once it ic cooked, season, and stir it to break up the fish pieces a little. Throw in a handful of coriander and you are done!

Serve with corn tortillas (for tacos) or flour tortillas (for burritos) and whatever salsas and toppings you like - I had avocado, pico de gallo, and yogurt.

French Toast with Berries

I think this is my new favourite breakfast. I had this craving out of nowhere a few days ago for French Toast, and so I made it for a friend who came over for brunch. It is so good!

⅔ cup milk
4 eggs
2 tbs sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
a loaf of bread - any kind you want, I used a crusty rustic loaf butter

Heat a frypan over medium heat.
Whisk the eggs, milk, salt, sugar and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.
Soak the bread in the egg mixture, making sure that both sides have been covered.
Melt the butter in the pan and place the pieces of egg-soaked bread in and cook until browned on each side.

I had it with blueberry syrup, strawberries and vanilla yogurt, but you could have maple syrup, or any kind of fruit compote as well.
Blueberry Syrup
1 packet frozen blueberries (about 300g)
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
juice of ½ a lime

Put the blueberries and sugar into a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir gently until the blueberries have thawed and start to release their juice, and the sugar has dissolved.
Add the cornflour and stir through, and bring the sauce to the boil. Allow it to gently boil for 1 minute, until it has slightly thickened. Stir through the lime juice.

Banana Bread

This is my mum's recipe, which I have been meaning to get for a while because I am suddenly very into Banana Bread, and of course I love my mum's. But, sorry mum, I fully intend on trying out a few different ones - sort of a 'Banana Bread-Off' if you will.
You will also notice that this bread is made with olive oil rather than butter, so you can kid yourself a bit that its healthy - and then put butter on the top! But I really love this bread with cream cheese.

½ cup olive oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2-5 very ripe bananas, mashed (you can basically put in as many as you want)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
3 tbs milk
½ tsp vanilla
½-1 cup chopped nuts, either pecans or walnuts

Beat together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs and mashed banana and beat a bit more.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, and add to the banana mix. Add the milk and vanilla too and mix it all together. Mix in the nuts, and pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf tin.
Bake at 175˚C for about 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Mexican Rice

I LOVE this rice. I love it fresh, I love it even more as leftovers. I love it. The first time I can really remember having it was when we lived in Randwick, sometime in the 90's. At this time, there was a SERIOUS lack of Mexican food in Sydney, really, in all of Australia I'm guessing. I'm guessing this by the awful Mexican food that I did have outside of my own home, and by the Old-El-Paso-Tex-Mex-smothered-in-sour-cream stuff that was what everyone else thought of as Mexican food at the time. Things have come along quite nicely since then, with the places like Guzman Y Gomez and Mad Mex opening in Sydney.
But anyway, it seems as thought I should get off my Mexican high horse, because I discovered, during my last trip to my parents house, that the recipe for this dish, one of my all-time-favourite Mexican dishes that I thought was an authentic dish from my families time spent living in New Mexico - IS ACTUALLY FROM AN AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY COOKBOOK. The ones that you buy in the supermarket. That everyone's mum has. I'm still recovering from the shock.
Of course, this has morphed over time, especially because every time I want to make it I have to call my mum for the recipe, but eventually gave up, so just what you have here is my own version.

Mexican-Australian Rice
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1 clove of garlic
1 red capsicum, halved and seeded
1 jalapeño (optional)
1 x 400g tin of peeled tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup of jasmine rice
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 large carrot, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp chilli powder

Put the onion, garlic, jalapeño, and capsicum (cut side down) under a hot grill. Leave until the skin of the capsicum is charred. Remove and place in an airtight container to sweat and cool, about 20 minutes.
Peel the skin off the jalapeño and the capsicum, and place in a food processor or blender with the garlic and onion, and the tin of tomatoes. Process so its still a bit chunky but there are no big pieces of anything.
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan and add the rice. Stir for about a minute, or until the rice begins to turn opaque. Add the tomato mixture and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil, and then simmer over a very low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.

You can have this as a side dish with enchiladas or burritos, or just with beans. The other night I had it with Black Beans, Pico de Gallo (recipes coming soon), Verduras en Escabeche and a dollop of yogurt (because I think its nicer than sour cream).

Blackened Fish

Its been a while... But I'm back!!
This post I am adding as an afterthought, almost, as you will notice by the fact that the food that I photographed is half eaten. If you don't notice that, well, that just means I am a good photographer. But I was eating this for dinner with my mum tonight, and remembered HOW GOOD it is and just had to put it up.
Anyway, I first remember having this dish when I was about 8 years old, and we had moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts while my dad was going to Uni. We used to go to this restaurant called Legal Seafood, which in my mind was very fancy. We would go there and my mum, dad, sister and I would split 2 mains between us. I think we would always start off with New England Clam Chowder which was SO GOOD, and then move onto the main, which was usually Blackened Bluefish. It took me quite a while to realise that this dish was NOT called Black and Blue Fish, as though the fish had been bruised. I couldn't understand why anyone would want this as it sounded so unappetising, and I also couldn't understand this name because the fish wasn't blue. But I would always eat it, with a baked potato and side salad (or half of it anyway).
Anyhoo, a few years later I somehow realised what the actual name of the dish was, and that it is a pretty basic Cajun style dish. I still don't really know what bluefish is. I also came to realise that Legal Seafood expanded and went from being a Boston institution to being just another chain restaurant. How disappointing.
I will share one more memory and then I will tell you the recipe. I remember going to eat at Legal Seafood on New Years Eve*, probably in 1984. My sister and I were wearing our new dresses that our mother had just made and given us for Christmas, which were a cream satin top with a gold lamé bubble skirt. They were pretty awesome. I wish I had a photo, because if I did, I would soooo post it right here.

Spice Rub
2 tbs sweet paprika
2 tbs salt
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs cayenne
1 tbs dried thyme
1 tbs dried oregano

Mix all ingredients together. This will make quite a lot, but store it in a jar and it will keep for ages.

Rub a bit of oil on your fish and coat them with the spice rub. I would suggest a firm fish - I think it goes especially well with tuna steaks. I suggest about a teaspoon of spice per side.
This is best cooked on a barbeque, as it can smoke a bit. Heat your BBQ to a medium high heat, and cook you fish for a few minutes each side until they are done to your liking.
Serve with lemon wedges, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad.

*I have been informed by my parents that it was not New Years Eve but Christmas Eve, and more importantly that MY MOTHER HAS THE BUBBLE DRESS IN HER POSSESSION. I will post a photo at the nearest opportunity.

Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Cupcake Base
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
finely grated rind and zest of 1 lemon
125g self-raising flour
Preheat the oven to 190∘C.

Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, lemon rind and juice and beat well. Add the flour and continue beating until smooth. Spoon the mixture into cupcake papers in a cupcake tin. I would suggest making them small, as these cupcakes are made up of 3 layers, and if they are too big, the blueberry sauce will just pour right off the top (like mine did).
Bake in the centre of the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until they are golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool. While they are cooling, make the icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
250g softened cream cheese
finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Beat the cream cheese with the lemon rind and juice. Add the icing sugar to taste.
When the cupcakes are cooled, spread on top.

Blueberry sauce
½ cup caster sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter

Mix together the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the frozen blueberries, and stir to coat. Continue stirring over medium heat until the blueberries have defrosted and a thick sauce starts to form. Allow to boil for 1 minute, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and butter. Allow to cool a bit before pouring over the cupcakes.

My original plan was to make smallish cupcakes, so that there would be some wrapper left to contain the sauce and stop it from just pouring off. This plan did not come to fruition. So these cupcakes have been iced and left separate from the sauce, which is poured over at the moment of eating. It doesn't matter though, they are still delicious!

Pizza!!!

Before

After

This was always on my I-have-to-add-that-recipe-ASAP list. Everyone who I went to high school with, I'm sure has had this pizza at least once as it is my mum's recipe. And the story of its creation goes something like this. My parents and baby sister (well, she's my older sister, but she happened to be a baby at the time) arrived in Australia on the 7th of May, 1975. The soon moved to the thriving metropolis of Coonabarabran (just kidding about the metropolis bit - there weren't even any traffic lights there) where they discovered that things that they had taken for granted in the USA, like Ketchup, fresh vegetables in the winter, and Pizza simply did not exist there. Necessity is the mother of invention, and so the pizza journey began. It evolved over many years to become the masterpiece that it is today. So the only other thing that I will say, is that you will REALLY benefit from making this using a pizza stone. And if you do that, you will need a pizza peel as well. The stone cooks the pizza from the bottom, making it more like a pizza that has been cooked in a pizza oven and makes the crust really nice. This is a weekend meal, mainly because it takes so long to make. It's not difficult at all, just time consuming.

CRUST
1 cup warm (not hot) water
2 1/4 tsp of dry yeast
OR
1 packet of yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/2 cups white flour
A pinch of salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water.
Mix together the flours and salt in a bowl. Add the yeast mixture and olive oil. I use a mixer with dough hooks - its a lot faster, but you can also do the whole thing by hand. Combine the mixture until it all comes together and continue kneading with the dough hooks for about 5 minutes. You want the dough to be smooth and elastic, not sticky. Be prepared though, even using a mixer (unless you have a Kitchenaid or heavy-duty mixer like that) this will give your arm and shoulder a pretty good workout. Once you have achieved smooth elasticity, form the dough into a ball, coat in a bit of olive oil, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Make sure its a fairly big bowl though, because at this point you are going to leave it to rise until it has doubled in size. The amount of time this takes will vary depending on the temperature, but ideally it needs to be warm and moist. If its not warm, you can put a cup of water into your microwave and zap it on high for a minute. Then put the dough into the microwave and shut the door. DON"T TURN THE MICROWAVE ON THOUGH!!!
Once it has doubled in size, use your fist to punch it down. At this point you can make the pizza if you are pressed for time, but the crust will be nicer if you leave it to rise once more until it has again doubled in size.
Meanwhile, you can make the sauce.

SAUCE
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
1 x 170g tin of tomato paste
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried basil
pinch of black pepper

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, and remove the lid a bit, so that some of the steam can escape. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, or until it has thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.

ASSEMBLING THE PIZZAS
Preheat your oven to hot, and put your pizza stones in so that they can get nice and hot. Punch the twice risen dough down to get rid of all the air. Divide it into three equal sections (you can really make as many as you want, but 3 seems to work pretty well). On a floured surface, roll out each of the sections into circles until they are about 30cm in diameter. I find it easier to put the base onto a piece of foil that has been dusted with flour. This makes it easier to get in and out of the oven, at least for me, because I am sot so skilled with a pizza peel. Brush the base with about a tablespoon of olive oil, and spread with a few good handfuls of grated mozarella. Then put about a third of the sauce on top of the cheese and spread it evenly. I know, it seems weird to put the sauce on top of the cheese, but its really nice that way. If you think it is too weird, you can do it the other way around. I am no pizza nazi.
Load it up with whatever toppings you want - bocconcini, sundried tomatoes, roasted eggplant, pepperoni, whatever! I still think the best is a plain pizza, just mozarella and sauce with some fresh basil and oregano and some finely grated parmesan.
Put the pizza on the pizza stone in the oven for about 6 or 7 minutes, then check it, and rotate it if it seems to be cooking unevenly. Leave it in there for another 5 minutes or until the crust if golden and the bottom is cooked (you can lift up a corner and have a peek. Cooking times really depend on your oven, so its probably just best to keep an eye on it and approach it with a trial-and-error attitude the first few times, until you can figure out what works best.
Remove from the oven, cut into wedges and enjoy!

I'm back!

After a little hiatus, I'm back, and I'm blogging from my parents house where I am recovering from my surgery. This is good for a number of reasons.
1. Recovering is good
2. My mother has EVERY COOKING APPLIANCE KNOWN TO MAN and HUNDREDS of cookbooks so you can expect at least a few entries!!! Especially since I have been appointed Rothman family cook...

Coming very soon - Pizza!