Cherrylicious cherries

Put the rosy-hue back in your cheeks with some Cherrylicious recipes this month. Bursting with flavour, cherries are a quick & healthy snack any hour of the day. The kids will love finding these hidden in their school lunch box for a cheeky cherry treat.

The most popular variant; sweet cherries are used universally in cooking and baking alongside their in ‘vogue’ sister the sour cherry. Sour cherries are a superior choice when making Cherry jam due to their high pectin levels, which make for a better set jam.

Cherries are a perfect accompaniment to cheese platters, great in a sauce, served with pork or as a super-sweet Cherry cheesecake.

Fresh cherries found in roadside stalls are a delicacy and a ‘dime a dozen’ if you come across one; freshly picked straight from the tree there is no sweeter way to eat these tiny, fleshy sweet bursts of flavour.

If fresh are unavailable due to seasonality, frozen pitted cherries or canned in syrup are a perfect alternative all year round. A low-budget alternative to when cherries are out of season.

A known healthy snack, cherries are a great source of Vitamin C and Potassium. Cherries are the new red hot super food, higher in antioxidants than many other known ‘super-food’ fruits (blueberries and strawberries).

Get your cherry a day and enjoy the delicious variety of recipes you can create with this wondrous fruit!

Poached cherries

1/2 orange, grated

200 ml red wine (Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon)

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1 clove

1 teaspoon caster sugar, plus extra to taste

200g frozen black sour cherries, defrosted

Place all ingredients into the como advanced 2L saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until reduced and sugar has melted.
For a low-fat dessert in minutes, serve Poached cherries with this deliciously sweet baked ricotta.

love amie x

Vealicious Veal

Veal the baby of the meat family or otherwise known as ‘young beef or bobby beef’ has a more delicate flavour and rose-like appearance compared to beef.

Its low-fat quality, makes this meat vulnerable to overcooking in the pan so take care when cooking, otherwise it will taste like a rubber boot!

A simple coating of flour, egg and fresh breadcrumbs to veal schnitzels makes a classic and easy meal in minutes.

Or if the budget has been bruised post-Christmas then try this Veal, pork & chicken terrine, wrapped in bacon or prosciutto this low cost dinner is a real winner in the next day sandwiches too.

For a vealicious dinner-party pleasure, try Poaching veal in stock and serve it with a light and zesty salsa verde sauce.

The wonderfully long and hot summery nights don't seem to be relaxing anytime soon!

But if you feel like tickling your taste buds with a wintry classic, then you must try a slow cooked, melt in your mouth delicacy when the Hot sultry weather does cease. A dish I seldom tire of throughout winter is veal ragout; a rich and full flavored Italian pasta delight. A must try feast in anyone’s repertoire.

For summer meals pair your luscious veal with a light butter & sage sauce, some lovely lemons, perhaps pasta, tomatoes, white wine, capers or olives!

Good quality veal is hard to find so do some research and talk to your butcher about where you can find ‘milk fed’ veal, which is of a superior flavour and texture.
Enough of the spiel on veal I am hooked! Happy cooking and enjoy this delicious and delicate meat.

Veal, pork & chicken terrine

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes: 2 meatloaves
Keeps: 3 days; covered & refrigerated, frozen for up to 1 month

The Ingredients
100g pistachios, shelled
¾ cup (90g) dried cranberries
500g veal mince
500g chicken mince
500g pork mince
4 rashers rind less bacon, chopped
Optional 10 rashers of rind less bacon, extra to enclose meatloaf

Lets have some fun
Preheat oven to 180ºC for 15 minutes.Place pistachios on baking tray lined with baking sheet; roast pistachios for 7 minutes.
Combine pistachios, cranberries, mince and bacon in a large bowl; mix well to combine.
Line each loaf pan with 5 rashers of streaky or thin strip bacon, overlapping slightly; divide the mince mixture evenly between the two loaf pans, pressing down firmly. Enclose meatloaf with excess bacon and place in oven.
Bake meatloaf for 45-50 minutes or until temperature reaches 70C when probe is inserted in the centre of terrine and bacon is crisp.
Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Drain excess liquid from loaf pans. Serve warm with Roasted Pear & Rocket Salad (http://www.chefstoolbox.com.au/

Tips
Replace pistachios with roasted walnuts
A great quick and easy gluten free meal
A fantastic picnic terrine to share amongst friends

love amie xo

One banana two banana’s, 3 bananas, 4 banana’s! Banana’s are an all round favourite food, comic skit (Banananman), and comedy (Banana Split’s) an oldie but by no means forgotten favourite! Easy to love this hearty and robust starchy fruit, provides a powerful energy hit mid-afternoon.
A delicious addition baked in these banana & double choc muffins or they team perfectly in a super-simple banana cake, serve in pancakes, porridge, ice-cream or try your hand at banana custard (a delicious dessert the kiddies will adore! I did :-)
Could you really live without the ‘best friend’ of all fruits, the humble banana?
Carried in school lunch boxes, handbags, man bags and even gym bags, this robust fruit is a best friend to all. It picks you up when you’re feeling down, is by your side through the good and the bad and can be super sweet even at its worst!
Nutritionally high in potassium and fiber so enjoy a banana a day! Sliced and added to cereal, toast or fruit salad either way makes a great start to the day!

Banana's love being paired with chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream, even cumin and curry spices!

Try these quick and easy Banana & double choc muffins anytime of the day...
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes for 12-cup & 12 minutes for 24 cup
Makes: 12 large or 48 mini

Keeps: Best served on day of making; wrap individually in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 3 months.

The Ingredients
2 cups (300g) Self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup (125g) sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ cup (40g) white chocolate, chopped
¼ cup (40g) dark chocolate, chopped
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup (250ml) milk
65g butter, melted

Lets have some fun
Preheat oven to 180ºC for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine; flour, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and half the chocolate. Add banana, egg, vanilla, milk & butter; stir gently until just combined.
Spoon muffin mixture evenly between the 12 cups of the Flexibake muffin & top each muffin with extra chocolate pieces.
Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Tips
Muffins don’t like to be over mixed, so as a rule of thumb only stir the mixture 15 times.

Enjoy experimenting with banana's & happy cooking,

love amie x

PASSIONS

What are your passions?

With Christmas just around the corner this time of year always makes me ponder even more (some could argue that this couldn't be possible!!!) the highs and lows of the last year.

Here is a tiny sneak....Of a few of mine!

What are your passions from 2008?
Is it music, politics (yuk!), food (yum!), sports, arts, religion???

I recently found a new cook book (something new!) called Table Tucker, Penina Petersen.

http://118.127.10.68/~earthhap/shoppingcart/index.php

I was inspired by this woman's refreshing take on a cook book. Every day it seems we are inundated with new cookbooks, springing up from out of nowhere.

This book makes getting organised look like FUN! Perfect for busy people who like to be organised. Featuring tips on shopping, budgeting along with beautiful writing by Penina.

Take a look and see what you think.

I love that 'Table Tucker is like having your mum in your back pocket!'

love amie x

what i love xox

Golden Syrup Dumplings or have you tried Jamlings!

A sweet surprise and a true Nana favourite, Golden syrup dumpling's are as easy as 1, 2, and 3. A budget-friendly dessert the whole family will adore time after time.

This dessert favourite is something I never tire of or mess with, until my friend suggested I try Jamling's!!!

'Jamling's, I retorted.'
'What are Jamling's?'

Curious but not overly impressed by the idea I decided to try this recipe before I could form a complete judgement on the Jamling!

The verdict is still out on this one, sorry mate!
I still prefer the un-adulterated version of the Golden syrup dumpling's best, served with a generous scoop of creamy vanilla ice-cream, YUM!

Golden Syrup Dumplings or Jamlings (see TIP)!

It will take you: 10 minutes, preparation
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 4-6 people

The Ingredients
1 cup (155g) self-raising flour
60g butter, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons milk
Pure cream or ice-cream to serve

Syrup
30g butter
1 cup (220g) caster sugar or brown sugar
4 tablespoon golden syrup

Let’s have some fun
Add flour to a medium bowl; rub in butter until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg and milk into flour mixture. Combine to form dough, then divide dough evenly into small balls.
To make the syrup, combine the ingredients together with 1 cup of water in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Carefully add dough balls to syrup and boil for 20 minutes. Serve with syrup, cream & ice cream.

Tips
For Jamling's and an added sweet burst of flavour try these Golden syrup jamling's – Make a small hole with your finger in the center of each dumpling, add ½ teaspoon of your favourite jam to each dumpling, smooth over. Cook as directed.
To balance the sweetness you can add a little lemon juice or zest to the syrup.

Enjoy the beautiful sweet aromas of this yummy dessert whilst its cooking. Just be careful, once the neighbours catch a sneaky whiff of the toffee and caramel like smells they will be hard to restrain!

Enjoy.

love amie x

Eating Pizza Out vs In, which is better?

This week has re-kindled my thirst for a good quality pizza; A crisp base with deliciously inviting toppings are a must for my choice of pizza. What is yours?

After dining at Hugo's in Manly and devouring the most magnificent Asparagus, goats cheese, Parmesan, egg and truffle oil pizza, I was excited and slightly obsessed yet again about this deliciously simple tasting meal and so too was my dinner date!

Perhaps it was the company, the wine or maybe that fact that we were sitting on the edge of the water, watching the sun whispering its good nights across Sydney harbour, whilst the last lazy ferries sailed their final voyage.

Whatever the reason my love of pizza has grown again, much to my swim wears disgust coming into the hot summer season. A pizza obsession is just not on the cards!

So last night's dining was pizza, an Aristo's (surprise chef) special...

A throw together (whatever ingredients were in the fridge) pizza, ours was Mexican-style with avocado, tomatoes, cheese's (Tasty and Parmesan), field mushrooms and a secret sauce recipe, was just the ticket for a budget-friendly and relaxed mid-week meal.

Try this super-easy & kid-friendly chocolate and banana mini pizza recipe, the perfect sweet treat for any birthday or entertaining occasion.

The Ingredients
Dough
1 cup (155g) Self raising flour
1 cup (155g) Plain Flour
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup lukewarm water

Topping
240g Hazelnut spread (Nutella)
3 Banana’s, sliced
200g fresh Ricotta
Walnuts, roasted, optional to serve

Lets have some fun

Preheat oven to 220ºC for 15 minutes. Place the Baking Stone into the oven.

In a medium bowl combine; flours, salt, yeast, honey and water. Knead dough for 3 minutes or until smooth.

Divide dough evenly into 6 portions. Roll dough using rolling pin or press out with the tips of your fingers, until the base is about 1cm thick.
Spread each pizza base evenly with hazelnut spread, top with banana and ricotta.
Place mini pizza's on the Baking Stone. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve with ice-cream.

Tips
Add a sprinkling of strawberries, fresh berries or slivers of sliced pear with some grated dark chocolate.

love amie x

P.S Let me know your BEST pizza eating experience!