Easy Garlic Pizza

this is so easy to make and you can have it as a snack by itself or serve as a side dish with your favourite pasta meal.

Ingredients :

1 ready made pizza base
1 table spoon of soft butter
1 table spoon of garlic ( i used minced garlic)
1 table spoon of parsley (finely chopped)
1/2 table spoon of olive oil

Method:

1. Place butter, garlic and parsley in a bowl and combined.

2. spread over pizza base

3. drizzle olive oil over the top

4. bake in the oven for 10 - 15minutes or until pizza has turned golden on 180 degrees.



Optional :-

For something different you can also spread grated Mozzarella cheese on top before  placing in the oven.

Arancini

Just recently I was introduced to an Arancini ball and ever since then, my first time; I have been hooked. I decided to make some myself, having not even made risotto before. I found this recipe online from taste.com but I have made a few changes to it such as watering down the chicken stock when making the risotto, and making the balls a lot smaller as well as the cheese cubes (anyways the changes have been made to the below recipe) I am not going to say making this was easy, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, I would totally be making this again! The only downfall I found was the time, for someone who needs work on my organizational skills this was a little time consuming. I served this with the Spicy Shirley Sauce, but can also be served with olives and feta.

Ingredients :

3 cups chicken stock + 1 cup of water

1 tbs olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

330g (1 1/2 cup) arborio rice

40g (1/2 cup) shredded parmesan

4 eggs

180g (2 cups) dried (packaged) breadcrumbs

150g (1 cup) plain flour

100g mozzarella, cut into 1cm pieces

Vegetable oil, to deep-fry

Method :

1. Place the stock and water in a medium saucepan over high heat and bring just to the boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Hold at a gentle simmer.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
3. Add the rice to the onion mixture and cook, stirring, until the grains appear slightly glassy. Add a ladleful of the simmering stock to the rice mixture and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the liquid is completely absorbed. Continue to add the stock, 1 ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the liquid to be absorbed before adding the next ladleful, for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender yet firm to the bite and the risotto is creamy. Stir in the parmesan. Set aside for 2-3 hours to cool completely. Add 2 eggs and stir until well combined.
4. Place the breadcrumbs on a large plate. Place the flour in a bowl. Crack the remaining eggs into a separate bowl and use a fork to lightly whisk. Use wet hands to shape 2 tablespoons of the risotto mixture into a ball. Press your thumbs into the centre of the ball to make an indent. Place a piece of mozzarella in the indent, then mould the risotto mixture around the mozzarella to enclose. Repeat with the remaining risotto mixture and mozzarella to make 28 balls.
5. Roll the risotto balls in the flour and shake off any excess. Dip in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs, pressing to coat. Place on a large plate. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
6. Add enough oil in a large saucepan to reach a depth of 5cm. Heat to 190°C over medium-high heat (when the oil is ready a cube of bread will turn golden in 10 seconds). Add 7 risotto balls to the oil and cook, turning occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until golden. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat, in 3 more batches, with the remaining risotto balls, reheating the oil between batches.
7. Place the risotto balls on a serving plate.

Spicy Shirley Sauce

So While visiting my friend (bestie actually) in Melbourne, we went to a really cool & funky cafe in St Kilda. Now i cant remember exaclty what the dish was (probably wasnt important) but it come with this most amazing spicy sauce. So when I came home, You know what I did right??? went straight to the kitchen to reenact it!!! ok so its NOT quite the same but it will do!!

Ingridents:

1/2 red capiscum
3 red chilli's
Cumin seeds
1 tablespoon of yoghurt
1 teaspoon of tap water
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Place all ingreidents in a blender and blend away, serve with kebabs or anything that needs that Spicy Shirley Sauce kick!

Banoffee Tarts

This is the most easist and quickest Banoffee Tart you will find ANYWHERE!!!! I have also combined chocolate in with the caramel to make it that extra sweet and that extra bit naughty!!
depending on your tart sizes this will make 5 - 6 tarts

Ingredients :

Base
1 x 250g pkt granita biscuits
125g butter, melted
2 bananas
1 x 300ml ctn double cream

Filling
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk (I used 91% fat-free condensed milk and it tasted just as good)
70g (1/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
50g butter
50g Milk Chocolate
50g Dark Chocolate

Method :

1. Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined.

2. Divide the biscuit mixture among six round 8cm (base measurement) fluted tart tins with removable bases. Use the back of a metal spoon to firmly press the biscuit mixture over the base and side of each tin. I used heart shaped tins.


3. Place in the fridge until required.


4. To make caramel filling, place condensed milk, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 10-12 minutes or until caramel thickens (do not boil).


5. Meanwhile over a pot of boiling water melt  chocolate.


6. Pour the hot caramel evenly among biscuit bases. With the melted chocolate places 3 dots in the middle of the tart and with a knife make a pattern.

7. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour to chill


8. Peel and thinly slice bananas, and arrange over the caramel filling. Top pies with a dollop of cream and serve immediately.

Christmas Pudding

OooOOoooh How do I love Christmas, spending time with family & friends, relaxing, gift giving, going to church, Christmas Trees, decortations, listening and singing carols oohh i could just go on...


but one of my most favourite things to do is eat Christmas Pudding!! the last couple of years i have decided to make them myself, it is bit time consuming but OH SO delicious!!

I have used a recipe I found on Exclusively Food Blog and Trust me it has never let me down!

Serves about 14

Ingredients :

350g (2 cups) raisins
150g (3/4 cup) sultanas
150g dried dates, chopped
100g glace cherries, chopped
1 small (about 130g) green apple, peeled and grated
50ml (2 1/2 tablespoons) rum, brandy or sherry
170g butter, softened
170g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
3 large eggs (we use eggs with a minimum weight of 59g)
1 tablespoon (30g) golden syrup
225g (1 1/2 cups) plain flour
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Method :

1. Stir raisins, sultanas, dates, cherries, apple and rum together in a large bowl until combined, and then set aside until required.

2. Cut a piece of aluminium foil and a piece of non-stick baking paper both about 50cm long and 30cm wide. On a flat surface, place the paper on top of the foil and align the edges. Fold a 5cm wide pleat in the centre of the paper/foil running parallel to the shorter side. The paper/foil is used to cover the pudding while it cooks and the pleat allows for expansion.

3. Grease a 1.5 litre (6 cup) capacity pudding basin or 2 (3 cup) Basins with butter. Cut two strips of baking paper about 2.5cm wide and 50cm long. Press one strip across the base and up the sides of the basin so that the ends overhang on opposite sides of the basin. Repeat with the second strip, placing it at right angles to the first strip. These paper strips are used to help remove the cooked pudding from the basin. Line the base of the basin with a circle of non-stick baking paper then place the circle over the strips.

4. With  an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Stop the machine occasionally and use a spatula to scrape down the side and base of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about one minute after each addition. Add the golden syrup with the last egg. The mixture may look curdled at this stage.

5. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice together into the bowl with the butter mixture. Stir until combined. Add the flour and butter mixture to the bowl with the fruit and stir until well combined.

6. Spoon the pudding mixture into the prepared pudding basin, firmly pushing the mixture down with the back of the spoon to ensure that there are no air pockets. Smooth the surface of the pudding with the back of the spoon.

7. Place the prepared baking paper and foil over the basin with the baking paper side down. Mould the foil/paper down against the sides of the basin to form a lid.

8. Secure the lid by firmly tying a double-thickness of kitchen string just under the rim of the basin.

9. Trim off excess paper/foil so that only 2cm extends below the around-basin string. Enclosing the baking paper, scrunch the 2cm of foil up to form a good seal to prevent any water from coming in contact with the pudding.

10. Cut a 120cm long piece of string and fold in half. Tie one end of the double-thickness piece of string to the string tied around the basin. Tie the loose end of the double-thickness string to the opposite side of the around-basin string. This forms a handle that you can use to lift the pudding. Repeat the procedure to make another handle at right angles to the first one.

11. Place an upturned saucer or trivet on the base of a large boiler or very large saucepan. Stand pudding basin on saucer or trivet and pour enough boiling water into the boiler or saucepan to come halfway up the side of the basin. Do not allow any string, baking paper or foil to come in contact with the water.

12. Cover the boiler or saucepan with a tight-fitting lid (steam vent shut) and boil for 3.5 hours. Top up with boiling water, as necessary, to maintain the water level during cooking.

13. Using the handles, carefully remove the pudding basin from the boiler. Leave pudding to stand for 15 minutes.

14. Remove the string, foil and baking paper from the pudding. The pudding can be removed from the basin and served immediately or stored until required.

Kofta (Meatball) Curry

This dish is one of my old time favourite Curries, reminds me all celebrating christmas's as a young child at my grandmothers. I was always scared to try it, thinking I would stuff it up, but i finally got the guts too and found it wasnt as hard as I thought and didnt taste too bad. You too will have to have a go!!
The koftas (meatballs) in this dish can be made with beef, lamb or chicken. It makes a great meal when served with Basmati Rice and Cucumber Raita.

Ingredients :

1 kg beef mince

5 onions chopped very fine

2 tbsps garlic paste

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsps garam masala (for the Koftas)

3 tbsps tomato ketchup

1/2 cup coriander leaves chopped fine

Salt to taste

3 tbsps vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 tbsps garlic paste

2 tsps coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala (for the gravy)

4 large tomatoes cubed

Method:

1. Put the minced beef, 2 of the chopped onions, 2 tbsps garlic paste, 1 tbsp ginger paste, 2 tbsps garam masala, tomato ketchup and coriander leaves in a large bowl and mix well.

Please Note: I didnt chop my onions finely, so make sure you do!

2. Form the mixture into equal sized balls and keep on a plate.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the remaining onions. Fry till they are light brown then add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry for a minute.

4. Add all the powdered spices - coriander, cumin, red chilli powder, 1 tsp garam masala, turmeric - and fry for 2-3 minutes.

5. Add the tomatoes and mix well. Fry the masala till the oil begins to separate from it.

6. Add 2 cups of warm water to the masala and season with salt to taste. Gently add the meatballs now. Do not stir for at least the next 5 minutes.

7. Stir gently so as not to break the meatballs.

8. Cook uncovered till the meatballs are done. The gravy can be as thick as you like so add or dry up the water as required.

9. Serve with Basmati Rice & Raita.