I think I used to cook

I still love this blog. I still want to learn new recipes voraciously. I haven't forgotten, I promise. My bedside table is littered with cooking magazines, books and notepads filled with scrawled shopping lists and menu ideas. The other day, I got two new posts on different recipes I'd put up, and it gave me such pleasure to know that, though I've been remiss in my updates, what I've previously written is still being read. So I had to post again.

In the last year, I've moved countries, landed my dream job - working with a revered aussie cook who is so incredible it just blows my mind, got diabetes, got married, and now... got pregnant! Yes, lovely husband (aka my partner in culinary crime) and I have a little foodling munching its way into the world, due to make an appearance in October. How lucky are we?

Slightly less lucky is the constant morning sickness I've been plagued with, and the total food aversions. I'm only just managing to regain some semblance of a normal diet, though will admit with desperation that my post preg diet is foul when compared to the delicious and nutritious meals I previously devoured. For the first time since being a pimply teen, I find myself hankering for salt and vinegar crisps or choc coated liquorice, or worse, two minute noodles. gulp.

In three weeks time, I'm cutting my work back substantially, and hot on my agenda to fill the days is a resumption of cooking mayhem and marvelousness. I have a freezer to stock with ready to re-heat meals, after all... Any suggestions for challenges would be most welcome.
dd.x

diabeatit, a lengthy absence

A lengthy absence has elapsed, even for me. There are a few reasons for this.

Firstly, I have landed my. dream. job. I found a job working with one of this country's most amazing foodie personalities and I am in heaven. It's not working with food, but it's just so incredibly inspirational. And fun.

The only downside is that it's about a 2 hour commute either direction, so I have very little free time. While the cooking continues like a freight train, the last thing I feel like doing at the end of a l-o-o-o-n-g day is plugging into the puta and blogging.

On top of that, about three months ago, I went to my GP for a routine check up. He ran a few tests and it turns out I have type 1 diabetes! While not the worst thing in the world, by any means, for someone like me who lives for food, it's been a steep learning curve. The need to monitor everything I eat has taken some of the joy out of the boundless cooking, but I'm pretty sure that I'm on top of it now. This, of course, means that any sweets I whip up are just for my sweet, so he would say that every cloud has a silver lining...!

Below are some dishes that I'll blog recipes for soon, and many more to come.

cooking challenge 28: chocolate and date brownies

I absolutely love brownies, and always have. There's something about the rich, moist, melt in your mouth, crumbly sweetness that just knocks my socks off.

I made these as a gift, hence the wrapping, but I ended up eating all the ones that didn't fit in the box. Whoopsies. However, I can still thoroughly recommend these as a gift, or party treat, or just something to whip up and take into work for friends!

You will need:

240g good quality dark chocolate (70%)
1 cup caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
3 eggs, beaten lightly
1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
1 cup plain flour

What to do:

Preheat oven to 180'c and lightly grease a shallow baking tin.

Over a moderate heat in a small saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and add 200g of the chocolate and stir constantly until it is a liquid. Transfer to a small bowl and refrigerate for a maximum of 10 minutes - do not allow the butter to set.

Remove from fridge and stir in sugar, eggs and flour until combined. Add dates and remaining 40g of chocolate. Pour into the prepared baking tin and use a spatula to smooth the surface.

Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing and serving. Dust with cocoa or icing sugar.

Next time I make these, I think I will add macadamia nuts, or ginger, or orange rind. Something to make them just a little more sophisticated. Of course, Baileys would also do the trick...!

challenge 27: tart lemon pie

You will need:

For the lemon filling:

4 lemons (juice and zest)

130g caster sugar

5 eggs

150ml double cream

For the pastry:

250g good quality plain flour

140g unsalted butter - at room temp

60g icing sugar, sifted

3 egg yolks, room temperature

a little water

What to do:

To make the pastry, mix the butter and icing sugar to form a soft paste. Add 2 egg yolks and beat until combined. Sift the flour over the top and use your fingertips to rub it into the butter mix until it reaches the consistency of rolled oats. Add a little dribble of water (approximately a tablespoon - give or take) and use your hands to knead into a firm dough. Don't knead it for more than a few seconds - you really just want to get it to hold together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 170'c.

Meanwhile, to make the lemon filling, mix the eggs, juice from the lemons, zest and sugar and whisk until combined and a little frothy. Pour in the cream and continue whisking. Refrigerate.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and, on a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to approximately 4mm thickness. Lay the pastry gently into a flan tin and prick the base with a fork all over. Blind bake for about 15 minutes, remove from the oven. Take out the rice/beans to expose the pastry base. Use the remaining egg yolk as an egg wash to coat the pastry base. Bake for a further 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, transfer the lemon curd mix to a deep saucepan and slowly warm it, on a low heat, stirring constantly to ensure the sugar doesn't catch and the eggs don't curdle. Pour the lemon mixture into the pastry case and bake for a further half hour or so. The tart will have the consistency of just-set jelly when ready. Leave to cool before serving - drift icing sugar and lemon zest over the top before serving with a thick dollop of cream.

Will I make this again - definitely. I haven't yet, because I know I will end up eating 75% of it, but I do think it makes such a great summery treat, and the buttery pastry is the perfect foil to the tartness of the filling. Enjoy!

bacon and leek pasta with mushrooms and spinach

You will need:

3 rashers of rindless bacon

1 leek

a handful of baby spinach leaves

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

10 button mushrooms

1/2 cup single cream

1/4 cup white wine

Olive oil

Prepared Pasta

What to do:

Chop onions, leek, garlic and mushrooms. Julienne the bacon. Rinse the spinach.

In a large frying pan, heat your olive oil and then add the onions, leek, garlic and bacon. Fry for several minutes until the bacon is browned. Add the mushrooms and fry for another five minutes or so. Splash in the white wine and season with salt and pepper. Add spinach. Let the white wine reduce by half, then add the cream. Stir well.

Add to prepared pasta and serve immediately, topped with parmesan cheese.

ice-tastic!

D's sister gave me these ice trays- aren't they sweet? From Ikea, I've got fish and starfishies which now decorate my drinks. Love 'em!

delicious scones

You will need:

250g self-raising flour

pinch of salt

200ml milk

60g unsalted butter

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 200'c.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the self raising flour and salt. Use your fingertips to mix in the butter, until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Mix in the milk and stir with a wooden spoon until you have a dough. Knead it gently, then roll to the thickness of between 3 - 4 cm. Use a small cup to cut rounds and lay them on a non stick baking tray.

Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly golden.

Scones freeze beautifully - wrap them individually and then just microwave them for 30 seconds before serving with jam and cream. Yum yum!

blue cheese souffle

You will need:

100g good quality blue cheese
30g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cornflour
300ml milk
2 free range eggs
a little extra flour for dusting
salt and pepper

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180'c - 200'c.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, over low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to form a paste. Slowly whisk in the milk and the seasonings and continue stirring until you have a sauce consistency. Remove from the heat and add the yolk from the eggs, and the blue cheese. Stir until combined.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Gently stir the whisked egg whites into the blue cheese mixture, taking care not to lose the fluffy texture of the egg whites. Sprinkle the reserved flour into a couple of ramekins. Ladle the egg mixture in and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. Don't open the oven to check on their progress or they won't cook properly.

Would I make this again? Yes. I can't wait to keep working on this recipe. The flavour was just amazing. I used a very bitey blue, and with the fennel salad, it was a delicious entree.

cooking challenge twenty three: blue cheese souffle

One of the reasons I started this challenge was to learn to make souffles, particularly savoury ones. I was so happy with the flavour of these but I have a fair way to go technically. What they lacked in beauty they made up in taste. Mmm. I served them with a fennel salad and little croutons.
For our main course, we had a salad nicoise with salmon instead of tuna.

And for dessert, we had a rich chocolate ganache cake, topped with hazelnuts and served with double cream and strawberry coulis.

cooking challenge twenty one: chocolate tart

Here's the recipe for the deliciously gooey chocolate tart I made a few weeks ago, as a cooking challenge. This is so beautifully simple, and effective.

You will need:

300g dark cooking chocolate

250ml thick cream

60g unsalted butter, cubed

100g flour

1 egg

pinch of salt

pinch of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of cocoa

2 tablespoons icing sugar

What to do:

To make the pastry, beat the butter, icing sugar and egg together with an electric mixer until pale and well combined. Sift in the flour, cocoa, salt and cinnamon and gently combine using a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Knead gently on a bench until you have achieved the right consistency, then wrap firmly in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180'c.

Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough to approximately half a centimetre in thickness and drape into a shallow cake tin. Freeze for 10 minutes then blind bake the pastry shell for approximately 20 minutes, until cooked through, then set aside until back to room temperature.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler, whisking constantly. Add the thickened cream. Once the pastry has cooled, pour the melted chocolate mixture and refrigerate for 4 hours or until firmly set.

Just prior to serving, put it in the freezer for 5 - 10 minutes to firm the chocolate. Use a knife that you've dipped in hot water to slice. Delicious.

I would give this a 10/10. A sure fire hit, easy and quick to make. I have actually made a spare batch of pastry which is in the freezer, and as I always have dark chocolate in the pantry and cream in the fridge (!) I know that I can whip this up whenever I have guests coming on short notice. It is seriously delicious - the crunch of the pastry and the sweet, softness of the chocolate. Divine. Next time, I'm going to blend some crystallized ginger into the pastry mix and put some pistachios into the chocolate.