Chillies are...

For my latest entry to Foodography 1 I thought I'd a little fun and play with my food. But when playtime was over I had to do something with all these chillies. So I thought of putting them to good use in a very simple recipe.

Blueberry Yoghurt Muffins with Lemon Syrup

I'm a sucker for alliteration and Monday's a good day to prepare some nice muffin treats to tide you over for those first few days of the week. In this case I've gone for a little different look for the muffins and made them using a friand tin.

In honour of the first ever (and possibly only) "Muffin Monday" I'm going kill two birds with one recipe. I promised a use for those blueberries I used in those earlier photos and here it is.

Scones

After enduring multiple days of 40°C temperatures, the thought of winter comfort food would be the last thing on anyone's mind. It took delving into my latest cookbook acquisition to give me the inspiration for Alicat and Sara's latest installment of Weekend Cookbook Challenge.

The cookbook in question is Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery. Margaret Fulton is the godmother of Australian cookery. It's been said that she "taught the nation to cook", her influence bringing new foods and new methods into our kitchens. At 82 she's one of our nation's living legends and is still cooking. In fact her latest work is the update on her original Encyclopedia first published in 1983.

Using this tome as my inspiration there seemed only one appropriate dish to create. Something quintessentially Margaret - something very much a part of our heritage and still enjoyed, at any age.

There's nothing more comforting on an cold afternoon in winter then to settle back with a pot of tea and a batch of piping hot scones (with jam and cream of course!) straight from the oven. The scent immediately connecting with your senses, the warmth radiating from the kitchen. Perfection.

Our scones most resemble what the US call "biscuits" though for us a biscuit is their cookie, but that's another story. Scones can come in all shapes and sizes with all matter of flavourings but for me, nothing beats the simplicity of the basic scone.

Linguine with Sweet Potato and Sage Burnt Butter Sauce

Amy from Cooking with Amy wants us to use our noodle and that's what I've done. To quote Poirot "the little grey cells" have been hard at work.

Coconut Custard with Palm Sugar Syrup

The challenge is to make a delicious, mouthwatering dessert while cutting down on sugar and fat. No, this isn't mission impossible it's the twisted theme of Sugar High (Low) Friday #15.

Eliminating refined sugars opens up a different world of sweeteners. I could have gone the route of just substituting an unrefined caster sugar or brown sugar (Billington's is one brand) but that didn't seem to be in the spirit of the theme. I'm also not found of artificial sweeteners so after a little thought I've decided to use an ingredient that is most often associated with savoury dishes.

Sudden Impact

Right at this moment yellow button squash are hurtling through space on a collision path with planet earth. Citizens are advised to head to their kitchens to await further instructions...

Foodography 1: Submission #5

Cardamom pods, if memory serves me right, they are from the Elettaria Cardomomum. Inside each pod are tiny brown seeds - it's uses are varied, from Cardamom Tea to the spice blend Garam Masala.

Foodography 1: Submission #4

I finally got off the blood orange kick and now it's blueberries. It's a simple clean layout - basic colour combination - red, white and blue.

Now I'll have to put these beauties to a good use...

Foodography 1: Submission #3

This is my Blood Orange on Blue card - the card colour turned out spot on and I like the details on the orange - however there's texture I didn't want to see in the background...maybe next time.

Hay Hay It's Donna Day #2: Macaroons

The motto of Donna Hay's magazine is to "turn simple into special" and you have to say her recipes are simple, sometimes they do seem too simple. I tend to think of her recipes as basic blocks in which you can modify to your own skill level or your own taste. They are certainly ripe for interpretation as Pearl of the Orient's "Hay Hay It's Donna Day" Challenge testifies.

I decided to do two versions of Macaroons using a couple of unusual ingredients.



Dividing the basic recipe into two, one batch will be flavoured with a newish product on the market "Vanilla Bean Paste". If you'd had to scrap vanilla pods before you'll understand how good this is. You get those oh-so-desired tiny little seeds without the effort.

The second will be flavoured using Green & Black's Organic Hot Chocolate with Orange and spice - a change for using plain cocoa.

Foodography 1: Submission #2

I do seem stuck on those Blood Oranges. This is my second submission. I think I'm getting closer to what I want in this photo. It's taken under natural light - the red card I've used has turned out looking pink but I think it's alright. The orange isn't as clear as I'd like it to be.

Blood Oranges

I've posted this photo as part of Foodography's "Oranges aren't the only fruit" theme. Blood Oranges aren't your average orange. From their red tinged skin and flesh to their grown up flavour, consider them next time a recipe calls for an orange.

Dashi broth with Udon Noodles and Glazed Mahi Mahi

A deceptively simple challenge from the people at Slashfood - eat the letter D.

But what would the letter D relate to..would it be the ingredient or the dish name. Dinner and Dessert were quickly ruled out and I settled on finding an ingredient or two that would satisfy the requirement.

Initial thoughts revolved around Duck...perhaps Dumplings...or even fresh pasta made from Durum...but then the mind seized. Inspiration wasn't coming so I took refuge in that spot in the kitchen where I head for ideas...the pantry. And that's where I saw it. Something that I enjoyed but hadn't really used and it started with the letter D.

Dashi!

Dashi can be made fresh but in Japan most home cooks use the granulated form - for this exercise I'm using Hon-Dashi - it's made from bonito.

To go with the dashi an obvious match would be Udon Noodles (plenty of d's in there).

A visit to the market I came upon the final ingredient, a perfect companion - there in the middle of the fishmongers cabinet lay a large Dolphin Fish. It's more user friendly name is Mahi-Mahi.

An introduction

This is a sister site to "Eat (almost) Anything at Least Once" which at the moment is suffering a little time distortion. It's taking a lot longer than I had envisaged to organise the photos from our recent trip - things like post holiday depression and something called Christmas put a dent in the activity. But now it's full(ish) steam ahead. Until it's up to date I'll be posting new events on this blog.