Super-sumptuous soy sauce brownie

That's right people - soy sauce.  Not as quick as my 5-minute microwave brownie, but significantly more fudgey.  YUM!  

I had come across the recipe a while ago, on the website for kikkoman soy sauces (quite what I was doing perusing a soy sauce website, I can't answer you, but there you go!) and had been meaning to try it for a while.  Finally got around to it this week, with it being a friend's birthday (Happy Birthday Emma!). 

It made a fairly big brownie (about the size of a dinner plate), so plenty to go around.  Give this one a whirl, next time you're after filling up the pantry coffers...

250 g butter
200 g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 3/4 cups (tightly packed) brown sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp soy sauce
1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius (160 if oven is fan-forced).
2. Melt butter and chocolate together in small saucepan, over low hear, until melted and smooth.
3. Combine sugar, eggs and soy in large bowl.  Add melted chocolate and mix to combine. 
4. Add other ingredients and mix into silky chocolatey mixture. 
5. Pour into greased 23 cm cake tin and bake for about 35 minutes, or until set (you want it slightly fudgey in the centre, not overcooked). 
6. Serve warm with cream, or yoghurt and berries, or slice when cold for a tasty lunchbox treat. 

*oink oink, œuf œuf*

A bacon and egg pie - staple food of the summer picnic.  And, by extension, going out on the boat, or as a convenient dish to take with for a weekend away, when you think you'll be arriving too late to faff about with making dinner.  Throw a salad together, reheat pie (or not), and voilà, Bob's your proverbial uncle. 

Friday past was such a day.  We were headed to Whitianga for the weekend and there was a good possibility we'd not be leaving until 6 pm or so (and thus arriving at 9 pm or so), and would need something to (a) peck on along the way (and other than a pie at Turua it's pretty slim pickings) or (b) eat upon arrival.  So a bacon and egg pie came to mind.  I'd not actually made one before, believe it or not (I promise I am a true kiwi - I eat marmite, watch rugby and have dossed on a friend's floor in London), but having watched Mum and KB's mum whip 'em up knew that wouldn't be a prob. 

So, next time you're in one of the above situations, or just have a mass of eggs that need eating and you're scratching your head wondering what the hell to do with 'em, just remember, to always blow on the pie. 

12 eggs (or thereabouts)
6 rashers bacon, chopped into large pieces
dash milk 
2 onions, chopped up
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 
few tsp capers 
3 tbsp wholegrain mustard 
cup frozen peas 
1/2 capsicum, chopped up (had that in the fridge, so used it, could also use 'shrooms)
grated cheese, I used almost a cup
salt and pepper 
fresh herbs, if you have some

1. Spray oven dish with oil, or rub with some butter.  Turn oven on to about 180 celcius.
2. Break eggs into large bowl, stir to break up a bit.  Throw all other ingredients in and mix. 
3. Pour into dish and bake until all cooked through and golden on top.  I had to cover mine with foil for the last 15 or so minutes.  Think it took about 45 minutes all up.    
4. Serve hot or cold, with salad.  Or just throw into the hamper and enjoy! 

 

worth peanuts?

I am used to finding recipes and meal ideas in odd places.  But a biscuit recipe in an issue of a mountain biking magazine?  Wow, that one surprised even me.  I suppose though that biscuits would be convenient refueling for a busy biker. 

 

The recipe was for peanut brownies, which I made half with peanuts and the other half with chocolate chips, so there's something for everyone.  The recipe itself called for Chelsea's low GI sugar, but I just used raw sugar (or white, whatever you have in the pantry).  Suddenly the lunchboxes look far more interesting!   

 

125 g butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp cocoa

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup raw peanuts/choc chips

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius and line two baking sheets with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar then add egg and beat to combine.
3. Fold through dry ingredients and peanuts/choc (I split the mixture into two here, to keep the peanuts and chocolate apart). 
4. Roll into balls and press flat on trays with fork.  Bake for 12 minutes.  

Ota 'ika

Raw fish.  Initial thoughts that spring to mind is of old-school farce, slapping someone across the face with a fish, rather than of delicacies from the deep.  But, when you give it a second thought, you realise just how prevalent raw fish is in the diet of many cultures, and increasingly in our own - cerviche, sashimi, some sushi, an veritable plethora of dishes using raw salmon. 

We've recently returned from holidaying in Tonga, swimming with humpback whales around the Vava'u Islands, where we were seriously spoilt for choice of good restaurants and cafes - thanks Tropicana, Ovava, Aquarium, Mango and Marina (and there are many more, but there's only so much eating one can do before one (a) runs out of holiday and/or (b) risks being mistaken for the whales we were swimming with)!  One of the local dishes we stumbled upon was ota 'ika.  Ota 'ika (literally 'raw fish') is basically diced fish that been marinated in lemon or lime juice until the surface becomes opaque, then mixed with coconut milk (much like cerviche).  From there seemed to be many alterations, depending on availability of produce and the whim of the person making it.  Most of the ota 'ika I saw used a lot of dill, but I'd be inclined to go for coriander and mint myself.  It's quite rich, so as an entree is perfect. 

Small portion per person fish, diced - snapper, gurnard, tuna etc - or mahi mahi if you're in the islands!
coconut milk (about 1 tin per 2 fillets)
lemon or lime juice
salt and pepper
fresh herbs, roughly chopped
veges - capsicum, tomato, spring onion, maybe a little cucumber

NB: There are no exact measurements because, frankly, how much of everything you put in will depend on personal taste, the look you are going for (chunky and full of bits and pieces, or more simple with just herbs and fish) and the type of fish you're using.  Trial and error - it'll taste fab no matter what!  Furthermore, don't feel that you have to just use fish - if you have mussels, scallops, pipis, squid or crab use those.  Yum!!

vanilla sky

We had some white choc left over from making Mum's birthday cake, so decided it was cupcake time.  I'm not a fan of white chocolate, but somehow vanilla and berries turn it into a completely different kettle of proverbial fish.  Yum! 

65 g butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
3/4 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
c. 1/2 cup each chocolate + berries

FOR ICING:

50 g butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp milk

1. Heat oven to 160 degrees fanbake (or a little higher if your oven doesn't have fanbake).  Line 12 muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time. 
3. Add flours and milk and beat to combine.  Stir through chocolate and berries - I used macadamia white chocolate. 
4. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. 
5. Cool on a wire rack. 
6. Whip icing ingredients together and ice cooled cupcakes.  Decorate as desired. 

Sing us a song, you're the piano man ♪♪

It was Mum's birthday a few weeks ago and she had a dinner party with family and friends to celebrate.  I decided to make her a birthday cake, 'cause lets face it - who wouldn't love a fancy birthday cake eh?  Kids get 'em every year, but in the realm of adults' birthday parties they're pretty scarce.  Which may be because as adults we have more sophisticated tastes and can therefore appreciate a party-cake alternative, such as creme brulée, or tiramisu.  

Or maybe it's just because, as teens, we stopped wanting those kiddy type cakes (sooooo lame), and that was the end of an era.  Anyhoo, colourful cakes are definitely in vogue again, and it's time we all got out some lollies, food colouring and had a bit of fun.  And next time it's your Mum or Dad's birthday - make them a cake - I don't know a single Dad who wouldn't secretly LOVE a racing car cake, even if he's 80. 

My Mum is a fabulous pianist, so when I decided to make her a piano-shaped cake (which I had actually made once before, so knew that whilst it looked quite involved, it was in reality simplicity incarnate), fresh from the pages of the Australian Women's Weekly Kids Birthday Cakes book, inherited from Mum herself (there's a duck cake in there which crops up in photos from my 1st birthday).  You can use any type of cake really, provided it's a relatively firm one - banana cake etc not a good idea.  So chocolate, vanilla, a good ol' butter cake.  For the piano it needs '2 packets of cake mix' worth of cake.  The first time I made it I just double the recipe for a standard butter cake, but this time I chose the line of least resistance and got 2 packets of Edmonds Angelic Vanilla Cake.  And it was really yum, so win-win. 

I baked the double-lot of cake mix in a 23 cm (or thereabouts) tin, for approximately 60 minutes - about 45 minutes in I needed to cover it with tin foil, so the top didn't get any more brown.  The key with decorated cakes is - make it a day in advance.  You want it a 'day stale', so to speak, as then the cake doesn't crumb when you're spreading icing on it. 

When ready to decorate I cut the cake about 3/4 of the way through, so I had one large rectangle (for the upright part of the piano) and one long skinnier rectangle, to sit in front for the keys.  Cover the whole beast with chocolate vienna cream icing (see below) and decorate using white chocolate and liquorice (or something else white and black).  I like to make a wee music stand and what not, to give it some personality - ideally the piano would've had a candelabra set on top, but I could only find a mini wine bottle.  But hey - it was for an adult after all eh? 

VIENNA CREAM:

125 g butter

1 1/2 cups icing sugar  

2 tbsp milk

1. Beat butter and half of sugar together until pale. 
2. Gradually add milk, then beat in the rest of the sugar. 
3. If wanting chocolate or coloured cream, add a couple of tbsp cocoa, or food colouring. 

NB: Make the vienna cream on the day you want to use it.  Once the cake is decorated, keep it somewhere cool, but do no refridgerate, as the butter in the cream may harden and start to separate. 

What'd you do when life hands you lemons?

There are many good answers to that question - get a bottle of gin or tequila, make lemonade, polish the furniture.  I'm normally partial to the gin suggestion, but as it's only just past 10 am, I'll refrain for the moment. 

I came across this recipe the other day, channel surfing.  One of those TV cooking demos was making what looked to be really easy, and using lemons.  We had a large bowlful of those citrussy little gems which, if not dealt with promptly, were going to be wasted, which I hate.  So, off to the supy to buy some frozen berries (them being out of season at the moment) and voila!  We enjoyed it at the beach over the weekend, and now the remnants are enlivening our lunches.  I forgot to take any pictures of it once cooked, but I'm sure you can imagine what a lemon-berry loaf looks like.  Make some lemon icing if you fancy, I didn't bother and frankly it didn't need it. 

125 g butter
3/4 cup sugar
zest from 2 lemons
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted 
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup berries (I used mixed)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.  Spray/line 23 cm loaf tin.
2. Cream butter and sugar.  Add zest and beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Add flour and lemon juice and fold until just combined. 
4. Fold in berries and spoon into tin.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until cooked through.
6. Remove from oven and allow to rest in tin for 10 minutes before turning onto wire rack.