Banana + oat loaf

I go to the Food Show in Auckland each year - it's a food and wine paradise, last year there were even a couple of whiskey distillers there!  Whilst I was busy samplingthe local fire water, KB had been drawn to a game show-type stand.  Buy a subscription to our magazine and you can spin the lucky wheel!  So we walked away with a 12-month sub for Food, and a copy of some dodgy old dude singing ballads CD. 

 

The latest issue has some real gems in it, so far, and this tasty cake is one of them...

1 + 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp each baking powder, baking soda, mixed spice
125 g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp molasses
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius.  Line loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar, until pale and smooth.  Add eggs and molasses, beating after each addition. 
3. Fold in dry ingredients.  Mix in bananas and milk. 
4. Spoon mixture into loaf tin and sprinkle with extra oats, if you want to - I used some slivered almonds here. 
5. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until inserted skewer comes out clean.

Return to Tongariro

Catching up with friends over a morning coffee, I hate to go empty-handed.  So last night I thought, hmmm, perhaps I'll whip up another carrot cake.  This thought was almost immediately discarded as unrealistic for a busy Friday morning.  Perhaps just a good ol' chocolate or vanilla cake?  Nope.  Finn had other plans for our morning, and they included more him eating than me baking.  Okay, plan C.  Chocolate.  Chocolate brownie. 

 

Chocolate brownies are awesome.  They taste wicked, are easy to make and I don't think I've ever some across a single person who doesn't like them.  Really, brownies should be my plan A.  This one is made in the microwave, so takes all of 5 minutes to cook (so about 10 minutes from start to finish).  This is a cheat post, since I've already blogged about this recipe before, but I think it deserves a second airing.  This is perfect for anyone who wants a homemade treat, but for whatever reason just hasn't the time to be faffing in the kitchen with baked goods.  Yum, and leaves you with time to get other stuff done. 

follow that carrot

Almost four weeks ago we had a baby boy.  So I reckon I've a pretty good excuse for my lack of recent blogging.  But now it's time to get back in the proverbial saddle, and what better way than with some tasty home baking?  My partner and I both love carrot cake, so it was a no-brainer place to start.  I almost stuffed it completely, by forgetting it was in the oven, but fortunately got to it just in time - extra golden, but not yet torched!  Cream cheese icing covers the heightened colour nicely.  Kyle had to laugh though - virtually every time I bake I forget something. 

Anyhoo, carrot cake a go-go people, everyone loves it, so treat your office, or your family, or hell, just yourself, and make one.  You get to lick the cream cheese icing spoon. 

3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups carrot, grated
1/2 cup nuts (I used slivered almonds)
1 tsp lemon rind
3/4 cup crushed pineapple

CREAM CHEESE ICING

2 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup cream cheese
1 cup icing sugar
squeeze lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. 
2. Beat eggs until thick.  Mix in oil, then dry ingredients. 
3. Fold in remaining ingredients. 
4. Pour mixture into lined/greased 22 cm springform tin and bake for 40 minutes, or until inserted skewer comes out clean. 
5. Leave in tin for further 10 minutes following removal from oven, then move to cooling rack. 
6. Ice with cream cheese icing when completely cooled, sprinkle with sunflower seeds if desired. 

zucchini madness

It's that time of year, when zucchini plants run rampant and, if you're not careful, you end up with massive marrows.  We like to have a surfeit of zuccs, so always plant several plants.  It means we can eat zucchini every day, if we so choose, but also means that new ways to deal with the fruits often need finding... 

 

In the past I've made zucchini fritters, zucchini-based lasagne and zucchini soup.  This time it's time to introduce a new flavour alongside this sweet, summery vegetable - the lemon.  Zucchini and lemon loaf, with slivered almonds.  Yum!  This recipe comes from the January 2013 New Zealand Gardener, with the only amendment being that I used one loaf tin, rather than splitting between two and also added some lemon juice.  Enjoy mes amis!

 

400 g flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

250 g sugar

250 ml rice bran oil 

400 g grated zucchini 

grated zest and juice of lemon 

100 g slivered almonds 

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius. 
2. Beat eggs and sugar together until pale and creamy.  Beat in the oil and then stir through the zucchini and lemon.  
3. Stir through the dry ingredients - don't over-beat though, or loaf will be dense instead of light. 
4. Pour into greased loaf tin and scatter top with almonds. 
5. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until inserted skewer comes out clean.    

salmon fishing in the yemen?

One of the things I love about holidaying in Whitianga is Salt, a restaurant and bar with never-fail amazing food.  We eat really well at home and at friends' houses, which makes the restaurants' jobs a lot harder, but Salt always seems to meet the challenge. 

 

Eating there a week or so ago I had a simple and exceptionally tasty starter of cold cured salmon slices, with mandarin (or it may have been wee segments of tangelo) and buffolo mozzarella, all drizzled with a lovely oil (from memory I'm going to say it was avocado, but really any nice, full-flavoured oil will do - a basil one would be perfect!).  The plate was supposed to be with scallops (which Shaun had and loved), but being allergic I had those replaced.  And boom - mozzarella was the perfect foil for the stronger flavours of the citrus and the salmon.  You can grab a ball from most supermarkets, or from local foodie stores such as our Red Kitchen. 

 

Buon appetito and enjoy the summer! 

over turkey, time for a gin and tonic?

These biscuits are delicious.  Thanks to Jamie Oliver for putting me onto them.  Quick to make too.  And the perfect treat for that post-Christmas lull.  His version has orange zest, but I prefer to use lime.  Lime reminds me of summer holidays, and cranberries of Christmas, so its the perfect combination.  Chocolate?  Reminds me that I want another one, please.  I think these would be pretty tasty with some slivered or broken up almonds in them too, perhaps reduce the cranberries and choc chips by a quarter each, and make up the weight in nuts?  Pistachios?  Go for gold, see what works! 

75 g butter

100 g castor sugar

1 egg

zest of one lime

160 g flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

50 g dried cranberries

100 g dark chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees celcius. 
2. Cream butter and sugar, then mix in the egg and zest.  Add dry ingredients and mix, before finally adding in the cranberries and chocolate and mixing through. 
3. Place coin-sized dollops onto baking tray (I line mine with baking paper, but you could grease them with cooking oil or butter if you prefer), flatten and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. 
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling racks before eating with a gin and tonic (or a hot chocolate, if you're Christmasing in cooler climes). 

Jamie's cobbler

A few weeks ago I borrowed the 2010/2011 Jamie Oliver Recipe Yearbook from Bates.  I think I've mentioned before that I've a bit of a weekness for flicking through recipe books, and particularly enjoy those from Jamie, Nigella and Rick Stein.  They're so full of colourful pictures, and useful tips, that even if you don't end up actually following any recipes they're well worth the peruse. 

 

Anyhoo, whilst perusing the 2010/2011 annual I came across a cherry cobbler recipe.  I'd never made a cobbler before (we don't really eat a lot of desserts), but it was so straitforward that I had to try it.  It is basically a crumble, but with sconey topping.  I made an apple cobbler, as those were in the fridge.  Apparantly the name 'cobbler' comes from the fact that the overall effect looks a bit like a cobbled street.  Hmmm.  Streetfood.  Yummy! 

 

500 g apple (either sliced up fresh, or stewed, or a tin from the supy)

squeeze of lemon/lime juice

225 g caster sugar

110 g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

40 g butter, chilled and diced

1 egg yolk

50 ml buttermilk (you can make a substitute using normal milk with lemon juice)

handful flaked almonds

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. 
2. Mix fruit, lime juice, and 175 g sugar together in the base of a pie dish (mine was about 24 cm). 
3. Beat egg yolk and buttermilk together.  In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder and remaining sugar.  Rub in the butter until resembles breadcrumbs. 
4. Pour egg mixture into flour and mix until you have a sticky dough. 
5. Drop walnut-sized pieces on top of fruit, leaving some gaps for the scones to expand into.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling. 
6. Serve warm with ice cream or cream. 

NB: The photo is not of my cobbler, as we devoured it before I thought about taking a picture.  But it gives an idea :)  Furthermore, I think this dessert would go well with a nice glass of single malt alongside - perhaps Talisker or Lagavulin?