Bruschetta

Hello again!
After stuffing him for breakfast, lunch was a bit on the lighter side. I know that Bruschetta is pretty basic stuff, but I wanted to get it as traditional as possible. The recipe came from "Suite 101". Most of the time when making Bruschetta I usually just chuck together red onion, tomato & parsley, but there were a few tips with this one that I thought were brilliant and it tasted even better:

• Use brown onion and soak it - diced - in salted water. This takes away the bitterness with keeping that brown onion taste. 
• Drain the tomatoes and onion (after soaking) so your mix doesn't end up too watery leaving you with soggy bread. 
• Adding lemon juice really highlights the freshness of the dish.

Of course using day old bread toasted and rubbed with garlic is essential (lots of garlic if you're like me hehe). 

I bit more time consuming than usual, however I made up the tomato/onion/lemon juice the night before so didn't spend so much time in the kitchen and allowed everything to build flavour. Yum yum. 

Eggs Benedict

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! As my hubby was going to be working tonight, I decided to do him a cooked brekkie and lunch before he heads off. Eggs benedict being his favourite, was an easy choice for what to make. Little did I know the injuries that I would incur! Hollandaise sauce - I have discovered - has a shit load of butter in it, but with all the whisking that you end up doing, I think you wear it all off.
After reading the recipe for hollandaise, I was a bit dubious as all I could see on the recipe was "care", "warning", "make sure"...etc. Holy crap! Well let's give it a bash.
The recipe is from "The Science of Eggs" I won't write it down here, when you can just click the link if you want.
My stupid oven again gave me the shits, as even though my sauce was on the smallest burner on the lowest setting, it thickened in like 3 seconds which I didn't expect! Any longer I would have ended up with an omelet.

 Adding the butter was the next pain. Just imagine you have like 225g of melted butter which has to be added a QUARTER TEASPOON at a time and then whisked thoroughly. Needless to say by the end of it, I have now added a electric bench mixer to my wish list >_<
As a result, my middle finger now has a blister on it which basically looks like I have a small caterpillar under my skin. The things I do for cooking....

But at the end of the day, it turned out really well! Man it tasted awesome. Again another problem, you can't actually keep Hollandaise sauce. Once you've made it, use it or throw it out! So after all that whisking, beating, sweat & blisters, the sauce went on the plate and then in the bin *sigh*.
Yesterday also started a search for fresh asparagas which ended dismally, couldn't find it anywhere! So we ended up with grilled toast, grilled ham till crisp, poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce. Beautiful.

Keep a look out for my next Blog today which will be Bruschetta for lunch. Till then....

Vegie Crustless Quiche

Well, quite simple recipe for my first, but as I said, will post them all on here. This recipe comes from a New Idea Mini book "New Family Favourites". The recipe did call form Bacon, however not having any, I used some corn kernels just to bulk it a bit (plus I love corn in quiche!). 

Was looking for something to cook my hubby for tea that is easily reheated or even eaten cold for those damn late shifts :P. Quiche covered both of these and was pretty simple stuff. Plus I only just got the book so wanted to try something from it >_<

Ingredients

• 1 large zucchini grated (excess juice squeezed out)
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 6 button mushrooms sliced
• 1 large carrot grated
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup parmesan 
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley

Stuff to do

1. Grease a 20cm cake tin very well and line base with baking paper. Pre-heat oven to 180C. 
2. Cook onion and garlic in a little olive oil until onion is soft. Add mushrooms & corn and cook on a high heat, stirring until softened. Add zucchini and carrot. Cook, stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat. 
3. Beat eggs and milk in a large bowl. Stir in flour (no need to be sifted, just mix well). Add Vegie mix, parmesan & parsley. Season with salt and pepper and mix until combined. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Cook, uncovered for about 40 mins (check at about 35 mins) until set and golden.
5. Allow to cool slightly before turning out of tin, otherwise you'll end up with scrambled eggs >_<

*Tip: always check your cooking as ovens do vary. Mine took the whole 40 mins, which is unusual for my piece of crap oven. 

First of all....

Hello all, I have been inspired!!

After watching the movie Julie & Julia, I have been inspired to keep a blog of all my cooking experiments and recipes. And yes, I will also be posting those disasters that don't turn out quite how I expect them too.

Unlike the movie, I don't plan to cook a recipe per day from a specified book, but any that are not my own I will reference as best I can, and of course include the recipe for those who find the picture to scrumptious to resist!!

I hope you all enjoy following me along this journey. I have been cooking for a couple of years and am known among my circle of friends for my baking. But don't be fooled, I can also cook actual food!!

So enjoy flicking through (well once I actually get some recipes up here) and feel free to let me know of anything that you like or dislike or definitely pass along some tips!!