A Collection of Thoughts

The Mum and The Chef- Mushrooms

Welcome to another Mum and the Chef challenge

Katrina from Windsor Deli in Melbourne and  Mish Lilley who is working on a series of her own cookbooks - came up with the idea of this challenge once a fortnight or to take a seasonal fresh ingredient and put your spin on it.

It's been some time since I joined in so I loved seeing this ingredient - and then the whole Mum and chef took on a different turn for us when Talia announced she wanted to make the recipe.

So she became the chef :)

1. Mushroom Bokeh, 2. yeah can I get a large with mushrooms and bokeh,3. mushroom bokeh, 4. MUSHROOM!

I have to say it's not gourmet in anyway but it's yummy and a great whip up dish - perfect for a rushed week night and good in lunches the next day too

Chicken and Vegetable Cheesy Pasta

• 200gm mushrooms sliced
• onion diced
• 1 BBQ chicken remove skin and bones and break into bite sized pieces
• 1 head of broccoli chopped
• 1/2 cup tasty cheese grated
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 cups milk
• cherry tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons garlic
• 375 gm bow tie pasta

 

1. Put the water on to boil for your pasta

2. In a saucepan melt the butter

3. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened

4. Mix in the flour and leave on heat until bubbling stirring well.

5. Add the milk small amounts at a time stirring well to create a white sauce.

6. Add in the broccoli and chicken and allow to simmer

7. Drain your pasta and mix the sauce through - add the grated cheese and halved cherry tomatoes.

 

Here is my little chef -  we adapted a recipe we found on SFI

Chopping the tomatoes - NO IDEA why she was using a bread and butter knife LOL

YUM - and yep eating  dinner on the couch in front of masterchef - it's not good for our family dinner time :)

 

Check out some of the other Mum and Chefs too

• Katrina Higham
• Michelle McKinnon
• Mish Lilley
• Gourmet Girlfriend
• Ani - Food Glorious Food
• Tammy James

Thanks Katrina and Mish for another great challenge :)

The Mum and The Chef- Zucchini

 

Welcome to another Mum and the Chef challenege

Katrina from Windsor Deli in Melbourne and  Mish Lilley who is working on a series of her own cookbooks - came up with the idea of this challenge once a fortnight or to take a seasonal fresh ingredient and put your spin on it.

Challenge One was Rhubarb and Two was Asparagus. You can see their ideas here and here.  Then I joined the blog party and had fun with cherries here and then there was strawberries

And this week its zucchini!

 

1. Zucchini, 2. Zucchini, 3. Zucchini, 4. Zucchini

I have always been wary of using yeast - It just seemed so tricky. When I was looking for an idea for zucchini I saw a roasted zucchini pizza recipe and our neighbors gave us a pizza stone for Christmas so I figured now was a good time to break it open.

I used this recipe as my base.

Homemade Pizza with Roasted Zucchini, Bacon and Ricotta

Basic Pizza Dough

• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp 7g/1 sachet dried yeast
• Pinch of caster sugar
• 4 cups plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes or until foamy.
2. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
3. Add the yeast mixture and oil.
4. Use a round-bladed knife in a cutting motion to mix until the mixture is combined.
5. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
6. Place in a bowl that has been lightly oiled and turn to coat in oil.

This basic pizza dough makes three bases.

 Topping

• 2 x  green zucchini, ends trimmed, sliced lengthways
• 1 tbs olive oil
• rock salt
• 1/3 quantity pizza dough
• tomato paste
• 1/3 tub basil and cashew pesto
• 150 gm fresh ricotta
• 150gm diced bacon
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• fresh rosemary
• cracked pepper

1. Preheat oven. Brush the zucchini with half the oil and season with salt - bake for 10 minutes
2. Brush your pizza stone with oil - or use a baking tray.
3. Roll out a dough portion on a lightly floured surface to fit your tray or stone
4. Place on the prepared tray.
5. Spread the tomato paste and pesto evenly over the base.
6. Arrange the diced bacon and zucchini slices over the base.
7. Dot the ricotta randomly over the zucchini.
8. Sprinkle with the rosemary and drizzle with the remaining oil. Season with pepper.
9. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Check out some of the other Mum and Chefs too

• Katrina Higham
• Michelle McKinnon
• Mish Lilley
• Gourmet Girlfriend
• Ani - Food Glorious Food

Thanks Katrina and Mish for another great challenge :)

 Tamar x

The Mum and The Chef- Strawberries

 

Last month I joined  with some other foodie bloggers in the Mum and The Chef Challenge and I'm continuing on. Its fun and makes me think and try something I wouldn't normally,

Katrina from Windsor Deli in Melbourne and  Mish Lilley who is working on a series of her own cookbooks - came up with the idea of this challenge once a fortnight or to take a seasonal fresh ingredient and put your spin on it.

Challenge One was Rhubarb and Two was Asparagus. You can see their ideas here and here.  Then I joined  the blog party and had fun with cherries here.

And this week its strawberries yum!

 

 

1. Strawberry Summer , 2. Strawberry Plant, 3. Fragole, 4. Strawberry Plant

 

Summer Fruits

• 2 punnets of strawberries sliced
• Cherries pitted
• Red Grapes
• Blue berries
• Watermelon
• 1 cup Maison ( non alcoholic sparkling wine ) or Champagne

Layer your fruit into a fluted glass bowl.

• Watermelon 
• Cherries
• Strawberries ( 1 punnet only )
• Blueberries
• Grapes 
• Strawberries

Just before serving pour your Maison ( or Champagne)  over the top

Almond Biscotti

 

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup castor sugar
• zest of a lemon
• 2 cups plain flour sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 120gm blanched almonds

 

1. In an electric mixer mix sugar , eggs and zest until pale and fluffy
2. Fold in sifted flour and baking powder
3. Add the almonds
4. Form the dough into two logs and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper
5. Bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes
6. Leave to cool for one hour
7. Cut the log on a diagonal into thin slices.
8. Lay the slices on to a lined baking tray and re bake for 15 minutes
9. Allow to cool before serving

To serve

• Greek style yoghurt
• Organic Honey
• Flaked almonds toasted
• Slices of Almond Biscotti

 
 Serve with  Greek style yoghurt swirled with organic honey and  toasted flaked almonds
 and chunks of almond biscotti

* This was my first time making biscotti - I know sheltered I am LOL - so simple and so good. So much yummier then the store bought stuff! You are supposed to use almonds with the skins still on but I only had blanched ones - turned out perfectly.

We all loved this recipe which I just kind of made up as I went along. The fruit was light and sweet with a touch of tang from the yoghurt and crunch from the biscotti.

Check out some of the other Mum and Chefs too

• Katrina Higham
• Michelle McKinnon
• Mish Lilley
• Gourmet Girlfriend
• Ani - Food Glorious Food

Thanks Katrina and Mish for another great challenge :)

 Tamar x

 

The Mum and The Chef- Cherries

 I'm so excited to join with some other foodie bloggers in the Mum and The Chef Challenge this month.

Katrina from Windsor Deli in Melbourne and  Mish Lilley who is working on a series of her own cookbooks - came up with the idea of this challenge once a fortnight or to take a seasonal fresh ingredient and put your spin on it.

Challenge One was Rhubarb and  Two was Asparagus. You can see their ideas here and here.

So now I'm joining the blog party and I have been playing with cherries.

 

1. a bokeh of cherries?, 2. Nothing says summer like cherries with a side of bokeh., 3. cherry kiss, 4. Cherrish the moment HBW~

My recipe is an original with bits and pieces borrowed from different spots :) The  creme filling comes from a friends passionfruit slice recipe.

This made for such a delicious but surprisingly quite light dessert.

Ingredients

Shortcrust Bisuits

• 225gms plain flour
• 30g vanilla sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 110 gms unsalted butter, cold
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 tbspn cold water

Cream Filling

• 100gm packet of vanilla pudding mix
• 300ml cream
• 200ml milk

 Cherries

• 200gm fresh cherries
• 2 full tablespoons of vanilla sugar
• Juice of Half a lemon

 To serve

• Melted dark chocolate
• Icing sugar
• Extra fresh cherries

Method

To make the biscuits bases *

1. Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
2. Lightly beat egg yolks and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, just add enough to form a slightly sticky dough.
3. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes
4. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface.
5. Using a star cutter** cut two stars per person.
6. Bake for 15 minutes in a moderate oven. Leave to cool.

To make the creme filling

1. Beat the pudding mix cream and milk until it resembles whipped cream.
2. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes

To make the cherry filling

1. Remove the stalks and pits from  your cherries and place in a small saucepan.
2. Add the sugar and lemon juice.
3. Stir on a low heat until cherries are softened slightly and the sugar is dissolved.
4. Leave to cool

 To stack

1. Turn your biscuits face down and drizzle with melted dark chocolate.
2. Pile some of the creme filling on top of a biscuit
3. Add some cherries
4. Pop your top on ( chocolate side down
5. Swirl some of the cherry jus left in the bottom of your pot on your plate
6. Dust with icing sugar and decorate with a couple of fresh cherries

 * If you wanted to you could cheat and buy a good quality shortcrust pastry - If I'm short on time I use Careme Vanilla Bean Shortcrust Pastry - found in good delis - like Ferry Rd Markets at Southport.

 **This recipe made 12 biscuits - I used the cutter from a star christmas tree - the second largest one

Check out some of the other Mum and Chefs too

• Katrina Higham
• Michelle McKinnon
• Mish Lilley

Stay tuned for another version of this in our Christmas recipes too later in the month. Thanks Katrina and Mish for a great challenge :)

 Tamar x