seldear: (Default)
Had the parentals over for dinner last night - Mum's birthday.

Cooked roast beef, vegies, and ANZAC Cheesecake.

ANZAC Day cheesecake, with golden syrup caramel. Very nice! #food #dessert #anzacday2016 #anzaccheesecake


It turned out pretty good, I think, although the base needed to be thinner at the corners.

In the after-dinner conversation we managed to get into how the internet is a bad thing because of ISIS and extremism (my stepfather). We argued it for a little while, but he's set in his ways.

The worrying thing is that this is becoming a thing in the after-dinner conversations where there's us (the kids - including my stepbrothers) and him. My sisters and I tend liberal (small-l; that's important in Australia), so does my mother. Not sure about the stepbrothers but I suspect they tend centrist - or, at least, enough to argue with their dad about politics. But, yeah, the stepdad tends conservative.

I think the next time politics comes up, I'm going to clear the dishes rather than engage.
seldear: (Default)
Pork rub?

(Found on a site about food.)

Get 1/2 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon of finely ground coffee and 1 tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa. Mix them up in a bowl and try a sprinkle of that on a small slice of pork one day to see if you like it. Yes it sounds insane, but it was an eye-opening experience.

If you like it, next time, try rubbing it into the meat before cooking it.

eta: bread post by [personal profile] colls
seldear: (Default)
We never had brussel sprouts as a kid. I think my mother cooked it once or twice, but we weren't huge fans. And they have a bad rap in general circles.

I once bet a friend that I could cook tasty brussel sprouts, but never had the chance to make good on my bet. But I figured with some butter and garlic and a dash of salt, how bad could they be?

A few months back, I was at Porteno's diner in Surrey Hills and I ordered the crispy brussel sprouts as a side dish, just to see what it was like. The answer? Utterly delicious. Chopped in half and either lightly fried or baked until the edges were crispy, mixed in with either garlic or onions and herbs... Very nice.

Anyway, at the markets on Saturday, I saw a small bag of brussel sprouts and figured, "oh, why the hell not" and bought them.

Since then, I've pan-fried them (garlic and salt, with garlic oil) and baked them (butter and white wine and garlic) and the results are pretty good. Not as good as Porteno's of course, but definitely edible and interesting.

What follows is my recipe for Ginger and Soy Chicken on a bed of Garlic And White Wine Brussel Sprouts.

if you're interested )
seldear: (Default)
15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee: exactly what it says on the packet.

Schadenfreude pie recipe: it would probably kill you from the sweet. But I really want to try to make this sometime. (Would have to find Australian versions of things like the molasses.)

Disney Princess mash-up

Black bean beef roast. Made it last night for dinner. Have leftovers for at least another two meals - three if I don't eat too much. Come over someday and I shall make it for you and your tastebuds shall REJOICE like great rejoicing things. I promise!

I want honey snaps. Arnotts biscuit company stopped making them in the mid-90s and I've never yet tried to make them instead. Hoooooney Snaaaaaps.

It has rained like crazy here these last few days. I'm a bit worried about the driveway gutter at home - it needs clearing out, but there's never time. Or energy. Except now there's rain. "My roof never leaks when it doesn't rain," anyone?

...someone sit on me before I buy any more fabric. My current weakness is Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms series, which is so bright and happy and beautiful and irresistable, except I really must resist for the sake of the five boxes of fabric I already have!

I have the fabrics picked out for the Supernova quilt-along at Freshly Pieced, too. And I think I've fixed up the Sanctuary quilt issues. Except that I've run out of fabric and had to order more. (See? Five boxes of fabric.) And it will be a very busy quilt, visually.

Sel's Rule #1 of Kaleidoscope quilting: don't use fabrics with busy patterns.

In the meantime, I'm trying to sew as many blocks together so I can arrange them, photograph them, and put them away in prep for the Supernova quilt-along.

Monday morning: /o\
seldear: (Default)
Recipe: Eight Treasure Duck

The trick will be working out where to get the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Everything else should be easy enough to find.

Saturday would probably be the best date for this. In which case I have to get the duck to a freezer tonight. Probably the parental freezer since ours is full of...stuff.
seldear: (Default)
Mmmm...delicious.

Chop up the flesh of 1 eggplant, scooped out of half-shells. Shells sprinkled with salt and set aside.

Cook eggplant flesh with 1 tin tomatoes, 1 spanish onion, one bulb roasted garlic, 2 shallots finely chopped, and 500g beef mince. Add 1/4 cup water, 1/2 cup red wine and boil until eggplant flesh is soft. Add salt, pepper, and herbs to taste.

While cooking the mix, put the eggplant shells in an oven warmed to 200C for 10 minutes.

Lightly stir cottage cheese into the eggplant-tomato-onion-garlic-mince mix, spoon into eggplant shells. Bake in oven at 175C for 20 mins. (If you have a deep tray, you can fill it with water up to the rim of the eggplant shells.)

Serve!

*noms happily*

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