Choc malt slice

Made it again. Still just as good as the first time. For the sake of my arteries, had to give some away - good way to make friends!

Cookies n cream

I had some condensed milk left over from making choc malt slice, so I found a recipe for cookies 'n' cream icecream. The girls and I made it this morning. It was the first time I have made icecream. It turned out pretty well, I have to say, given that it was done without an icecream maker so it only got churned once. The recipe said to use Bailey's but I didn't have any so I made some kiddy style and some with Kahlua.

1 cup sweetened condensed milk
600mL cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g chocolate biscuits
2 tbs Baileys (or liqueur of your choice)

Beat 1st 3 ingredients on high for about 7 minutes until very thick.
Break up chocolate biscuits, add liqueur if using. Stir in carefully to cream mixture.
Put in freezer-proof container, freeze for at least 3 hours.

Tasted pretty good. But then, most things taste pretty good if you add liqueur :-)

Caramelised onion

A delicious, highly under-rated food. Ella, who at 6 months is finding all food an adventure, gave it a 5 star rating. Big smiles :-)

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly

I have always loved lavender as a flower and for its scent, but I have only lately begun to appreciate it for its culinary potential. I have had as a kid lavender rock and lavender fudge, but I am discovering that it's so much more versatile than that.

For my birthday afternoon tea a month ago, I made lavender shortbread. It was dusted with the most delicious lavender sugar, made by whizzing up dried lavender and caster sugar into this heady grey powder that filled the room with perfume. There was sugar left over, so I have kept it for a special cake or pudding.

Tonight I was cooking rump steak, and I rubbed it with dried lavender flowers crushed with the mortar and pestle and mixed with a bit of ground black pepper. The result was very good - subtle, but added a lovely depth of flavour to the meat. It really is a herb that works with savoury as well as sweet. I'm keen to explore more.

Post-exam food

I had an exam this morning. Sitting here, kids in bed, with salad of mixed greens and herbs (including coriander, mmmm), smoked salmon and peach, as well as homemade margherita pizza (thin crust) with basil from my garden, and a glass of moscato. Nice.

Jelly on a plate

Just for fun - the girls liked it. A bit difficult to get out of the (metal) mold - a fine line between enough hot water to loosen it and starting to melt the jelly.

Chicken stir fry

When I first moved out of home my sister and I were living together on a VERY tight budget. We used to do stir fries, just veggies and the occasional bit of shredded pizza ham. No marinade or sauce, just straight up and dead boring.

I remember one day going to a friend's place for dinner, and he got out his wok, got out some food and started preparing a marinade. What a revelation. It had never occurred to me that you should do this (the only excuse I can make is that I was preoccupied with trying to get the marks I needed to transfer into Medicine).

I love the flavours you can impart in a marinade. The basic principle I work with is oil, sugar of some sort, acid (to break down the meat fibres and soften it) plus any other flavourings. The oil helps when cooking and the sugar just makes it nice and caramelised.
I'm doing one tonight with sunflower oil (I'm out of olive oil which would be my usual choice); soy sauce; garlic; lime and lemon zest and juice; and ginger cordial, which provides not only a nice ginger flavour but also some sugar.

Don't know what it will taste like but it smells good!