How’s this for an awesome winter treat?
By Angie McGowan over on The Family Kitchen
Click over to their blog for the full recipe, but remember: American tablespoons are only 15ml (not 20ml like in Australia). PROTIP: Use 3 teaspoons (i.e. 1 teaspoon = 5ml) for every tablespoon in the recipe.
So maybe you’ve had it up to pussy’s bow with royal wedding talk? But when I found the recipe of the supposed “alternative” wedding cake for Will and Kate’s big bash tomorrow, my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
I dare say this will be a dead-set easy cake to make and am off to the shops tonight to buy the necessary ingredients. NOM!
I was sent this alternative recipe, which I think I prefer (for no particular reason other than I like the way it’s written)
(Image source: unknown. Please let us know so we can credit this image correctly)
This has to be THE best cookbook..EVER. Hardly surprising coming from Ikea though right? Not sure when, or if this will ever available in Australia..I hope so!
The Swedish cookbook Hembakat är Bäst which means homemade is best, is a collection of 30 recipes all with this wonderful styling.
The styling of the ingredients is just mind blowingly beautiful, like no other cookbook I’ve ever seen…I love it!
Photography was by Carl Kleiner.
Via craftzine
Mcdonald’s hotcakes…Mmmmm pancakes *insert drooling*
Ever wanted to recreate them at home? Well now you can!
I finally got around to trying this recipe on the weekend, it was very similar to my regular recipe..but some tweaking..and adding vanilla O M G they totes taste just like McDonald’s hotcakes!
Many thanks to the lovely Liss at Frills in the Hills, you should totes jump over and check out her other amazing recipes!
But..onto the pancakes..
What you’ll need….
2 cups plain flour
2 tb caster sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp salt
600ml buttermilk (i.e. one carton)
80g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggsMethod:
Put your buttermilk into your bowl. Then add your sifted dry ingredients and melt the butter. Beat with an electric mixer until the mix is fluffy.Please don’t tell me you need guided instructions on how to actually cook them?
I doubled the recipe, cause my lot are pancake pigs. Serve with butter and maple syrup, although my fave pancake topping is dulche de leche (or Top N Fill)
Don’t forget to check out Frills in the Hills, she even made her own oreos!
How good is the humble ANZAC biscuit? Easy to make, don’t go stale for ages (if you don’t eat them all straight away), and if you get them just right, they’re perfectly chewy and brilliant comfort food (especially amongst the rain that Sydney’s getting this week – massive!)
Did you know that there are rules about ANZAC biscuits? Mostly because of the ANZAC reference, but they must always be biscuits (not bikkies or cookies) and there is only one approved recipe for the approved term ANZAC biscuits:
Ingredients
1 cup of flour
1 cup of coconut
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of sugar
125 grams (4oz) of butter
1 tablespoon of golden syrup
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of very hot water.Method
Preheat oven to 180.
In a large bowl, mix flour, coconut, rolled oats and sugar.
Melt together butter and golden syrup. Dissolve baking soda in very hot water. When the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved, pour the water into the butter and golden syrup mix.
Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the butter, golden syrup and baking soda in, and mix through.
Take teaspoonsful of the mix, roll them into balls, and using a fork, press them down on the baking slides, leaving room for spreading. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.
When you take the biscuits out of the oven, leave them to rest on the baking slide for 5 minutes, before putting them on cooling racks. When they are cool, put them in an airtight tin.
But, while this recipe is easy-peasy to make, it can be hard to make chewy biscuits. BUT! You didn’t hear this from me, but perhaps if you switched half the flour for self-raising flour, then perhaps you’ll get guaranteed-to-be-chewy ANZAC biscuits.
(h/t to Larvatus Prodeo for the info on the biscuit that deserves to be enjoyed all-year round!)
Happy Friday everyone, and doesn’t the public holiday Monday make it even noicer!
Time for Noice-ities….this week we are asking What is your favourite winter recipe?
Nothing better than warming comfort food on those chilly winter days. Although with the lovely warm weather in Sydney of late you wouldn’t think winter is on it’s way.
By the way, have you check out some of the great recipes we have on That’s Noice?
If you missed last week Noice-ities (i.e. niceties, but noice!) is a new weekly meme/blog carnival/attempt to get everyone out of the woodwork.
Basically, it’s a chance for our friends to share their noice finds – every Friday with a new theme. Something that you can all get involved in, even if you don’t have a blog of your own!
If you have a blog, you can write a post and share the link with us in the comments below. But even if you don’t have a blog, tell us about it in the comments below! As we go along, we’ll add you all to the bottom of this post as well.
Hi Ladies,
The weather is starting to cool down a bit now so it’s time to get those soup recipes out of storage.
Soup is an excellent way to feed the family on a budget and it does wonders to fill you up without too many calories (that’s if you skip the dollop of sour cream!).
This soup isn’t particularly low fat but it’s super tasty.
Happy cooking! Christie x
This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.
Pumpkin, chorizo and chickpea soup
serves 4
1kg Japanese pumpkin* (whole weight)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium brown onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
2 small Spanish chorizo sausages, sliced into rounds
1 litre chicken stock or water
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
sea salt and black pepper
lime and olive oil to garnish
1. Peel, de-seed and chop the pumpkin into large chunks about 3cm big.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for 5 mins until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until it is fragrant and the onion is just starting to brown at the edges.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and and leave for 1 minute. Then add the paprika and stir to combine thoroughly. It’s very important to take the pot off the heat because the paprika will taste very bitter if allowed to dry out over high heat.
4. Add the chorizo and stir to coat in the onion mixture then return to the heat with a splash of water. Cook for 2 minutes or until the chorizo begins to crisp, then add the pumpkin and stock or water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
5. Transfer half the soup to a blender, allow to cool slightly** and then blend until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, add the chickpeas and simmer until heated through. Taste and season. Then drizzle with olive oil and serve with lime wedges
*Japanese pumpkin is also known as Kent pumpkin. Any variety of pumpkin can be substituted.
**It’s important to allow the mixture to cool slightly before whizzing in the blender because too much steam inside the jug will cause the lid to pop off and your kitchen to turn orange! Trust me, I’ve done this before and then had little spots of pumpkin soup in every nook and cranny of my kitchen. I was very unimpressed with myself!
Hello Ladies,
Got some diced lamb in the fridge and fancy your man doing the cooking tonight? Knock these up and send him out to the backyard to fire up the barbie!
It doesn’t take long to thread the meat onto the skewers and brush them with the marinade. All you need is a little time to let the flavours mingle in the fridge while you do a quick tidy up.
Make the salad while hubby is cooking (or burning!) them on the BBQ and dinner is served. Easy!
Happy cooking! Christie x
This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.
Marinated Lamb Skewers
serves 6
12 wooden or bamboo skewers
1kg lamb fillet, diced into 2cm large chunks (48 pieces total)
1 large red capsicum (pepper), diced into 2cm large chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves
1. Soak the skewers in cold water for at least an hour to prevent them burning and disintegrating.
2. Thread a piece of capsicum onto a skewer and then 4 pieces of lamb. Place in a shallow dish large enough to fit all 12 skewers. Repeat with the rest of the skewers.
3. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and oregano to combine thoroughly. Pour over the lamb skewers and turn to coat. Season generously.
4. If you have time, leave to marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Otherwise BBQ or grill for 2-3 minutes each side or until done to your liking. Serve with salad and pita bread.
Hi Girls!
Here’s a great way to keep the kids occupied for a few hours. These muffins are super easy to make and you can hide a serving of fruit in them too – it’s the perfect Mummy disguise.
I used a piping nozzle for the icing but you don’t have to be so fancy, a spoon, spatula or palette knife will do the job just as well. If kids are involved then some 100s and 1000s and maybe some chocolate buttons are in order to really take these muffins to the next level.
However you decide to dress them up, make sure you enjoy every last bite.
Happy cooking! Christie x
This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.
Chocolate & banana muffins w/ chocolate ricotta icing
makes 12 mini muffins (or 6 larger ones)
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
100g dark chocolate (70% or more), grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
125g butter, melted and kept warm
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 medium very ripe bananas, thoroughly mashed
For the icing:
400g ricotta
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs cocoa powder
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour a 12 hole mini muffin tin.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, bicarbonate soda, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Add the grated chocolate and stir to combine.
3. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten egg, warm butter, vanilla and bananas. Fold until all ingredients are just combined, taking care not to over mix. The warm butter should melt the grated chocolate and turn the batter a gorgeous brown colour.
4. Spoon mixture evenly into the 12 muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted appears with moist crumbs. Turn out onto a rack to cool completely while you make the icing.
5. Place the icing ingredients into a clean bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. Pipe or spread onto the cooled muffins and serve.
1 cup plain flour
sea salt and black pepper
4 lamb shanks, frenched
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 cups full bodied red wine (such as Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 cup beef or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
For the mash
4 large Desiree potatoes, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup hot milk
1 tablespoon chives, chopped
1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped
sea salt and black pepper
Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
Place the flour, salt and pepper on a plate and stir to combine. Roll each of the lamb shanks in the flour and shake off the excess.
Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, deep heavy based fry pan. Add two of the shanks and brown on all sides. Set aside on a plate, then repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the other two shanks.
In the same pan, heat the remaining olive oil, add the onion and saute for 5 minutes until just starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute further.
Add the wine, stock, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 2 minutes then remove from the heat.
Place the lamb shanks in a single layer in an oven proof casserole dish with a lid.
Pour the red wine mixture over the shanks, cover with the lid and bake for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until the flesh comes away easily but isn’t actually falling off the bone. Check once during the cooking time to make sure there is enough liquid. If becoming too dry add a little more stock or water.
Meanwhile, make the mash.
Place the potatoes in a large pot and fill with enough cold tap water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain and mash with the hot milk, butter and herbs. Taste and season, then serve with the lamb shanks.
This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry. Check out her foodie blog for loads of other mouth watering recipes and keep your eye our for more from Christie on All for Women in the coming months.
Ingredients
* 1 kg thick beef sausages
* 1 tbs peanut oil
* 1 medium brown onion, sliced
* 2 tbs curry powder
* 1 cup (250ml) beef stock
* 400g can diced tomatoes
* 1 cup (150g) frozen peas
* I carrot sliced
*1/2 capsicum sliced
* Serve with rice
Method
1. Place sausages in large pan, cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, boil 2 minutes. Drain sausages.
2. Heat oil in large saucepan, cook onion, stirring about 3 minutes or until soft. Add curry powder, cook, stirring about 1 minute or until fragrant.
3. Add sausages, stir to coat in curry mixture. Add stock and tomatoes, simmer, uncovered about 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Stir in peas, carrots and capsicum . Cook a further 5 minutes until thickened and peas are heated through. Serve with rice.
(if too thin for your liking mix a little cornflour with water and add…stirring)
Oh and if you want a sweet curry then I add 2 teaspoons of plum jam
serves 4
1kg. boneless chuck steak, diced
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp. salt and. pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1can beer
1/4 c. flour
Coat beef cubes with the 1/2 cup flour. Brown in melted butter. Drain off excess fat.
In crock pot, combine browned meat with onion, salt, pepper, garlic and beer.
Cover and cook on low 5-7 hours until meat is tender.
Turn control to high. Dissolve remaining 1/4 cup flour in small amount of water.
Stir into meat mixture, cook on high 30-40 minutes.
Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and a salad
You will need…
1 ½ cups dried macaroni pasta
2 x 425g cans tuna in spring water drained
cooking spray
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
2 cups mushrooms sliced
½ cup shallots or onion sliced
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 x 310g can creamed corn
2 teaspoons salt reduced chicken style stock powder (Massel®)
2 x 30g sachets 4 cheese sauce (Continental®)
1½ cups boiling water
½ cup grated tasty cheese
Method…
Preheat oven 180ºC fan forced.
Cook pasta as instructed on packet, leave to one side. Drain tuna and roughly break up, leave to one side. Coat a large non-stick frypan with cooking spray, saut garlic and mushrooms, cook 2 minutes. Add tuna, shallots, corn kernels, cream corn and stock powder and combine. In a small bowl combine 4 cheese sauce with boiling water until blended. Add cheese sauce to pan, fold together. Add pasta and stir well. Pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle cheese over top and bake 30 minutes or until cheese has melted and browned on top.
You can also substitute the tuna for 500g of cooked diced chicken pieces.
For an extra yummy topping, I like to sprinkle with bread crumbs and and halve whole baby beetroots and place them on top before cooking. Serves: 6
10-pieces of chicken-…thighs, legs, wings.
2-large onions slices thinly
5-large potatoes-cut in quarters
4 mushrooms sliced
1-can crushed tomatoes
4-tsp. salt
4-tsp. black pepper
4-tsp. oregano
1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup water
Olives to serve
Mix all these ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Pour into
crockpot and cook 6 hours on low
Before serving add a handful of tasty olives. Serve with some nice crusty Italian
bread and a tossed salad.
1kg. beef cubed
4 peeled and diced potatoes
1red onion diced (large dice)
2 sliced carrots
2 beef cubes dissolved in half cup of hot water
1 cup red wine
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
crushed rosemary to taste
Throw it all in the crockpot and cook on high about 4-5 hours then
mix about 1/4 cup of corn flour with 1/4 cup cold water, mix well and add
to stew. Let cook and thicken about 20 minutes. Serve with fresh hot bread and salad.
Check out the great Slow Cooker recipes at All for Women
With the cooler weather arriving soon, it might be time to pull the good old slow cooker (sometimes called Crockpot) out of the cupboard and make some delicious winter warming favourites. A new and tasty recipe (all taste tested by my family!) will be added every week.
Slow Cooker Sweet & Sour Chicken
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled, sliced
1 medium celery stalk, sliced
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (around a kilogram or so.), cut into bite-size pieces
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup KRAFT Italian Dressing
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 can pineapple pieces, drained, (juice reserved)
1 Tbsp. corn flour
1 medium green capsicum, sliced
1 medium red capsicum, sliced
4-1/2 cups hot cooked rice
PLACE onions, carrots and celery in slow cooker; top with chicken.
ADD combined brown sugar, dressing, soy sauce and ginger. Cover with lid.
COOK on LOW for 7 to 8 hours (or on HIGH for 3-1/2 to 4 hours). During last 30 min. of cooking time, increase to HIGH. Stir corn flour into reserved pineapple juice; add to slow cooker along with the pineapple and capsicums.
Then cook further 30 min. or until capsicums are tender and sauce is thickened. Serve over the steaming hot rice.
Enjoy!
