That's not how you make porridge...

I cook with the philosophy of Yoda, you'd think Julia Child would be more appropriate but no, Yoda, it is.

So when I was watching an episode of River Cottage where they made a breakfast bar, it did not deter me that I only had 3 of the ingredients required. The peanut butter was substituted for some tahini blended with some pecans and hazelnuts, the honey was golden syrup and so on. The key is never be afraid to cook, it may not arrive as the planned but you have created an original recipe (just pray its edible).
This is the original River Cottage recipe below is a combination of my replacement ingredients and a trip to the shops.

Date and Oat Bar
Ingredients

• 125 grams unsalted butter
• 80 grams brown sugar
• 150 grams total combined weight of peanut butter and tahini (how much of each is up to you)
• 80 grams honey
• zest of 1 lemon and lime
• 300 grams rolled oats (450 grams if you want extra crunchy bars)
• 150 grams chopped dates
• 150 grams mixed seeds, Pepita, linseed, sunflower and black sesame
• 50 grams almond meal
• extra honey and white sesame seeds

Method

• In a large pot melt butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, tahini and honey on low heat.

• Add remaining ingredients and mix well

• Press into a greased pan (i used 18cm x 28cm, but what ever you have is fine)
• Drizzle top with extra honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds
• bake at 160 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.
• Cool completely before cutting.

I store this in the fridge, mostly because is a million degrees at the moment and it is really nice chilled.

Orange, Lemon and Lime Cordial

This is a budget saving recipe for those horrible days of summer where you just pray for some snow. Summer and I have never been friends.
This cordial is beyond easy, it really is just heating water, everyone can do that..I hope!
There is a real joy in the DIY homemade, you can create a gem with the stuff you have in the fridge.

Orange, Lemon and Lime Cordial

Ingredients

• 2 litres of water
• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 oranges
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon of citric acid (optional)

Method

• Add water and sugar and citric acid to a saucepan
• Zest all the fruit and add to the pan
• Stir to dissolve sugar and simmer just below boiling for about 30 minutes.
• Add the juice of all the fruit, strained to avoid pips.
• Leave to cool
• Strain cordial into bottles.( I didn't strain this one as the zest is ultra soft)

To use just dilute with water to your preference, weak vs strong. Or serve in a jug with more slices of fruit and some mint. (mint not pictured blame summer!!)

A splash of vodka and ice could achieve a delightful beverage for responsible adults only

I can't find Georgie Parker



There are some recipes that stay with you throughout your life, the cut out scraps, the scribbled handed down note or some times the entire magazine. With technology this has become the scan or photo or bookmark. My bursting cupboards of cook books are very grateful to technology!

This recipe I have been making for 13 years and has stayed with my through interstate and local moves. I can be heard every so often saying "I can't find Georgie Parker"

While I understand that Georgie Parker may have nothing to do with these cookies, but because she was on the cover they have taken her name.

I have just scanned the recipe as it appeared in the magazine, and after 13 years it might be looking a little worse for wear. Isn't that the joy of the old treasures?

 

 

 

Larger picture

My Variations  

•  Choc walnut, add 75g of cocoa powder and 100g chopped walnuts. I don't increase the icing sugar as the recipe suggest, I like the bitterness.
• Lemon and Rosemary, omit the vanilla and a add the zest of 1 lemon and 1 finely chopped sprig of rosemary (about 5 cms, leaves not stalk)

 

 

 

 

 

Munching 9 to 5 - Carrot and cheese salad

No it's not a job as a taste tester, as awesomely appealing as that sounds.

The next offering in the War on Terrible Food aka BYO work lunch series.

This salad has had a couple of incarnations and can be used as an indicator of how our eating has changed over the years. When I was at school the major ingredient to this was a jar of mayonnaise, these days it gets a light dressing of olive oil and lemon juice.
If I'm honest the tasty model below only got a drizzle of olive oil, no lemon or salt and pepper, and it was just as yum.

Carrot and Cheese Grateness
Serves 1

Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots grated
• 50 grams grated cheese
• 1 fun size box (40g) sultanas
• black and white sesame seeds
• Olive oil
• juice of 1/2 small lemon

Method

• Add carrot, cheese, and sultanas to a bowl.
• Mix through a drizzle of oil and the lemon juice.
• Top with a sprinkle of seeds and run out the door to work.

Making it the night before will let the sultanas soak up the dressing and the carrots soften. You can also experiment with any seeds that take your fancy, lineseed, chia, pumpkin seeds.

War on terrrible food....

Enough is enough, I will no longer spend money on substandard work lunches or any food for that matter.
Make the pledge with me people.

I came to this mission after a month of the dodgy cafe next to my work ( it's a captive audience type arrangement), over priced, under flavoured, and about as healthy as a packet of Winnie Blue.
So as I stood in line looking at the upside down friands, waiting way to long for the usual bad coffee, I thought what am I doing here, I can cook, why am I wasting my money with somewhere that clearly can't.
My criteria was it has to be something cold and quick that was desk edible. I also want something healthy that tasted evil, and not like grass and dirt.
This wasn't part of a new years resolution as it has been sitting in draft for about 2 months. I'm not fond of the crazy diet resolution as it ends up like a business I saw on twitter. "Resolutions Gym" January it is a gym, from February to December it's a tapas bar.
Although one change I will make this year is to not eat at any resturant that is happy to throw their food out a window, e.g. no drive-thru.

This was the first wave of troops. Enjoy, and stop paying for rubbish food!

Corn Salsa Salad
The quantity of each ingredient is really up to you, I base it around 1 can of corn.

Ingredients

• 1 410gram can of corn kernels
• 1 head cos lettuce
• 1 handful cherry tomatoes
• 2 red onions finely sliced
• 1 Lebanese cucumber
• 1 long chili
• 1 handful flat leaf parsley
• 1 handful coriander
• 1 lime
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method

• Drain corn
• Roughly chop lettuce, cucumber, chili, tomatoes and herbs.
• Combine in a bowl
• Add juice of the lime and 2 table spoons of olive oil
• Toss and serve
• If you take as much care with the chopping as it do, you will be finished in under 3 minutes.
• So many variations, add avocado, capsicum, mint.

going bananas

The next instalment in the instant gelato range. My love affair with banana gelato continues, almost as good as via Nazionale in a Roma and without the 27 hour flight!
The fancy pants additions are some toasted cake triangles and a raspberry compote.

Instant Banana Gelato

• 4 large bananas
• 200ml thickened cream
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 30g icing sugar (optional or a table spoon of honey)
• juice of half a lemon

Method

• Slice bananas into 1 cm pieces. It is best to try and lay them flat so that when you put them in the food processor they aren't in big clump.  Squeeze over the lemon juice to stop them going brown. Freeze until firm, about an hour, or do it the day before.
• Banana and remaining ingredients to a food processor and blend for 60 seconds, until smooth.

Again so simple and it's fruit so it's healthy right?

History repeating

With the party season well and truly upon us, I remember the party food of my childhood. Not kids food but the food the adults would have, smoked oysters, cheese and cabanossi, and vol au vents
Bacon Canapes (pronounced KaNaps not Canopay) are pretty lame but I remember them so fondly, mainly for making an appearance at every function. They were also something that as a kid I could make.
I have upgraded the ingredients from the orginal, maybe just a sign of the times, free range bacon, colby instead of plastic cheese, butter instead of margarine.

Bacon KaNaps

• 1 bagette
• 2 rashers of bacon, sliced in 2cm pieces
• 6 sliced of colby cheese quatered
• butter

Method

• Slice the bagette into 1 cm pieces
• Spread with a little butter and place on a baking tray
• Place a piece of cheese on each round
• Top with a piece of bacon
• Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes until golden.