Today I baked some biscuits to use up some leftovers from the Choc Hazelnut Puddings from the other night.  I used this recipe from the Taste website with some modifications.  Replaced pecans with hazelnuts, added more apricots and used chopped up leftover Lindt Dark Chocolate mixed in instead of choc bits pressed into the top.  Result = Scrummy!

Apricot & Coconut Choc Cookies

Ingredients

• 150 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 200 g (1 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
• 90 g (1 cup) rolled oats
• 85 g (1 cup) desiccated coconut
• 80g (1/ 2 cup) diced dried apricots
• 70g (1/ 2 cup) pecans, coarsely chopped
• 125 g butter, melted, cooled
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 50g (1/ 4 cup) dark choc bits

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Sift the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the oats, coconut, apricot and pecans and stir until well combined. Make a well in the centre.

2. Whisk together the melted butter, eggs and vanilla in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

3. Use your hands to roll heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls. Place balls, 5cm apart, on prepared trays. Press 3 choc bits into each ball, then flatten slightly until about 6cm round.

4. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack and set aside to cool completely.

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Tonight for dinner my husband requested burgers.  A couple of weeks ago we discovered a burger patty recipe that has become our current favourite.  I wanted to make hamburger buns instead of buying them.  I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen which I adapted for my breadmaker as I seriously don't have time to stand around kneading dough.  It turned out brilliantly.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons warm milk
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 large egg
• 2 ½ tablespoons butter, softened
• 3 cups bread flour
• ⅓ cup plain flour
• 2 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 egg, additional
• sesame seeds

Directions

1. Mix the milk, water, egg and butter together and place in the bowl of the breadmaker.

2. Mix the flours, sugar and salt together and place on top of the liquid. Make a pocket in the top of the flour and place the yeast.

3. Set the breadmaker to the dough cycle and allow the process to complete. Once finished, remove the dough from the machine and place on a lightly floured work surface (the dough will be quite sticky, avoid using too much extra flour). Divide into 8 equal pieces and shape into balls. Place on a baking sheet allowing 2-3 inches between each roll. Cover with plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with oil spray, and allow to rise for 30 minutes to one hour.

4. Lightly beat the remaining egg and gently brush the rolls. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Place the tray into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, rotating the tray half way through cooking.

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Chocolate Hazelnut Self-Saucing Pudding

Last night was the Junior Masterchef Cook-Along where the instructions on how to make the self-saucing pudding, cream chantille and candied orange were given on the TV, and those of us at home cooked at the same time as the Junior Masterchef finalists.  It was kinda fun!  The worst thing was having to have all the ingredients ready beforehand in little containers which meant I had a tonne of washing up to do afterwards!  Normally I just bung things things in the mixing bowl as I go along.

Despite that, the outcome was awesome, very, very rich though.

Chocolate Hazelnut Self-Saucing Pudding with Cream Chantille & Candied Orange

Ingredients

• *** PUDDING ***
• 1 cup SR Flour
• ⅓ cup hazelnuts, roasted, peeled & roughly chopped
• 1 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
• ¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 60 grams dark eating chocolate, roughly chopped
• 140 ml full cream milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 50 grams unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• icing sugar, to serve
• *** SAUCE ***
• ¼ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
• 100 ml warm water
• *** CANDIED ORANGE ZEST ***
• 1 orange, zest of
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 50 ml orange juice, strained
• *** CREAM CHANTILLY ***
• 400 ml thickened cream, whipped
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Directions

1. *** PUDDING ***: Preheat oven to 190C. Place flour, hazelnuts, cocoa, sugar, and chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add milk, egg and butter and mix well to form a batter. Divide mixture between 6 greased 200ml ramekins.

2. *** SAUCE ***: Dissolve the cocoa and sugar in the warm water. Gently pour the sauce over the top of the puddings. Place the ramekins on a tray and into the oven for 12-14 minutes.

3. *** CANDIED ORANGE ZEST ***: Place the zest, sugar and juice into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil the reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture has reduced slightly and become a syrup.

4. *** CREAM CHANTILLY ***: Place the cream in a mixing bowl with the sugar and vanilla. Whip to soft peaks.

5. Place a ramekin on a serving place with a quenelle of cream which is topped with some orange zest and syrup.

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Potato Salad

Today was a busy day for me.  Went to Bunnings first thing to get some organisational supplies for the kitchen.  It's a liberating thing to be organised.  You should try it some time.

I spent a fair bit of time outside today - the weather was sensational - now the pergola area also looks pretty good.  I'm on a bit of a roll!

Because it was so nice tonight we ate outside under the pergola, and had the perfect warm evening meal.  Leftovers!  Lamb roast with a potato salad.  Ok, so the potato salad was not strictly leftovers, but what I did for the dressing was to use the leftover mint sauce.  I just mixed it into some sour cream - delicious!

It appears I'm not getting my Thermomix tomorrow.  Some drama about having a delivery demonstration in my home, which my SA consultant cannot help me with (given that I'm in NSW).  Boohoo! 
On the up side, tomorrow night is the Junior Masterchef Cook-A-Long.  Can't wait for the Chocolate Hazelnut Self-Saucing Pudding with Chantille Cream and Candied Orange.

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Lamb Roast & Veggies

One thing I like about being a stay at home mum, is the ability to put on a roast in the middle of the week.  Yummo, and plenty of leftovers for wraps and sandwiches.  One of my favourite things from my childhood is cold roast lamb and tomato sauce...not sure that it contains all five food groups, but hey, it's yummy!
I put lemon juice in with the oil, garlic and rosemary that I smothered the roast in before cooking and I sat the lamb on the squeezed out lemon cut in quarters.  I liked the added flavour it gave.

I also made a quick Mint Sauce which turned out really nicely.  I'm not normally a fan of mint sauce, but this added a beautiful refreshing taste to the lamb. 

So tomorrow lunch may very well be cold lamb and tomato sauce!  Looking forward to making my own tomato sauce in my Thermomix when it arrives.

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Tuna Mornay & some Kitchen Capers

Well, I would love to say that this was an Opie Family Favourite, but unfortunately I think I'm the only one who loves this dish.  I make it with pasta for Will because he will normally eat anything with pasta.  He didn't really eat too much of it last night, but I just had a bowlful for lunch and Will started eating it out of my bowl.  Oh well, at least he ate some!

On another note, yesterday I cleaned out my kitchen from top to bottom.  I think now that the Thermomix is on it's way, I decided to put aside some of the appliances I will no longer need and that just led to the desire for a completely clean and organised kitchen.  Man, it feels good.  I did the pantry a couple of weeks ago, and now to have the kitchen so clean and organised feels amazing.  I have finally grouped my items together.  I have a cupboard each for Food Preparation, Cooking, Appliances and Food Storage.  I also have a big drawer under my oven which contains only my saucepans and frying pans.  I cleaned out my second drawer and gave so many unused items to the Salvos it was amazing.  The Salvos were also the recipients of two big bags full of clothes that I had previously cleaned out of my wardrobe.  I'm loving this new found sense of order...

By the way, I'm doing the Junior Masterchef Cook-A-Long on Friday night for a bit of fun (and to make a dessert that has a gazillion calories in it!).  You can check it out here.

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Choice Reviews Thermomix

I'm so excited.  Hopefully we can order our Thermomix tomorrow.  Choice has done a review on it and it's all pretty positive.  Read more here.

UPDATE: Thermomix has been ordered.  Hopefully will be here on Friday!!

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