The last of the summer salads..

I must say I am a bit sad to see our summer going this year, I know it has been one of the hardest summers for farming that we have faced in a while with the drought greatly affecting our farming business. But despite the fact that we are feeding out already and knowing that winter for us is going to be a long hard fight, there is a sadness for me that those lovely warm evenings with a cold drink and friends by the BBQ are over for another year.
This salad is on one of the platters that the farmer made for our wedding (blog on that to come) and the succulent tomatoes came from the farmers parents abundant glasshouse.
On a bright sunny day, (even a slightly chilly autumn one) there is something about savouring those last bursts of summer flavour and reflecting on what has been a pretty busy summer.
Now one must get excited about the scrummy comfort food that the colder months will bring....

INGREDIENTS:
Salad:

• A mixture of lettuce types (I used mescaline, iceberg and fancy for a bit of colour)
• 1 carrot, grated 
• 6 tomatoes
• 1 red capsicum, sliced finely
• 1 yellow capsicum, sliced finely
• 2 avocados, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• Green sprouts

Lemon vinaigrette:

• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 2 Tblsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 3 to 4 Tblsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

METHOD
Make your vinaigrette first. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, mustard, and sea salt, whisking until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly until the dressing is well blended (this is a bit tricky, if you have a small bottle or jug it makes it easier as you want to do this as SLOWLY as possible. Season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. If desired, whisk in the remaining oil in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Set aside.

Take all of the salad ingredients and toss together in a large mixing bowl to combine. Now drizzle over the dressing and gently toss the dressing through, if your avocado is a bit soft then you may want to add it last.
Arrange your salad on your serving platter or bowl and serve alongside the meat that is on the menu.
TIPS:

• You can make the vinaigrette ahead of time and refrigerate it in an airtight container, it will last up to 3 days.
• Add garlic to the dressing for extra flavour

Enjoy xx
A

Mini Bacon and Corn Quiches

These little gems are perfect for taking to a pot luck or to have made up in the freezer so that when unexpected guests arrive you can pop them straight into the oven and serve with some potato salad and tomato relish for a quick lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 sheets shortcrust pastry
• 600ml cream 
• 2 onions finely chopped 
• 2 eggs
• butter 
• 1 cup grated cheese 
• 200g bacon rashers, cut into small pieces, no rind 
• 1 420g can corn, drained 
• 2 Tblsp chopped parsley 

METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Using a pastry cutter or the top of glass, cut circles to neatly line cupcake or small tart tins. A 7cm cutter fits my cupcake trays perfectly. I use 4 trays, each fits 12 little quiches.
Gently fry the onions in a little butter until transparent, add the bacon and cook for another 5 minutes, until the bacon and onions are brown. Add the corn and parsley and mix together. Place a spoonful of this mixture into each pastry lined tartlet tin. Pour the cream into a mixing bowl, whisk in the eggs until well mixed, and pour a little (1-2 spoonfuls) into each tartcase to fill it nearly to the top. It is easiest to pour the egg and cream mixture into a small jug, as spoonfuls can get quite messy.
Sprinkle the top of each quiche with a little cheese. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the quiches are browned on top.

Toffee Pop truffles

These little guys are amazing, not only because they take about 5 minutes to make but because they are sooooo good. Perfect for entertaining or for camp mother to take on netball trips, these truffles are a crowd pleaser. But beware they are very moreish and sweet- a recipe for a sore tummy for those that overindulge!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 packet of toffee pops (the cheap ones are fine)
• 3 Tblsp cream cheese
• 1 Tblsp icing sugar
• drinking chocolate or coconut to dress

METHOD:

Put the toffee pops into the food processor and turn on high until they are like bread crumbs. Then add the cream cheese and icing sugar and pulse until the mixture combines. Roll into little (I say little because they are very sweet!) balls and then coat in the drinking chocolate or coconut. Refrigerate for as long as you can stand not eating them or until the party.

TIPS:

• Coconut flour would be a lovely coating or crushed flake chocolate.

Enjoy xx
A

Pikelets

This post is for my friend Staz, who up until the weekend had never made pikelets. I promised I would share my simple pikelets recipe becasue I'm not sure how she ended up with such a complicated one! In this post you are going to see a kitchen appliance that changed my life. I got a crepe maker given to me for my 21st, at the time I wasn't that thrilled (how wrong I was). This has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever owned in the kitchen. I have even convinced others to buy one since. Staz even borrowed mine on Saturday to learn how to make her first ever pikelets. Now I think she will buy one too.

Who doesn't love pikelets- the farmer LOVES pikelets lathered in butter.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c milk (approx)

METHOD:

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. In another bowl beat egg and sugar until thick. Add with milk to the sifted ingredients. Mix until just combined. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture from the point of a spoon onto a hot, lightly greased girdle, non stick frying pan or crepe maker. Turn pikelets over when bubbles start to burst on the top surface. Cook second side until golden.

Chilli and garlic prawn kebabs

Tails on, if you serve on a bit of rice like this the marinade drips onto the rice-yum!

During the summer these are great to fire on the barbie, once winter rolls round just cook them inside in a big cast iron pan. These are fantastic on their own but the best is to cook them up and serve them with steak for a surf 'n' turf. I serve them with a bit of aioli too. You can buy prawns frozen or fresh, if you can get them fresh- then do, if not just make sure you defrost them correctly otherwise they can be a bit tough (read the packet for instructions).

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 Tblsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• Salt and cracked black pepper
• 750g raw king prawns, peeled, de-veined, tails intact (or not, read tips)
• Lime wedges, to serve
• Aioli or mayonnaise, to serve

METHOD:
Place the garlic, sweet chilli, oil, lime juice, salt and pepper in a large non-metallic bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the prawns and toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Heat a barbecue grill plate to high, or large cast iron pan/skillet. Remove prawns from marinade and thread onto metal or bamboo skewers (see tips).
Grill prawn skewers for 2 minutes each side or until prawns are cooked through and golden (they will change colour to orange). Serve skewers with lime wedges and aioli or mayonnaise.

I threw these together to show them made with prawn meat, no tails. Poor photo- apologies!

 TIPS:

• If using bamboo skewers, soak then in cold water for at least 30 minutes before threading prawns to prevent burning while cooking. If you prefer, do not remove the seeds from the chilli for some extra heat.
• If you like a bit more a of a kick, replace the sweet chilli with a fresh seeded and finely chopped chilli
• If king prawns are a bit over the budget then prawn meat is fine (these are a bit smaller and have already been skinned and de-veined for you) , they don't look as pretty but they still taste great

Pepperdew treats

Cream cheese and basil at front & roasted garlic hummus at back

These little treats are so good and so easy! They look so impressive and I must say they have sort of changed my life, because they are such morsels of peppery, spicy, sweet goodness! My sister introduced me to them in Melbourne and I have been a lover of them ever since. You can stuff them with pretty much anything and they are good even on their own. So find a jar, or look at the deli because you have to try them!
INGREDIENTS:

• Peppadew mild whole piquanté peppers (as many as you like)
• 100gm cream cheese (will fill about 25)
• 2 Tblsp basil pesto

METHOD:
Mix the cream cheese and basil pesto ina bowl. Spoon mixture into a piping bag (or small plastic one with the corner cut off it) and 'pipe' the mixture into each pepper until it is full. The best way is to put the piping bag all the way to the bottom and let the mixture push the bag out the top, that way it is nice and full.

TIPS:

• Other flavours to stuff pepperdews are:
• 50gm blue cheese & 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and then bake them for 10mins
• Roasted garlic hummus
• seasoned natural yoghurt and cucumber
• any dip mixture
• shredded chicken & mayo
• smoked salmon blended with cream cheese
• guacamole

Fresh, Homemade Hummus- 4 flavours

Great for a dip with fresh carrot sticks

Hummus is a great healthy snack option and is really easy to make. I like to make it for dipping carrot sticks. Making your own gives you the choice of what you put in and how seasoned you like it, none of the recipes below have salt but I find that they all need a bit added at the end or sometimes a bit more lemon juice- taste as you go and see what suits you. Also making your own is heaps cheaper than the store bought stuff and if you are like me and only shop every few weeks (I know it's a crazy rural thing, my city dwelling sister can't believe it either!) then making your own means it is fresh for Friday night guests or as a healthy snack to take to work instead of all that unhealthy crap (that is my little rant about lunch box fillings done for the day also) .

INGREDIENTS: plain hummus

• 300g can Chickpeas, well drained
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt and cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp oil
• juice 1 lemon (3 Tblsp)

Roasted garlic hummus

INGREDIENTS: Roasted garlic hummus

• 1 can chickpeas, well drained
• 2-4 cloves roasted garlic
• 2 Tblsp lemon juice
• 1 Tblsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano

INGREDIENTS: Spinach and feta hummus

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach
• 150gm crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 Tblsp lemon juice
• 2 Tblsp tahini (optional)
• 1/4 cups red pepper flakes (optional- it's HOT!)
• 1 tsp garlic

INGREDIENTS: Sun-dried tomato hummus

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 3 Tblsp sun dried tomatoes in oil
• 2 tsp parsley
• 2 Tblsp olive oil
• 2 Tblsp lemon juice

 METHOD:
Chickpeas and all other ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth.

TIPS:

• Tinned chickpeas are great because they are fast, however it is about 1/6 of the price if you buy them out of the bulk bin and soak/cook the chickpeas from dry.
  This is how:
  Before cooking dried chickpeas, the first thing you will have to do is soak them. Place chickpeas in a large bowl and cover completely with cold water. Allow to soak overnight, about 12 hours.
  Once chickpeas have soaked, drain and transfer to a large cooking pot. Cover with water twice the amount of chickpeas and bring to a boil. Cover and allow to simmer for approximately one hour. Do a taste test at this point to make sure they are tender enough for your liking (I smush one with a fork and you should have to push a little to break them). Drain and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Once chickpeas are cooled they are ready to be used. Cooked chickpeas can keep covered in the refrigerator for up to three days. They can also be frozen in an airtight container for about a month.

Devils on horseback

These are a great hors d'oeuvre to take along to a pot-luck dinner as a starter or just to put out with drinks for friends (and then you can say "help yourself to hors d'oeuvres" which is better than "want some onion dip with those chips Cheryl"). They are super easy to make and are really yum!
 
INGREDIENTS:

• 24 large prunes
• 24 pieces of streaky bacon cut in half
• 1/3 cup crumbled cheese (blue or Stilton is best)

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Place 24 toothpicks in a small bowl filled with water; let soak 15 minutes. Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper and put a wire rack into the tray (a wire cake rack works really well) set aside. The paper is so you don't spend the rest of the afternoon scrubbing the tray when you should be getting ready for your guests.
Halve prunes lengthwise being careful not to cut all the way through. Place a small amount of cheese in the centre of each prune. Wrap a piece of bacon around each date. Secure bacon with a toothpick.
Place dates onto the wire rack. Bake until bacon is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy xx
A