The Yummiest Ever Banana and Choc Chip Muffins!

These are gorgeous and will be loved by adults and kids alike...and do you know the best thing of all, they take less than 5 minutes to make and about 15 minutes to cook...couldn't be easier than that folks!





So, here it is...

3 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
100g butter
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups SR flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup choc chips depending how chocolatey you like them!

Step 1: Preheat oven to 190 degrees.

Step 2: Melt butter and set aside for a few mins.

Step 3: Peel and mash the bananas in a separate mixing bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Step 4: Lightly beat together butter, egg and milk. Add to the banana mixture and add sifted dry ingredients.

Step 5: Mix lightly with a fork to just combine. Stir in chocolate chips.

Step 6: Place patty pans in deep 12-hole muffin tin and fill to 2/3 full with mixture. Bake for 15-20 mins.

Makes 12 muffins

The Yummiest Scones Ever!!!

So, I encountered this recipe during the first series of Masterchef and it really is one of my very favourites. Good old traditional comfort food...love it!!! Just imagine warm, luscious scones with a tangy lemony flavour and warm, soft, sticky dates throughout - all topped off by jam and cream and preferably served with a good quality coffee or chai latte...Delicious!!!

Date and Lemon Scones



(Makes 12)

150-175ml milk
150ml cream
1 egg
3 cups SR Flour
2 tbs caster sugar
1 cup chopped dried dates
Finely grated rind 1 lemon
Cream and jam, to serve

Step 1: Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line large flat oven tray with baking paper.

Step 2: Whisk 150ml milk, cream and egg together until well combined.

Step 3: Combine flour, sugar, dates and lemon rind in a large bowl. Create a well, add milk mixture and stir gently to form a soft dough, adding remaining milk if necessary.

Step 4: Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until dough comes together.

Step 5: Press dough out to 2cm thick. Cut scones from dough and place onto tray flat-side up. Press left-over dough together gently and repeat using remaining dough. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake 12-15 mins until golden and well risen.

Step 6: Serve hot with jam and cream

Hint: You can cook these a few hours in advance and reheat for 3-5 mins when guests arrive if this will make life easier!!!

Party Madness

Hi everyone, sorry I have been so slack again - I have had David and Lochie's birthdays (all within a day of each other) so it has been a bit crazy. For Lochie we just had a simple bowling party which meant that I shouldn't have had to cook at all. You know me though, I couldn't help myself and had to cook something, so I focused on my favourite...desserts! I made some yummy cup-cakes (pretty girly ones to counteract the main cake being a Ben 10 design), chocolate crackles and tic toc tea-cups...the kids loved them all!

Here are a few yummy recipes to consider for your next party...

Tic Toc Tea-Cups



These are so easy and the kids love them!!! You just melt a bit of white chocolate and then stick a marshmallow on top of a tic toc biscuit. Stick half a musk life-saver on the side, a freckle on top and Bob's your uncle! On top of my pink marshmallows, I actually stuck a white choc button then smeared some chocolate over that and poured some sprinkles over. They looked gorgeous (even if I do say so myself!)

Chocolate Crackles

Ok, so I really hate copha and was so excited to find a recipe (courtesy of the lovely Donna Hay) that does not have copha in it - I really feel I must share it although obviously I can take no credit for it at all! The best thing about these is that I am still eating them 6 days on and they taste as fresh and crunchy as the day I made them...amazing!!!

200g dark chocolate, chopped
100g butter
1/3 cup (115g) golden syrup
4 cups (140g puffed rice cereal)

Place the chocolate, butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until melted and smooth. Place the cereal in a bowl with the chocolate mixture and mix well to combine. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the mixture into 48 small paper cases. Refrigerate for a few hours until set (makes 48). Note, I added 3 or 4 or the mini marshmallows to each of these before setting in the fridge - just added a bit more colour and vibrancy (well, I think so anyway!)

Cup-Cakes



So, I decided cup-cakes were my mission for this party. I hadn't really made them before so was determined to create the perfect cupcake!!! After trying 3 different recipes, I was feeling quite despondent until I contacted my lovely step-mum Lyn and obtained a fantastic recipe. It is even more special as it was passed down from her mother and I feel (and she agrees) that it should be shared with anyone else who wants to make a fantastic cup-cake!!! So, here it is...

Makes about 18

4ozs butter (around 113 grams but anything up to 120gm would be fine)

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs (room temp)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups S.R. Flour

1/2 cup milk

Step 1: Cream butter. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy (do not over cream)

Step 2: Add vanilla, then eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Step 3: Fold in sifted flour alternating with milk in 2 batches. Stir until combined - do not over-work.

Drop by dessertspoonfuls into patty cases. Bake in mod/hot oven for 12/15 mins, VOILA!!!

With such beautiful tasting cup-cakes to work with, I knew I wanted to do something a little bit different to the standard butter cream frosting. Look, it tastes nice but I really wanted something that looked white and glossy and that would be a perfect back-drop for my designs. As a result, I chose a recipe for a meringue icing, once again courtesy of Donna Hay (thank you Donna!!!)

Meringue Icing

1 cup (220g) caster sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar (do not go over this amount or it gets bitter!)
3 egg whites

Place sugar, water and cream of tartar in a saucepan over high heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to low and cook for a further 3 mins. Place the egg whites in a bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Continue beating and add the sugar mixture in a thin stream. Beat until thick and glossy (about 5 mins)

Pipe or spread over cup-cakes and decorate. I chose lots of cool decorations from Merry Day cake decorating shop including, food glitter, sugar flowers, sugar balls, sprinkles, coloured sugar, M&M's (use these instead of smarties as the colour doesn't run) etc. Just let your imagination run wild and let the kids help too...fabulous fun for everyone!!!

If anyone hasn't bought it yet, I highly recommend the Donna Hay kids magazine Annual 7, 2010 - it has fantastic party ideas and recipes and I just love it all!!!

My Thai

Well, sadly I have been totally distracted and neglected my blog so, to make for it, here are 4 of my favourite Thai recipes below. I am working my way through the most amazing Thai cookbook. It is called Essentially Thai Spirit House and is by Helen Brierty and Annette Fear. I imagine there are many more "favourite recipes" to be found in that book but I need more hours in the day to cook them all!

The recipes are reasonably simple and, once you are stocked up on all the key ingredients, it really isn't as daunting as I thought it might be. I went for a trip to "Hong Kong Supermarket" in Clayton with a huge list of ingredients and managed to find everything I was looking for really easily. There are heaps of Asian supermarkets about and I would really recommend giving them a try. The labelling is generally in English and staff members are only too happy to help. I chose Clayton because it is my closest area with Asian supermarkets, but I also know there are good options in Box Hill, Springvale and Glen Waverly. Anyway, if you are feeling adventurous, do give it a try as it is well worth it - don't go with prams though as the aisles are narrow and there are generally hundreds of people trying to shop so it can be a bit manic!

So, without further ado, here are the 4 recipes I am going to share with you...

1. Claypot Chicken with Exotic Mushrooms and Pak Choy - Despite the slightly long and daunting list of ingredients, this recipe is so easy and a great Winter Warmer. I didn't have a clay pot so used my Le Creuset pot instead but you could easily use a slow-cooker as well. It is one of those dishes where you basically throw everything in and let it cook itself...brilliant. You can adjust the chili up or down depending on your taste and whether kids will be eating it too. If you don't add too much chili, I feel this is a great dish for the whole family!

2. Steamed Red Curry with Prawns and Pumpkin - I used a bamboo steamer basket to make this recipe. These are cheap and readily available at Asian supermarkets. This recipe is a little more fiddly than the first one, but can be simplified if you use shop-bought red curry paste rather than making your own. I did make my own and it was delicious - better still, I now have several portions of it in the freezer that I can use at a later stage!!!

3. Thai Red Curry Paste - this is a great all-rounder and used in many recipes. It keeps in the fridge for up to 3 weeks or can be frozen in ice-cube trays for up to 6 months. Of course you can cheat and buy a supermarket version but really, where's the fun in that?

3. Five-Spice Honey Pannacotta - this is a really yummy dessert! On my first attempt at this recipe, I followed the recipe book to the letter and, unfortunately, the pannacotta separated. I have now re-written the recipe to add the cream at an earlier stage, as that is what I have always done in the past, and have never had the "separation" problem. This dessert can be served with whatever fresh fruit is in season. It is yummy with fresh berries, peaches or pears. The recipe calls for poached peaches but peaches were not in season when I made it so feel free to use whatever suits!

Clay Pot Chicken with Exotic Mushrooms and Pak Choy




Serves: serves 4-6 people

Prep Time:30 mins

Cooking Time: 20 mins initial prep then 1-2 hours of slow-cooking

Cost: Always difficult to figure out with loads of small quantities of Asian ingredients, but I would say this cost about $20 in total (assuming costing for quantities used, not full purchase of bottles of Shaoxing, soy etc.)

4 Chicken Maryland
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 x 5cm piece of cassia bark or cinnamon quill
2 pieces dried tangerine peel
1 large dried chili
4 cardamom pods
4 star anise
2 tablespoons light palm sugar
1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and grated
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, soaked until soft and sliced
1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
1/2 cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 cups water
1 bunch pack choy, washed, trimmed and sliced in half
150 gm oyster mushrooms
150 gm enoki mushrooms
2 green spring onions, including some of the green part, trimmed and sliced

Step 1: Preheat oven to 160 degrees

Step 2: Cut the chicken at the joint (or ask your butcher to do this for you if you are lazy like me) and remove any excess fat. Heat oil in fry pan and brown chicken on all sides. Place in a large clay pot, casserole dish or oven-proof pot (or your slow-cooker)

Step 3: In a saucepan, combine cassia bark, tangerine peel, dried chili, cardamom pods, star anise, palm sugar, ginger, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, shaoxing wine, soy sauces, oyster sauce and water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins. Pour sauce over the chicken pieces, cover and cook in pre-heated oven for 1-1.5 hours (or even longer as it won't end up over-cooked). I would probably guess about 4 hours in the slow-cooker but you might have to experiment a bit. Chicken should be almost falling off the bone when you check it.

Step 4: Remove from oven. At this point you can choose to strain the spices out of the sauce - this is what I did even though the recipe did not suggest it. I just felt it was nicer that way.

Step 5: Add pak choy, oyster and enoki mushrooms. Return to oven until pak choy has wilted (about 10 mins). Garnish with green spring onions and serve at the table from the clay pot.

This dish has beautiful subtle flavours and I was amazed at how yummy it was!!! Definitely worth making a double batch and freezing left-overs!

Steamed Red Curry with Prawns and Pumpkin

Serves: Serves 4

Prep Time: 20 mins (assuming red curry paste made in advance)

Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Cost: Roughly $25-$30 assuming good quality raw prawns used.

Curry Sauce

2 cups coconut cream
1 tablespoon light palm sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tablespoons red curry paste (see below for recipe or you can buy it if you like)

Curry
1 cup thai basil leaves
16 large green prawns, peeled, de-veined, heads and tails removed
2 cups pumpkin, pealed and cut into 5cm pieces. Lightly steam until just soft
8 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
curry sauce (above)
1/2 large red chili, de-seeded and cut into fine shreds
handful of coriander leaves for garnish.

Step 1: Make red curry paste (see below)

Step 2: To make curry sauce - Open coconut cream without shaking it and remove thick cream from the top. Reserve cream for garnish. Combine the palm sugar and fish sauce in a bowl, stir to dissolve palm sugar, add the eggs, curry paste and coconut cream.

Step 3: To make the curry: Line a medium steamer basket with banana leaves or baking paper. Layer over the basil leaves, the the prawns and pumpkin. Sprinkle over half the shredded kaffir lime leaves and then the curry sauce. Place basket over a wok (or deep pot) filled with boiling water. Cover and steam over moderate heat for about 15-20 mins. Remove from heat and place basket on a serving plate. Swirl over reserved coconut cream, reserved kaffir lime leaves, chili strips and coriander leaves. Serve with rice.


Red Curry Paste

Prep Time: 15 mins - 45 mins depending on whether you go with mortar and pestle or food processor approach!

Cost: Roughly $10

This is a staple in many Thai recipes. It will keep in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks after being made or up to 6 months if stored in ice cube containers in the freezer.

15 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water until soft (10 mins) then drained and finely chopped
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon mace
2 teaspoons white peppercorns
2 small red shallots, peeled
12 cloves garlic, peeled
2 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced
1 tablespoon galangal, chopped
2 tablespoons coriander root, chopped
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons shrimp paste (wrap in for and roast in oven for 5-10 mins - ready when you smell a yucky smell!)

Step 1: Combine coriander seeds, cumin and mace in a small frying pan and toast over a moderate heat until aromatic - this will table about 3 mins

Step 2: Grind this mixture with the white peppercorns in a mortar with a pestle. Add remaining ingredients and pound until you have obtained a smooth paste (please note that I got bored after 1 min of pounding and completely cheated by using my mini food processor...feel free to do whatever suits you better. If you are angry with hubby or kids, the pounding is probably very therapeutic!)

Five-Spice Honey Panna Cotta



Serves: 6-8 people

Prep Time: 45 mins plus infusion time (2 hours - overnight)

Cooking Time: 25 mins

Cost: Roughly $15

2 cinnamon sticks
4 star anise
6 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1/2 teaspoon Szechuan pepper
400 mls milk
400 mls cream
4 leaves gelatin (available at good delis)
100g caster sugar
1 and a half tablespoons honey

Step 1: Dry roast the spices over a low heat until fragrant. Place in a clean tea towel and crush coarsely with a rolling pin.

Step 2: Put the bruised spices in a saucepan with the milk and cream and heat gently for 10 mins without letting it come to the boil. Remove from heat, cover and allow to infuse for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator (preferably overnight)

Step 3: Strain the infused milk/cream mix into a saucepan containing the sugar and honey. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.

Step 4: Soak the gelatin in cold water for about a minute until it softens. Squeeze out excess water and add to warm cream mix.

Step 5: Pour into 8 dariole moulds or ramekin dishes (or 1 large mould). Refrigerate until set.

Step 6: To serve, unmould panna cottas and serve with your berries/fruit of choice.

Notes: I would also love to try this recipe with coconut cream instead of normal cream but haven't had a chance to experiment yet!

To the people who are reading this blog

Hi everyone,

I am finding out that lots of people are actually reading this blog but I didn't even know they were. I was actually wondering if I was writing it for myself but it appears I am not. If you are enjoying this blog, can you please become a follower, leave a comment or email me at moomookane@yahoo.com.au. Knowing that people care will help keep me inspired to write!

Stay tuned for some great Thai recipes coming in the next few days!!!

lots of love,

Moo Moo

Delicious Boiled Orange and Chocolate Cake

Well, as usual, I ended up entertaining a whole group of people last Thursday - I just can't help myself...I was born to host!!! It was originally meant to be just 2 girls but a few others heard about it and, before I knew it, I had 7 old school friends invited over for morning tea. (old as in from a long time ago obviously, not meaning that we are getting old!)

I had asked everyone to bring a plate but still couldn't help myself from cooking up a storm. One of the things I made was a boiled orange and dark chocolate cake. It was very popular and I have been asked for the recipe by a few people so I thought it best to share it on here. It is such an easy recipe to make and I love it because the most time-consuming part of the recipe can be done up to 48 hours before you need to make the cake, leaving only about 10 mins of prep on the day (plus 60 mins of cooking time). I must say that this wasn't my best attempt at the cake as my eggs were huge and the mixture ended up a bit too moist which meant I had to cook it longer which meant I burnt the top - I have never had this problem before so maybe I was just "off my game" that particular day. Anyway, it still tasted nice but wasn't as good as usual.

This recipe is beautiful served warm as the chocolate is all gooey and soft - it is also fabulous with a nice dollop of thick cream. It reheats nicely in the microwave so you can eat it warm and gooey for many days after making the recipe...assuming it lasts that long obviously. The other great thing about this recipe is that it is gluten and dairy free but is absolutely gorgeous and decadent even without those thing!

I have decided to add extra info for the recipes such as prep time, cost etc. - let me know if you think I should add anything else!

So, without further ado, here it is...

Boiled Orange and Chocolate Cake

Serves: easily serves about 8-10 people as it is rich

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 2 hours to boil oranges plus 1 hour to cook cake (note, oranges can be done in advance)

Cost: Roughly $10 plus extra for the cream if you use it!


2 large oranges, washed
6 eggs
300g ground almonds
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder (gluten free baking powder available if required)
100-150g dark chocolate chopped into bite-sized chunks (good quality - I use Lindt or Plaistowe)
Icing sugar to dust if desired

Step 1: Put oranges in a pot and fill with water until almost covered. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours. Please make sure you top up the water occasionally - I forgot to once and the burnt mess in the bottom of the pot was not pretty!!! If you are fussy and want to ensure the oranges are not bitter, simmer for 1/2 an hour, discard water and do the final 1.5 hours in the fresh water. I do this step but am not really convinced it makes a difference as I have tried it both ways. Please note that the orange boiling step can be performed 24-48 hours in advance and the whole oranges can just be put in the fridge until required. If you are in a rush and can't be bothered with the boiling, you can apparently pierce the skins with a fork, then microwave on high for 8 mins (turn every few minutes and adjust timing for size of fruit). I have never tried this method but my lovely friend Robyn has and she said it was fine!

Step 2: Preheat oven to 190ºC/170ºc fan forced and line the base and sides of a spring-form tin with baking paper.

Step 3: Cut oranges in half and remove any pips (i have never found any personally) and then process the oranges (including peel) in a food processor or blender.

Step 4: Cream eggs and sugar together with a beater. Add all of the remaining ingredients and fold through.

Step 5: Pour batter into prepared tin and cook for 1 hour - check during the cooking process and pop a piece of baking paper over the cake if it seems to be burning. The cake should be moist but not wet so, if it is not cooked properly after 1 hour, leave it a little longer.

Step 6: Allow to cool in tin, remove gently, dust with icing sugar and serve with thick fatty dollopy cream...prepare to swoon!!!

Restaurant Review - Six Keys, Beaumaris

OK, so clearly I am in the mood for a few restaurant reviews but I do promise some yummy recipes next time!!! I have been out a bit in the last week so I figured I may as well share the experiences.

On Saturday night I had a lovely girls night out to Six Keys restaurant which is at 6 Keys Rd, Beaumaris - I do visit restaurants outside of Beaumaris by the way - you just wouldn't think so from my blog! Note to self...must leave own suburb occasionally!

So anyway, this was the second time I had been to Six Keys and I have had a lovely experience both times. The first time I had the veal saltimboca followed by a chocolatey dessert and the second time I had the chicken coq au vin and a raspberry souffle with amaretti ice-cream. I have to say that my versions of the main courses are probably just as good (but hey, who am I to complain about getting the night off cooking), but the desserts were "to die for", particularly the souffle - it was divine (please note spelling CC). Yum, Yum, Yum...Beautiful! Worth going just for the souffle to be honest.

As for the other elements, the decor is modern and eclectic...a nice welcoming feel with a classy but not snooty ambiance. The service was quite good but the main guy who runs it is a bit arrogant and rude. He looked at his watch pointedly when he came to take our orders and we had been too busy drinking bubbles to even look at the menu. I mean, seriously, doesn't he understand about priorities? We were getting to the menu...eventually. Needless to say we had smartened up our act and selected something by the time he came back. At least he stopped slightly short of eye rolling :-) The other waiting staff were all very nice so I won't mark them down too much for the guy with the broom up his back-side.

Anyway, overall I really would rate this restaurant quite highly. I found it really expensive first time round, but in hindsight, I now realise we were a large group and drank a lot that night. I hadn't realised some people were drinking spirits as well and apparently they are expensive so might be worth having an aperitif before you go! Anyway, it cost me half as much this time so I am willing to ignore the initial bill and refrain from calling the restaurant "expensive". Main courses range from $19 - $35 and desserts are all around $15. I didn't really look at entree costs as I had my heart set on pudding, but I know they are around $15 too. As far as families go, they do have a kids menu so do seem open to the idea, but I probably wouldn't take them there on a Saturday night as I didn't really pick up a "kid-friendly" vibe from the other restaurant patrons. I would recommend only taking well-behaved kids there as it isn't your "let the kids roam free" kinda place! To be honest, I think it is a restaurant far better enjoyed with a baby-sitter fee added!!! Anyway, based on all the elements, I would rate Six Keys an 8 out of 10. Definitely worth a visit!

Restaurant Review - Rickett's Point Cafe

This one is definitely a favourite with the locals...and why not? A huge display cabinet full of amazing cakes, gorgeous chai lattes, a huge big deck to sit on, and all topped off by lovely views over the beach. What more could you ask for?

Well, some decent service for a start!!! I could not believe it...we went there the other day and had the rudest, most incompetent waiter I have ever come across! You order your food at the counter so, thankfully, we avoided 1 interaction with him but when the food arrived, that's when the fun started! Firstly, he dumped a chocolate cake in front of me that was not mine. I pointed out where it needed to go and he completely ignored me and placed the other cakes down incorrectly as well. He then brought back the coffees - he put mine down in front of me and then asked where the cappucino was going - I pointed over to my 91 year old grandfather (diagonally across from me) and this waiter just handed me the coffee and walked off. Did you hear what I said? He handed me the coffee (ie. to my hands, not placing it on the table) and let me hand it diagonally across the table to my grandfather. Please note, the waiter had full and free access to walk around the table! My mouth dropped open - I was astonished and everyone else was too. I am surprised I didn't have to make it myself! Thankfully, I managed to escape without burning my hand or anyone elses in the coffee passing process!

So, what can I say...the cake was beautiful, the chai latte was beautiful but this stupid, incompetent, arrogant waiter ruined it all. Ok, maybe he didn't ruin it fully as I now get to write a blog tearing strips off him which is quite fun but really, it was appalling!!!

So, what would Moo Moo Kane score this cafe? 9 out of 10 for cakes and coffee, 0 out of 10 for service!!! You won't keep me away though....great cakes will always win over a bit of burn-threatening hot coffee passing any day!!!

One for the Kids - Yummy Date and Apple Loaf

I made this one on Tuesday morning for some visitors and it is really delicious. Not only that but it is an easy one to make with the kids. It does have a bit of sugar in it but makes quite a big loaf so the amount of sugar in each serving is fairly minimal. Personally, I am of the opinion that I would much prefer my kids to eat a home-made cake with a bit of sugar in it than some processed, pre-packaged rubbish with goodness-knows-what in it but, if you are hugely sensitive about the sugar, you could try reducing it to half the amount.

The recipe I originally found was for date loaf cake but, in my usual tradition, I completely changed the base recipe and did my own thing. So, here it is...enjoy and have fun!!!

PS. This recipe is incredibly quick and easy to make so best made fresh - I did it while getting the kids brekkie!

Date and Apple Loaf Cake

1 cup (155g) dates, pitted and chopped (if you are lazy like me, you can buy pre-chopped dates!)
1 cup (155g) brown sugar
60g butter
275 mls water
2 golden delicious apples, peeled and chopped into small cubes
255g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Step 1: Preheat oven to 200 degrees (adjust up or down based on your own oven function). Grease and flour a 22cm x 12cm loaf tin.

Step 2: Put the dates, sugar, butter and water into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 30 mins. If you are stretched for time, you can reduce the water amount to 250mls of boiling water, pour it over the dates, sugar and butter and leave it for 15 mins. I feel the boiling process gives a bit of extra yumminess though!

Step 3: Stir in flour, baking soda, chopped apples and vanilla (no need for sifting).

Step 4: Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 40-50 mins. Check part way through cooking and cover with a sheet of baking paper if it is burning.

Step 5: Cool before serving, slice and serve with butter/margarine or just by itself!

Scottish Oat Cakes

As most of you know, I spent 5 years of my life living in beautiful Scotland. One of my favourite foods there was not deep-fried Mars Bar but actually, the good old humble oat cake. These are gorgeous cracker-style biscuits to serve with cheese and, in Scotland, there are numerous different varieties, brands etc. In Australia, I have barely found any, let alone any decent ones!

On Monday I was going to a friend's house and decided to take a cheese platter. So I thought, what better to go with the cheese platter than some home-made oat cakes. I did my usual trick and searched the internet for some recipes. I did find one on the "Undiscovered Scotland" website and thought it sounded quite good. My only reservation was that the recipe used lard which is something I have never cooked with but I thought, how bad can it be...haha, words that would come back to haunt me. I didn't even know if I could buy it here to be honest but thankfully Safeway was ever-faithful and I did manage to get my hands on some.

So, without further ado, I set about making the recipe. On smelling the raw lard I wasn't overly impressed but decide to proceed anyway. The biscuits looked beautiful and I was so excited to have reproduced an old favourite. Before leaving, I decided to taste one of the biscuits to make sure they were OK...

OH MY GOODNESS...DISGUSTING!!! All I could taste was the lard and they were so, so horrible! I couldn't even swallow the small mouthful I had taken and had to immediately throw that and all the remaining biscuits into the bin! I also threw the remaining lard in the bin to ensure I am never ever ever tempted to cook with it again...disgusting!!! I guess it is probably to be expected when you cook with something described on the label as "animal fat". Oh dear...Yuk, yuk, yuk.

I am obviously not going to give you the recipe for this one!!!

Restaurant Review - Aashirwad Tandoori Restaurant, Beaumaris

Fabulous...a mum's group night out to see Sex and the City, followed by a sumptuous feast at our local Indian Restaurant! So, was it "all that"?

As far as the movie goes, I have 2 comments...Liza Minnelli and shoes...1 of these things I loved and 1 I hated!

As for the restaurant, the decor is basic, the service good and the food quite nice. We had the non-vegetarian banquet and the one thing I would say is, do not eat anything for at least 24 hours before going if you intend to have the banquet...you will need every spare centimetre of space available to fit it all in. From the entree dishes, the lamb was devine and everything else was quite nice, but please do steal someone else's lamb if you can - they say info is knowledge and, trust me, this knowledge is definitely worth having!!!

All of the main dishes were yummy but the prawns were definitely my favourite. In a comical moment, our whole table started choking, coughing and spluttering during main course...no, we were not being poisoned but the sizzle platter dish was smoking out the whole restaurant and I very nearly had to go outside to avoid dying of smoke inhalation. Thankfully, it disappeared after a few minutes and we all survived the experience.

Most of us finished with some Kulfi for dessert and that was definitely an underwhelming experience. The Kulfi was too creamy, a bit flavourless and presented most unappealingly. Not a great way to end the meal but the rest of it was good enough to keep the rating reasonable!

I would class this restaurant as family-friendly, reasonably priced and great for a casual night out. It is BYO with minimal corkage charged so that is definitely appealing too.

Overall, Moo Moo would rate this restaurant 6.5 out of 10 as far as Indian restaurants go. I would definitely eat there again but wouldn't necessarily make it a firm favourite.

One final thing to note if you look this restaurant up on-line as I did, is that you will find the address and suburb completely wrong on most listings. It is in the Beaumaris Concourse, Beaumaris not Beaumaris Parade, Highett!

Tea-Smoked Duck

After seeing a few recipes for "smoking" things, I was desperate to try the process myself (obviously, I am discussing the innocent food-related smoking process, not anything else here!).

So, a bit of a hunt around and I found a devine recipe for Pete Evan's Tea-Smoked Duck on the MasterChef website. All in all, it didn't sound too difficult so I thought, what the heck, let's give it a go.

A visit to T2 Tea Shop for some yummy smoking teas (and a disgruntled husband mumbling about expensive teas, mortgage payments etc.) and I was almost set to go. The last item required was the duck breast (thankfully I had everything else already!!!) - simple, a visit to the local poultry shop where I can always, always get duck and I will be ready to go! Ho hum, not to be...of course they had run out of duck breast that day. Well, have you ever seen anyone in tears at the poultry store...yep, that was me...insane!!! Seriously, how embarrassing. I think I had poured so much emotion and courage into making such a different dish that I just couldn't face not making it that day. Thankfully, the poultry store had duck legs which, although not ideal, turned out to be fine with some complicated deboning applied (by my further disgruntled husband :-))

So, off I went with the whole smoking thing. After spending half an hour getting the smoking mix together and pouring it into some foil at the bottom of my bessemer pot, I waited patiently for it all to happen...smokin!!! The smoke is definitely a give away and it really did happen for me despite my reservations. So, on went the duck and away it all went. Six minutes later and I had devine tasting, deliciously tender duck to serve with the gorgeous orange sauce and some shop-bought pasta. I completely chickened (ducked :-)) out of making the ravioli in the recipe but, after a further review, have decided it was probably easy enough so will try it in future. I did attempt the fried ginger to sprinkle on top but sadly, when David asked what had happened to the ginger, I had to point him towards a bowl full of black charred bits. The lesson...don't have your frying oil too hot!!!

So, without further ado, here is the recipe after my top tips as follows:

1. Discard the T2 bag and transfer your teas into generic packaging before entering the house.

2. Purchase your duck at least 1 day before you plan to make the recipe in case you have trouble finding it! If you cannot do this, make sure you have tissues on hand to use at the poultry shop! Furthermore, if you can only get the legs, practice your helpless female act to ensure your partner debones the duck!

3. Do not char your ginger bits!

4. Trust the recipe - it sounds bizarre and goes against the grain but it really does work and tastes delicious!

Tea-Smoked Duck Breast with Duck Liver Ravioli
(courtesy of MasterChef and Pete Evans)

2 duck breast
50g pâté
25g water chestnuts, diced
25g pear, diced
4 gow gee or wonton wrappers or thin pasta sheets
¼ cup (60ml) blood orange sauce – recipe to follow
3 cups baby spinach
Vegetable oil
2 tablespoons julienned ginger

Tea Smoking Mixture
½ cup oolong tea leaves
½ cup jasmine tea leaves
Zest of 3 oranges
4 pieces of dried orange peel
1 cup jasmine rice
1 cup of brown sugar
5 star anise
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
6 pieces cassia bark

Orange sauce
60g caster sugar
¼ cup (60ml) red wine vinegar
2 cups (500ml) blood orange juice or orange juice
1 cup (250ml) Peking duck stock or chicken stock
Zest of 1 orange
50g of butter, diced

Method

Serves 2

1. For the orange sauce, place sugar in a cold pan and melt it down slowly (careful not to burn). Then add vinegar and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Add orange juice and reduce by half. Then add the stock and reduce by half.

2. Add zest and blend the sauce with the butter and seasoning.

3. For tea smoking mixture, combine ingredients in a bowl.

4. Line a wok with foil then place the smoking mix on top and turn on the heat to medium and wait for it to start to smoke. Once smoking, place the duck breast skin side down in the middle tray of a steamer or on a rack that fits into the wok. Cover with a lid and cook for 7 minutes or until rare.

5. To make the ravioli, mix the pâté, water chestnuts and pear together with a touch of salt. Lay 2 gow gee wrappers on the bench and brush with water, place 2 mounds of the pâté mix in the center of the gow gee wrappers and place the top gow gee wrappers over the mound and press down firmly around the edges to seal so you have 2 ravioli.

6. Place the duck skin side down in a frying pan and cook until fat has rendered and skin is crispy and let rest for a few minutes in a warm spot and then slice.

7. Add spinach to same pan and cook until just wilted, season with some sea salt and pepper and then drain any excess liquid out of the spinach in a strainer. Then drop the ravioli in a pot of boiling water to cook for 1 minute.

8. Pour vegetable oil into a small frying pan until one quarter full. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. Deep-fry ginger for 3-4 minutes or until golden and crispy. Drain on paper towel. Set aside.

9. Heat up the orange sauce.

10. To serve, place the spinach on plate, then top with the sliced duck, the ravioli, drizzle a tablespoon of sauce over the ravioli and duck and top with the fried ginger.

Cooking Group for Bayside Area

Hi girls (and guys),

If you live within about 10 mins of Melbourne Bayside area and would love to join a monthly cooking group, please let me know!

Rough idea would be that we have about 8 people in the group and someone hosts once a month with every 4th month being a restaurant outing instead. The host would make main course, another person would make entree, another person would make dessert and 1 final person would bring the wine. This would mean each person would make 1 main, 1 entree, 1 dessert and bring wine once a year. Of course we could simplify if this seems too much!

The aim of the group is to have lots of fun, form strong connections and share a love and passion for food and cooking.

Cooking does not have to be of a Michelin star standard obviously, just something a bit more interesting than the every-day meat and 3 veg! I imagine most people in the group will end up being busy mums so we can really only do the best we can around all the other responsibilities we have! Chefs for the night would supply recipes for their dish, talk through any difficult processes in the recipe and generally share the experience with the group.

Please let me know if you would be interested - I would prefer people who really do love their cooking and feel they could commit once a month (barring unforeseen circumstances obviously).

I am hoping to start the group in September - probably on a Tuesday night (although this could be flexible).

Contact me at moomookane@yahoo.com.au if you are interested.

Lisa
x

Sausage Rolls with Hidden Vegies

Who doesn't love a nice sausage roll? I confess I have blatantly stolen this idea from the MasterChef Master Class, but I have changed it slightly so feel I can call the recipe my own now! There are so many great things about this recipe - the first is that kids love it and you can easily hide some vegies within the recipe. The second great thing is that these sausage rolls freeze and reheat beautifully. To achieve this, you should partially cook them for 10-15 mins, then cool completely before freezing. A reheat (after defrosting) will then take about 10 mins just to warm them through. And finally, why not make these with the kids - they are fun and easy to make and something the whole family can get involved in!

So, without further ado, here is the recipe!

Sausage Rolls with Hidden Vegies



1 tbs unsalted butter
2 large carrots, peeled, grated4 handfuls baby spinach1 tbs olive oil
2 small brown onion, finely chopped
4 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
2 garlic cloves, crushed
800g beef mince
500g pork mince
1 tbs wild oregano
1 tbs Herbs De Provence
4 cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 x 375g packets frozen puff pastry (Careme brand recommended if you can get it), thawed, halved
3 egg yolks, lightly whisked
Poppy and sesame seeds, to garnish
tomato or BBQ sauce, to serve

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180°C.

Step 2: Heat butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add grated carrot and cook for until carrot starts to soften. Cover with a lid and cook for 4-5 minutes until very soft. Add spinach and allow to wilt for a minute or so. Puree vegie mixture in a blender until smooth. Season to taste. Set aside to cool completely.

Step 3: Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat, then add onion, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and a pinch of salt. Cook for 4-6 minutes or until onion has softened. Remove thyme sprigs and bay leaf and set aside to cool completely.

Step 4: Combine minces, vegetables, dried herbs, onion mixture and breadcrumbs in a large bowl. Season with salt. Divide the mince mixture into 4 portions and shape into a 25cm log. Place pastry sheet onto a floured work surface and roll to about 4mm thick. Slice each pastry sheet in half lengthways. Place the sausage log across the closest edge of a pastry sheet. Roll to enclose mixture until the two edges of the pastry meet, trim and discard excess pastry. Brush a little egg wash on the join to secure.

Step 5: Place sausage rolls on a lined baking rack, brush with egg wash and sprinkle evenly with seeds. Repeat with remaining pastry. At this point, you can choose to cut the logs into smaller sausage rolls before cooking or to cook the whole log and slice afterwards. Masterchef recommended leaving whole and slicing on an angle after cooking. I personally chose to cut them before cooking as it makes it easier for freezing and also at serving time!

Step 6: Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through (reduce cooking time to 10-15 mins if you are planning to freeze and/or reheat). Slice these on an angle and serve if you haven't cut them prior to cooking.

Cafe Review - Malt Cafe, Beaumaris

So, for my first restaurant/cafe review, I thought I would stick with my "local" and review good old Malt Cafe in the Concourse, Beaumaris.

It took me a while to discover this little gem but I really am so glad I found it. Look, I will be honest, the food isn't always perfect and the menu isn't extensive, but the friendly atmosphere, warm and homely decor and divine chai lattes more than make up for any of the short-comings.

As far as the food goes, I can highly recommend the steak sandwich - I have had it a few times and always enjoy it. The beetroot accompaniment is delicious and the fat chips are rustic and divine. I am not entirely sure about the wisdom of serving anything with beetroot in it on a flat bread board (my friend Samantha will vouch for this), but hey, it looks funky and, as long as you aren't wearing white, it isn't really too risky! The desserts are also yummy but they always seem to run out of the best things quickly so get in early! I have enjoyed a delicious cheesecake and chocolate mud cake there so far, and my 3 year old son adores the "frog in the pond" that is on offer every day. To top it all off, they serve breakfast through till 3pm for all the "brunchies" out there. I would actually like to see the menu extended a bit, but their core dishes are nice and they have great daily specials, so there is always something to choose from.

Malt is a family-friendly cafe - there is a basket of kids toys, crayons etc. for you to use and good options on the menu for all ages of kids. They also have high chairs and room for prams. The service is also good although the "no bill provided, pay at the register behind the cake display" arrangement is slightly odd. Prices are reasonable with several sandwich/pannini options in the $7-$12 bracket and most of the main courses falling between the $15 and $20 mark.

I confess I have had 1 dodgy meal there - the club sandwich was a bit soggy and the chips were soaked in oil but, overall, I have had many good experiences there so I will put this one down to chef having a bad day.

Now, I cannot finish this review without discussing the chai latte in some level of detail. It is absolutely divine. They don't use powder or tea leaves but, instead, they infuse the fresh spices into the honey and tea and create something like I have never tasted anywhere else. The chais are served in a huge cup and they are very rich and spicy so, if you are only moderately keen on chai, you might not like it but, if you love them as much as I do, you will be in chai latte heaven!!! I also love the Chai's at Ricketts Point Cafe so hard to pick a favourite between the 2 as they are both quite different.

Overall, Moo Moo Kane rates Malt Cafe a 7 out of 10 as far as cafes go - a pleasant experience and well worth a visit if you live close by.

Mum's Group High Tea Delights!

As usual, I spent this Wednesday having a fantastic afternoon tea get-together with my mum's group. It was at my house this week so therefore, up to me to provide the yummy food offerings.

I was feeling like a challenge and hugely inspired by my new "Women's Weekly High Tea" cook-book, so attempted a 3-tier High Tea extravaganza. Ok, so I doubt that Donna Hay would have given me 10 out of 10 for presentation but, for me, this was a pretty good effort and I was really proud of how it all looked!!!

On the top tier, I had some lovely Pistachio Macaroons filled with a Honey and White Chocolate Ganache (WW High Tea Cookbook). I had made these once before and must confess my 1st attempt looked nicer, but these still tasted pretty yummy...definitely not recommended for diabetics though! They are so sweet and chewy...Yum!!!

Second tier was my own creation of Five-Spice Infused Chocolate Ganache Tarts - this involved infusing cream with traditional five-spice and then making a standard dark chocolate ganache with the five-spice cream base (see full recipe below). Sadly I had about 100gms too much dark chocolate in the mix so it was a little bit rich, but I think the idea is still good with some minor adjustments. It is a hard one to describe but you just have to try and imagine the warmth of the subtle spices coming through under the veil of the rich dark chocolate. The flavours linger on the palate and it is easy to draw out the individual spices if you search for them.

The bottom tier was Apple Cinnamon Tea Loaves with Spiced Honey Cream (from WW High Tea Cookbook but I added 2 chopped apples to the cake mix). I also made some delicious sausage rolls (recipe on Master Chef website and a future blog) and it was all topped off with champagne on ice.

What a fantastic way to spend a Wednesday afternoon! Delicious!!! Now, if only we could hire babysitters for the next one ;-)

Five-Spice Infused Chocolate Ganache Tarts


I have shared this recipe as I think the idea of infusing five-spice is really special for desserts. It adds an Asian feel to the dish and creates a subtle but different flavour combination. I originally got this idea from a gorgeous honey and five spice panna cotta I made from my Thai cook-book, but I think the idea can be used very creatively across a few different areas.

PASTRY CASES
1 and 3/4 cups (260g) plain flour
1/4 cup (40g) icing sugar
185g cold butter, chopped coarsely
1 egg yolk
2 tsp iced water (approximately)

FILLING
400 mls double cream
2 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise
4 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1/2 teaspoon szechuan pepper
150-200gms good quality dark chocolate (Lindt or similar) depending on how chocolatey you want it (you can always start with 150gms then add more to taste)

PASTRY CASES
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Step 2: Process flour, sugar and butter until crumbly. With motor operating, add egg yolk and enough of the water to make ingredients come together.
Step 3: Turn dough onto floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 mins.
Step 4: Grease a 24 hole mini-muffin pan. Roll out half the pastry (to ensure it doesn't become too warm to handle) between sheets of baking paper until about 3mm thick. Use a medium scone cutter to cut rounds to fit in muffin holes. Press into holes and price bases well with a fork. Repeat with remaining pastry.
Step 5: Bake cases for about 8-12 minutes depending on your oven. Remove when golden brown and cooked through. Stand cases 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

FILLING
Step 1: Dry roast spices over low heat until fragrant. Bruise with rolling pin or in mortar and pestle to release flavour.
Step 2: Heat cream with roasted spices over low heat for 10 minutes without letting it come to the boil. Remove from heat, cover and allow to infuse for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator (preferably overnight).
Step 3: Bring infused cream to the boil slowly then pour over chopped chocolate. Whisk until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth and creamy.
Step 4: Pour into pastry cases and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Serve topped with some whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Introducing the Totally Fabulous Moo Moo Kane

Hi everyone,

Well, it is the first post for my new blog...how nerve-wracking is that...the pressure...if I don't make this interesting then no one will ever read it again!

So, do I entice you with my amazing knowledge and wisdom of food? Or dazzle you with my fantastic sense of humour? Or woo you with my intelligent vocabulary and amazing sentence structure. Haha, if only I could offer those 3 as readily as I might like to...never mind, I think I will just write from my heart and hope some of you like it.

So, I am guessing the first question is..."Why on earth did you choose such a weird name for your blog? I would love to tell you it has a strong link to my past, and evokes wonderful, warm, fuzzy feelings of cooking with my mum or grandma, but all of that would just be a big fat lie. Basically the name just jumped into my head when I decided to write the blog, and I decided it would be absurd to ignore a name that was so incredibly weird, yet featured so strongly in my thoughts. Besides, the alternative was "Lisa's Cooking Journey" or something similarly boring so I think Moo Moo will provide a far more interesting alternative! To be honest, I don't even know quite who (or what) Moo Moo Kane is yet, but I think we will discover more about her (or him) as we take the journey!

Which brings me to the second question...what is the journey? Well, again, not really sure...I just know that I love food and I love writing, so I want to try bringing them the two together and see how it goes. What I can say is that I love learning and trying new dishes, I will cook almost anything and I would love to share my experiences with anyone who wants to listen. Let's hope that is enough!

I think the structure of it all will evolve over time but, for now, I will aim to write up one semi-fancy recipe, one recipe suitable for the whole family and a general hotch potch of reviews, food thoughts etc. each week. Having said that, I am a busy mum so might not always achieve this...I can only promise to try!

So, let's get onto the real stuff, let the adventures begin...welcome to the world of Moo Moo Kane!