The Final Countdown

Thank you to all my subscribers, friends and family, my mammoth cooking marathon has finally come to a close! I have completed 122 recipes, written 62 blogs, cried 50 buckets and ripped out at least half of my hair over the last 9 months! I started with macaroons and ended with escargot, lobster and crème caramel, it has been quite a journey.

I have had followers in many countries, some as far fetched as Bolivia, Russia and China, I guess this is the benefit of having been to a school with 72 different nationalities and growing up on 3 different continents. Some other viewers have been from: The USA, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Canada, Singapore, Holland and good old England. In total I have had 2340 page views and 65 subscribers.

I have one final request that would really help me complete and analyze my project. Please could you fill out this survey, it will only take 5 minutes.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7MC66G8

I would like to say a massive final thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way: Aunty Katy for giving me the cookbook; Jay Heifetz for his advice on the photography; Ms Clucas and Ms Edwards for school guidance; my brothers for eating and giving their honest opinions for ratings and my father for assisting me with the difficult recipes. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank my mother for all her help in and out of the kitchen, for putting up with some of my meltdowns and for just being there. Thank you!

I hope you have enjoyed my journey, I know I have! I'm not a MasterChef yet, but I'm a whole lot closer than when I started!

Escargot followed by Lobster and to finish, Créme Caramel.

This is a momentous evening! Set off the fireworks, pop the champagne, turn up the music and put on your dancing shoes.......this was my Last Supper! I decided to go out with a bang for my grand finale. We had escargot (snails), lobster and créme caramel. I substituted escargot for the moules marinières recipe in the Masterchef Cookbook. I just fried them in garlic, butter, parsley and more garlic. I served them with the obligatory french bread to soak up all the delicious garlicky oil. Despite all that I have learnt throughout my project, I still found it awfully difficult to make the snails look attractive!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/escargot-in-the-shell-with-herb-butter-recipe.html



Lobster, what can I say? My favourite fish of all time! In grey, out pink! Also my favourite part of the film Julie and Julia, when Julie has to cook a live lobster whilst singing "Psycho Killer" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52jAYa4Pm8). I served this simply with a fresh green salad and some boiled new potatoes with olive oil and lime. My grandmother would exchange one of her children for a lobster, so was delighted at the end of the meal to discover that she still has 2 daughters and 5 grandchildren! An absolutely delicious meal (pat myself on the back!!)



Crème Caramel or caramel pudding, is a custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top. What a great finish to a great project. It was like a caramelly, custardy jelly! I'm not so keen on the caramel topping, but I was in the minority here! Very full, very excited, very relieved! One final blog coming your way, a request for some feedback.
For similar recipe go to:
https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/basic-creme-caramel

 Ratings: Escargot
Taste: 10
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 5

Ratings: Lobster

Taste: 10

Appearance: 10

Difficulty: 2

Ratings: Créme Caramel

Taste: 10

Appearance: 10

Difficulty: 6

Fish and Chips followed by Rice Pudding

Fish and chips is a hot battered fish dish, which originated in England. Deep-fried fish was first introduced into Britain during the 16th century by Jewish refugees from Portugal and Spain. The first fish and chip shop was opened in London by Joseph Malin in 1860.
It is usually made with Atlantic cod or haddock, and is a common take-away food, but I decided to adapt the typical fish and chips recipe. I used breadcrumbs to coat the fish and oven bake the chips instead of deep fat frying them.
The dinner was pretty easy. When I told my brothers I was making fish and chips, they weren't exactly excited, but in fact everyone thought the meal was delicious.
I thought everyone might want a quick update on how my personal project is going. I only have 5 recipes left to do and I just can't wait for the 3,500 word essay I have to work on once I have finished the project aspect.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1960/beer+battered+fish+and+chips

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 5
Difficulty: 5

Rice pudding is often called a "Comfort Nursery Food". I decided that rather than use a large dish for the pudding, I would use individual ramekins. The consistency of the finished pudding was quite thick, and I finished the dish by sprinkling the tops with brown sugar and putting them under the grill to give them a crème brûlée crust. The portions were perhaps too generous and very filling, so some of the family had trouble finishing their pudding. However, overall the dish was voted a popular success.
For similar recipe go to:
https://www.donnahay.com.au/recipes/baked-rice-pudding

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 7
Difficulty: 4

Chicken Consommé for lunch, Lobster Bisque followed by Cold Lemon Soufflé for dinner

Consommé is a soup clear chicken soup. It is surprisingly easy to make a clear consommé using an egg white "raft" to filter out impurities. I had to be sure to start with a good chicken stock. I used on my mother's special stock with everything thrown in so I'm guessing that is why the soup was a bit more cloudy than it was meant to be. Let's play another round of "What instruments were used to make this soup". I have used: chopping boards, knives, forks and spoons, a whisk, multiple bowls of different shapes and sizes, our pressure cooker, a couple wooden spoons, ladle, muslin, sieve and bowls to serve. For what looks like a simple dish, this is a lot of equipment.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.marthastewart.com/254764/chicken-consomme

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 7

Lobster Bisque is made from the shells of the "lobster" (we used crayfish). It is made with; crushed lobster shells with vegetables, herbs and wine, which gives the bisque a rich colour and flavour. I reduced this even further to make an amuse-bouche and served it in Mummy and Daddy's wedding service coffee cups. I also added prawns as Granny loves prawns.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lobster-bisque-4092

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 5

I thought the consommé used a lot of equipment until I started on the "Cold Lemon Soufflé". I had to: whip cream; make an Italian meringue; cook egg yolks in sugar; caramalise lemon rind and then fold it all in together. The end result tasted lovely, although the washing up was not.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.lifestylefood.com.au/recipes/14988/cold-lemon-souffle

Ratings:
Taste: 9.5
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 10

Anzac Biscuits for Tea, Carrot and Orange Soup followed by Pears Baked in Wine for Dinner

I decided to bake Anzac Biscuits as a tribute to Anzac day. This year was the centenary of Gallipoli and has been particularly poignant, lest we forget. I haven't had a great history with making these biscuits.  I first baked them when we arrived in Australia, because of the limited equipment in our temporary beach house. They weren't a great success then and neither were these! The Anzac biscuits I make taste lovely, but are always crumbly, when they are supposed to be chewy! This time I added some more butter to the recipe and they turned out all right at last. 
For exact recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/15770/chewy+anzac+biscuits

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

Last night I watched the film Julie and Julia to remind myself of the journey Julie Powell took. It has re-inspired me, not only to complete my 10 remaining recipes, but to add a more personal note to my blog, just as Julie does. Fortunately I am not having a nervous breakdown, a split from my husband (??) or a failed dinner with a publisher! Although I am very much looking forward to receiving a copy of the Australian Master Chef Cookbook, signed and personalised by Matt Preston (thank you to my parents for bidding on this for me!)  So, to the Carrot and Orange Soup...... it froze unbelievably well, as we didn't eat all of it at once. It is a light, refreshing soup with a hint of spice. It is a delicious, slightly sweet soup  and not too heavy for the harsh Australian summer heat. It went perfectly with a rustic, crunchy baguette. 
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27745/carrot+orange+soup

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5

Baked pears are a luscious dessert, particularly when they're baked with Marsala and Italian Amaretti cookies. I totally agree with this statement, except when I made them, I chose not to use Marsala but red wine. The family loved the baked pears. I don't think I cooked them all the way through as the middle was quite hard, whilst the outside was soft, if I had continued to cook them they would have been the same texture all the way through. I think the picture came out very well and was one of the easiest to take. The baked pears were served with the red wine sauce, don't worry all the wine was burnt off (we weren't drunk at the end of the meal) and of course ice cream!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/pears_baked_in_marsala_with_crumbled_amaretti.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

Hot Cross Buns, Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies and Swiss Roll for Tea

Well this recipe was an absolute, terrible, horrible disaster without question. The Hot Cross Buns were as solid as rock buns. I could bring them outside and use them as a hockey puck! I don't know what happened because I thought I did everything right, but I must have done something wrong. All the flavour was right, but they were far too heavy, not at all appetising.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/hot-cross-buns

Ratings:
Taste: 3
Appearance: 3
Difficulty: 6

As my celiac friend Hayley was visiting that day, I decided to bake a Chocolate Cake with "Gluten Free" self raising flour. I added in the flour and until the cake came out of the oven, it looked, tasted and smelt no different from normal chocolate cake. However, the minute it came out of the oven the cake hadn't risen at all, it had actually sunk in the middle. This chocolate cake is more like a Victoria Sponge cake than anything else, with two sandwiches stuck together with chocolate icing.
My Mother was doubtful that the cake would be edible. I iced the cake and filled it with a chocolate cream. and everyone said it tasted delicious. It was perfect in fact, even if I say so myself.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2685651/chocolate-sponge-cake

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

I made the first batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies for Archie's Brisbane house barbecue. The recipe said to cook at a high temperature and ours is a fan oven, so unfortunately the first batch of cookies were very dark brown! The next batch were rescued from the oven before they were incinerated and they were devoured by Brisbane house for dessert.
For similar recipe go to:
http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/8897/amazing-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies.aspx

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

I used a baking tray to make my swiss roll, using a fat less sponge mixture. I now have great respect for the bakers who sell swiss rolls as they are extremely difficult to roll without it cracking. Even with a friend called Pip helping, we managed to create a slightly irregularly shaped swiss roll. However it tasted very good, but possibly not a recipe I wish to repeat!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/rachel-allen/swiss-roll.html

Ratings:
Taste: 7 
Appearance: 5
Difficulty: 6

Salad Niçoise and Gravadlax with Cheese Souffés

Again, another bistro classic, this salad is made up of green beans, potatoes, anchovies, olives, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs and a red wine vinaigrette. Instead of using seared tuna on the top of the salad, I used the Gravadlax that I made 3 days ago. The gravadlax recipe states that the fish should be cured for 48 hours, but with school commitments and a forgetful mind, I indeed forgot! The Gravadlax was fascinating! Having never heard of it before, I had to sandwich together 2 fillets of salmon with a curing mixture in the middle made of sugar, salt, dill, lemon juice and pepper. After 48 hours (actually 72!) of being wrapped in cling film and weighed down by 2 tins of tomatoes in the fridge, I cut the, now much less moist, salmon into thin slices. The gravadlax was quite salty and tasted like a cross between smoked salmon and proscuito ham! My mother and youngest brother loved it, but for once, I agreed with my middle brother in saying that it wasn’t my favourite! It did, however, go very well with the salad niçoise.
For similar recipe go to: Salad Niçoise
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/salad-nicoise
For similar recipe go to: Gravadlax
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/fish-recipes/super-quick-salmon-gravadlax/#HbkJxcXXkOCXOR6E.97

Ratings: Salad Niçoise
Taste: 9
Appearance:
Difficulty: 5

Ratings: Gravadlax
Taste: 7
Appearance:
Difficulty: 5

The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb 'souffler', which means "to blow up" or, more loosely "puff up". Soufflés were very popular in the 1970's, particularly for ladies on diets!
People seem to have grown tired of them lately and to tell the truth, I am not particularly keen on them myself, they are just too fluffy for my taste! but my father loved it.  I did manage to get 5 cheese souffles to the table without them deflating which I was very pleased with. I don't think they were as good as my mother's friend Leah, who used to make Soufflés at Le Gavroche in London, but it was not bad for a first attempt. 
For similar recipe go to:
http://steamykitchen.com/5248-cheese-souffle.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 8

Spicy Sweet Corn Chowder

My Grandparents arrived today. Very exciting! I know they like something light after coming off the long flight from England, so I decided to make a soup and 'Spicy Sweet Corn Chowder' seemed to fit the bill. I couldn't find the chilli powder in our spice cabinet, so I decided to add cayenne pepper as a substitute, hmmm big mistake, how was I to know that it was extra hot? I think that this was possibly the biggest mistake I have ever made whilst cooking!
Mercifully, Superwoman (aka my mother- Lucy Capon) came to the rescue with lentils, milk, more lentils and yet more milk! With her help, I got the soup down from 'toilet paper in the freezer hot' to 'my brother still couldn't breathe hot'! which actually meant a creeping warmth through my body and a kick in the back of my throat, not dissimilar to a donkey! We got through LOTS of Turkish bread!
I am awfully sorry, but the chowder (just like many dishes before), could not be photographed with style.  I tried terribly hard to make it look nicer but was obviously unsuccessful!
For similar recipe go to:
http://newcoventgardensoup.com/our-soups/

Ratings:
Taste: 
Opinions were divided, those who could swallow it: 9
Those you couldn't: N/A
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 6

Pâté de Campagne

'Pâté de Campagne', also sometimes called a 'Terrine' is a coarse ground pâté that is baked in a loaf pan inside a water bath. Terrines normally incorporate two types of meats and use dried fruits in the center, such as figs, apricots or cherries. This terrine used pork and veal minces, with chunks of ham in the middle. It was wrapped in streaky bacon and was not difficult to make, but did require a certain amount of pre-planning, as with all these recipes. In my opinion, the terrine was not seasoned enough, it needed more salt than the recipe asked for. I am starting to realize that the MasterChef cookbook often underestimates how much seasoning and herbs are needed in their dishes as this was a little bland. We had this for alfresco lunch on Sunday, accompanied by crusty sourdough ciabatta, a tomato and basil salad and pickled onions & cornichon. It's still summer, yay!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/gallery/2010/jul/30/how-make-pate-de-campagne

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 7

Soda Bread with Pumpkin accompanied by Feta Filo Pie for lunch and Sausages with Onions for dinner

Yesterday I called a photographer called Jay Heifetz, a professional photographer from Fremantle, WA, for some advice on how to take pictures of food. He gave me some valuable advice regarding taking photographs and how I should use lighting and staging to get the most of out of the dishes. He takes wonderful photographs, not just of food, have a look at his website www.heifetzphotography.com.au. I hope my pictures from here on can be half as good as his!

Soda bread is an easy bread to make, which doesn't need too much kneading. It doesn't rise, so goes in and comes out of the oven the same shape. I seriously underestimated the amount of flour needed to made the bread. Cleaning my hands was a very difficult process, because the mixture was so sticky. I had to call for help numerous times and add lots more flour! I got very frustrated with the whole process and was told by my mother to "take my anger out on the bread"! We ate the pumpkin bread for lunch accompanied by feta filo pie and salad. The bread was slightly sweet and I served it with butter, which made it taste similar to scones!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.hungrycouplenyc.com/2014/09/pumpkin-soda-bread.html

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Making feta filo pie is quite challenging and I found out the hard way. You have to squeeze all the water out of the spinach otherwise when it is cooked it will make the bottom all soggy. I made the recipe in a hurry, forgot to squeeze out all the spinach and got a soggy bottom! The flavours were nice, particularly the pine nuts and raisins, but the texture was not. As I say with some of my dishes, unfortunately, "this wasn't my favourite".
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.aww.com.au/food/recipes/2007/5/spinach-and-feta-filo-pie/

Ratings:
Taste: 4
Appearance: 4
Difficulty: 7

Last night was a reverse Cinderella story, my parent's went out to the ball and I was stuck at home, cooking for my ugly "step"-brothers! For dinner I made sausages, onion gravy and mashed potatoes, but to put it more appropriately, bangers and mash. I substituted this recipe for the liver and onions in the MasterChef Cookbook, because apart from my father, nobody else likes Calves liver. Sausages and onion gravy is the perfect comfort food, too bad that I have to finish my project at the end of this term before it the weather turns colder. A delicious meal, but where was Prince Charming?! Sorry, Jay, even with all your fabulous advice, nothing could make this meal look attractive!
For similar recipe go to:

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 3
Difficulty: 4

Courgette Quiches for lunch and Orange Glazed Gammon with Endives for dinner

I just realized that the tea party post was my 50th blog entry! Now I have completed 98 recipes and counting! Instead of making 'little pastry cases' (as it says in the book), I made a couple of big quiches, one for lunch today and one for lunches during the week. With the quiches, I added bacon into them and Mummy's home grown mini courgettes. Delicious!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1132640/courgette-quiche

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Before searching, I didn't know that Australia sold un-cooked ham joints, they all seem to come conveniently sealed, on the bone and cured! So, I cooked a gammon for the first time! It was a simple recipe, where ham is boiled in a couple of bottles of diluted Apple Cider. The skin is then scored and glazed (with my Mother's homemade orange, lemon and grapefruit marmalade) and the gammon is roasted in the oven. I put endives and potatoes in the roasting tin and tossed them in lemon juice (as I didn't have any oranges). Having looked on wikipedia, it says that endives are a member of the chicory family, which includes radicchio, escarole, frisee and curly endive. I found them to be a bit too bitter, which is presumably why they were included in this recipe, because the orange glaze was very sweet and the meat was salty.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/honeyandmarmaladegla_93186

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 5

Pea, Courgette Quiche for lunch and Orange Glazed Gammon for Dinner

I just realized that the tea party post was my 50th blog entry! Now I have completed over 100 recipes and counting! Sorry it's been a while since my last post, I was working on the essay behind the project, which is due next week. For this recipe instead of making 'little pastry cases' (as it says in the book), I made a couple of big quiches, one for lunch today and one for lunches during the week. With the quiches, I added bacon into them and Mummy's home grown mini courgettes. Delicious!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/15308/mini+ham+cheese+quiches

Ratings:
Taste: 7
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Before searching, I didn't know that Australia sold un-cooked ham joints, they all seem to come conveniently sealed, on the bone and cured! So, I cooked a gammon for the first time! It was a simple recipe, where ham is boiled in a couple of bottles of diluted Apple Cider. The skin is then scored and glazed (with my Mother's homemade orange, lemon and grapefruit marmalade) and the gammon is roasted in the oven. I put endives and potatoes in the roasting tin and tossed them in lemon juice (as I didn't have any oranges). Having looked on wikipedia, it says that endives are a member of the chicory family, which includes radicchio, escarole, frisee and curly endive. I found them to be a bit too bitter, which is presumably why they were included in this recipe, because the orange glaze was very sweet and the meat was salty.
For similar recipe go to:
https://www.wheelandbarrow.com.au/blog/recipes/mains/honey-orange-glazed-ham

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5

Kedgeree followed by Lemon Meringue Pie

My parents had 'Lovely Luke' and his even lovelier girlfriend 'Pip' coming round for dinner. Again, the perfect opportunity to tick a few more recipes off my list! Since it was a weekday, I decided to make something easy. Kedgeree is a traditional British breakfast dish made from curried rice, smoked fish, hard boiled eggs, parsley and lemon juice. Obviously the MasterChef cookbook recipe was an adaptation of the typical kedgeree, because it used coriander instead of parsley. Of all the days for Coles to not have their smoked cod from New Zealand, today had to be the worst! I had to substitute with ling fillets, which were actually very nice and once the curry powder was added, you really couldn't tell the difference. Using the milk to poach the fish and then to cook the rice gave the dish a lovely creaminess, not dissimilar to a curried risotto! I served the dish with some broccoli florets.
For similar recipe look below:

http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/recipe-search/classic-dish/2008/3/kedgeree/

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 4

The earliest recorded recipe of Lemon Meringue Pie was attributed to Alexander Frehse, a Swiss baker from Romandie. This was up there with pavlova as one of my most spectacular dishes to date! The lemon filling thickened so very quickly, who would have thought that lemon curd was so easy to make?! The topping looked spectacular and held its shape very well. The dessert was lovely, but incredibly sweet - even for my sweet tooth! And yet again, anything with pastry seems to break up when I try to get it out of its case, which never looks particularly good presented on a plate! None of this seemed to bother Luke, who finished off any leftovers of both the Kedgeree and pie!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3482/ultimate-lemon-meringue-pie

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 10
Difficulty: 8

Tea Party with Scones, Carrot & Walnut Cake and Shortbread.

As Julia Child says, "A party without cake, is just a meeting!" I agree wholeheartedly with Julia and my tea party had a delicious cake and I made some lovely English tea to have in the garden. The carrot and walnut cake worked very well with a cream cheese icing. It was nice and moist, but unfortunately there was none left, as carrot cake is everyone's favourite tea time treat!
Shortbread is a delicious side for a nice cup of tea. My grandmother always has to have a cup of tea with any food (you should hear her after an ice cream!) Delicious shortbread, crumbly and melt in the mouth, so much better than the shop bought variety.
The pronunciation of scones is the cause of much debate; are you a "scownes" (rhymes with stones) eater or do you prefer to eat "skons" (rhymes with gone). We are firmly in the "skon" (rhymes with gone) camp! However, whichever way you say it, scones are the epitome of the quintessential English tea. The next dilemma whilst having a cream tea, is whether to eat the scones Devonshire style or Cornish....does the cream go on before the jam or visa versa? apparently I would fit in well in Devon, when the rest of my family should reside in Cornwall! I was slightly disappointed with these scones, as they didn't rise as high as I had hoped and they were a bit dry.

For similar recipe go to: Carrot and Walnut Cake

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/18529/carrot-walnut-cake.aspx
For similar recipe go to: Shortbread
http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/easy-shortbread-1283
For similar recipe go to: Scones
http://allrecipes.com.au/recipe/23134/easy-scones.aspx

Ratings: Carrot and Walnut Cake

Taste: 9

Appearance: 8

Difficulty: 7

Ratings: Shortbread

Taste: 9

Appearance: 8

Difficulty: 4

Ratings: Scones

Taste: 6

Appearance: 6

Difficulty: 5

Aubergine Massaman Curry followed by Custard Tart

On Saturday night we had a family curry evening. I made the 'Aubergine Massaman Curry' from the MasterChef cookbook, although I had to tell my younger brother Archie, that it was just 'Massaman Curry'. Amongst the long list of his dislikes is Aubergine (Eggplant)! Massaman is a Thai curry of Muslim origin, usually containing coconut milk, roasted peanuts, potatoes, bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon, palm sugar, fish sauce and tamarind sauce and of course this one included aubergine.
My father made a 'Mushroom bhaji' and a 'Chicken Tikka Masala' (the same recipe I have used before from the MasterChef cookbook) to accompany my dish. The whole meal tasted delicious, served with lime pickle, mango chutney, rice and poppadoms, popped laboriously by me in the microwave!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.homecooksrecipe.com/2009/09/thai-massaman-curry-with-eggplant-and.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8 (but for children a 6)
Appearance:7
Difficulty: 5

It seems that Custard Tart would be a great dessert to bake around Christmas time, as the filling tastes a bit like eggnog (not that I would really know) - or so I have been informed by 2 reliable sources (yes my parents!) The crust should ideally be made from amaretti biscuits, but other biscuits can be used and I used simple Granita biscuits. The recipe includes 60ml of dark rum, but after tasting it I realised that I should have used half of that amount with us young ones around...I think my parents were fine though! It was a lovely smooth creamy dessert, not dissimilar to a thin boozy cheese cake, but it was too rich for my brothers and me and I think that school would have had something to say if they'd known that we had been given alcohol in our school lunch the next day! Again, it was difficult to find an exact match for the recipe, so I am using one of my 7 allowed MasterChef cookbook prints, hope you can read it ok?
For exact recipe see below:

Ratings:
Taste: 8 (again for children a 6 due to the rum)
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 6

Moroccan Spiced Lamb with Ratatouille, followed by Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse.

The first week back at school was amazing, but I am now very tired. I have been rowing for 6 mornings this week waking up at 5:15 to be on the water by 5:45 - I didn't even get a break on Sunday, no rest for the wicked! Tonight we had an early Sunday dinner. I rubbed Moroccan spices on the lamb shoulder (cumin, coriander, cinnamon) and then popped it in the oven on a low temperature for 5 hours. This was low maintenance and meant I could continue with other activities and make the accompanying food. This method of cooking made the lamb fall off of the bone and have a delicious melting texture that I love so much!

For the ratatouille, I used courgettes from my mother's veggie garden. For some reason, we can't get them to grow bigger than about 5cm long, so I had to use a lot of them. The recipe included aubergine, which, as you may have read, my brother Archie doesn't like, so he gave me a lower mark for taste!
For similar recipe go to: Lamb
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1680/roast-rack-of-lamb-with-moroccan-spices
For similar recipe go to: Ratatouille
http://norecipes.com/recipe/ratatouille-recipe/

Ratings: Lamb
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

Ratings: Ratatouille
Taste: 7
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

The chocolate and hazelnut mousse was very rich and absolutely delicious! Slightly more complicated than I imagined, but worth the extra effort of making an Italian meringue. We didn't have enough plain chocolate, so to make up the quantity, I used some lime chocolate, which gave it a bit of a citrus flavour. You may remember, that the publishers of the MasterChef Cookbook, have only allowed me to copy 7 recipes directly from the book due to copyright laws. I think this recipe warrants an entry - plus, I don't have too many more recipes to complete, so I might as well use up my quota!
For exact recipe see below:

Ratings: Chocolate and Hazelnut Mousse
Taste: 10
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 5

Toad in the Hole followed by Pavlova

Toad in the hole is such an old fashioned English dish. We were quite surprised that the MasterChef Cookbook had the recipe in it. Apparently1970's dishes are making a come-back in the UK as people revert to classic British food with good quality ingredients cooked simply. Well this fits the bill perfectly. Cumberland sausages cooked inside yorkshire pudding mix (pancake batter)...what's not to like?! I cooked it for a 'nursery tea' for my brothers and me. It tasted delicious and if there had been any left, I would have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner until it was finished! The reason for the name is because the dish looks like a toad peeping out of its hole. The dish originated from the town of Alnmouth in Northumberland, England. It is a very simple recipe and was loved by everyone (even my parents who said they shouldn't eat any)! I served it with baked beans - yum!!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_english_toad_in_the_hole/

Ratings:
Taste: 10
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 4

Pavlova is a meringue based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. It is a meringue cake with a crisp crust and soft, light inside, usually topped with whipped cream and fruit. Because the dessert was named after a Ballerina, the white folds of whipped egg white and sugar are meant to resemble a tutu. The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920's and much controversy remains as to who actually invented the dish! Regarding the recipe, my Mother reckons, that while the cornflour lends the recipe structure, she feels it makes the meringue center taste slightly powdery and drier. Meringue can be made either with or without cornflour - which do you prefer? On the top of my pavlova I put whipped cream and a couple of chopped mangoes.

For similar recipe go to:
http://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/pavlova-L428.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

Monty's 1st Birthday Party; Sausage Rolls, Lemon and Lime Tart, Fruit Cake and Banana, Cranberry and Walnut Loaf

Gosh, it was a week ago since our baby's first birthday! I've been a bit slack in blogging - well it is the summer holidays! We invited over Monty's best dog friends; Josh (his English Setter kennel cousin) and Rosie (his gorgeous Golden Retriever girlfriend). I catered a tea for the dogs and their families, and made; 'Sausage Rolls', 'Lemon and Lime Tart', 'Banana, Cranberry and Walnut Loaf', 'Fruit Cake' and for the dogs I made 'Pupcakes' (dog cupcakes!) My mother made egg sandwiches and I brought out a couple of frozen boxes of profiteroles which I made for the Christmas party and filled them with whipped cream.
Unfortunately I cooked the fruit cake for too long and the top went brown, this meant that no human wanted a piece, Josh, however, licked a slice and claimed it for his own! he also swiped an egg sandwich off of the table when he thought no one was looking! The banana bread was delicious and moist and the nuts made it crunchy. We froze the remainder to save it from spoiling. The lemon and lime tart was.......interesting, with a chocolate base and a lovely, tart, lemon and lime filling, it should have been great, but I over stretched the pastry base to fit a larger dish than required, which resulted in a very thin topping, delicious but not overly attractive! The sausage rolls were easy to make, but time consuming - needless to say, there were none left at the end of the party, which was due to the 11 children and 7 adults, rather than the 3 dogs! 

For similar recipe go to: Sausage Rolls
http://today.ninemsn.com.au/foodandwine/1030764/homemade-sausage-rolls

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 5

For same recipe go to: Lemon and Lime Tart
http://www.lovefood.com/guide/recipes/19541/lemon-and-lime-tart-recipe

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 6

For similar recipe go to: Banana, Cranberry and Walnut Loaf
http://theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/banana-cranberry-walnut-loaf.html

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 6

For similar recipe go to: Fruit Cake
http://www.joyofbaking.com/FruitCake.html

Ratings:
Taste: 5 - too dry
Appearance: 5 - burnt
Difficulty: 6

Pork Chops

Given that the temperature outside is now consistently above 30C, it seems too hot to be roasting a whole leg of pork in the oven. I adapted yet another recipe, so that the glaze for the joint of meat was used as a marinade and the leg was converted to chops, which went on the barbie!
I marinated the chops in orange juice, white wine, mustard, brown sugar and cloves for approximately 3 hours. I served this with potatoes tossed in olive oil and baby courgettes (zucchini) from my Mother's garden, roasted on the barbeque. It doesn't look great in the photograph but it tasted very nice.
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/orange-mustard-pork-chops

Ratings:
Taste: 8
Appearance: 5
Difficulty: 5