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

Steak and Mushroom Pie(s)

I got the idea to make Steak and Mushroom pies when I went to Claremont Quarter (shopping mall) and they were giving out samples of steak pie from a stall there. We were going to buy one for dinner, when I had my brainwave and remembered this recipe in the MasterChef cookbook. The book (which has become my Bible!) says that 'the filling for the pies is easy to make - everything goes into the pot, with no initial browning - but it turns out to be rich and savoury.' For once, I totally agree with them!
We didn't have a pie dish big enough or a pie funnel, which I found out is a 'hollow ceramic device, shaped like a funnel, chimney or upstretched bird with open beak used for supporting or venting a pie' - do I detect the need for another kitchen gadget that my parents don't own?! shock horror! So to improvise, I made 4 small pies in large ramekins, each a perfect size for one portion.
I served the dish with roasted cauliflower - although it looks like popcorn in my photo!
For similar recipe go to:
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/member-recipes/recipe-detail/3889/#0HsZVlgZ1oFgoLAU.97

Ratings:
Taste: 9
Appearance: 8
Difficulty: 7

Barramundi Fish Burgers with a Spinach and Pine Nut Salad

This is another Australian ingredient-swap, the original recipe called for 'pollock with spinach and pine nuts', but it is nearly impossible to find pollock here. I substituted Barramundi for the Pollock. For anyone that doesn't know, Pollock, is a fish in the cod family, and is found in the North-East Atlantic (not in the Indian Ocean!) Barramundi is a firm white fish that is readily available and found in Australian waters, otherwise known as 'The Asian Sea Bass'.
We decided to go to the beach at twilight and have some prawns and dip whilst watching the sun set prior to dinner. Cooking the barramundi fillets was quite easy on the barbeque and gave them a nice chargrilled flavour. I served them in white buns with homemade mayonnaise. It's amazing how my brothers will eat anything if it is sandwiched between 2 slices of bread!
The spinach salad was simple to make; I lightly fried some onion, added the pine nuts and raisins to the pan, and once they were cooled, tossed them with the spinach in a bowl.
For similar recipe go to:
http://leitesculinaria.com/17580/recipes-spinach-raisins-pine-nuts.html

Ratings: Fish Burger
Taste: 8
Appearance: 6
Difficulty: 5

Ratings: Salad
Taste: 9
Appearance: 9
Difficulty: 3