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