A Special Day & Beautiful Food

Saturday 7th of May was a special day. My former boss, Lee, married the father of her child and the love of her life. The ceremony and  reception was held at the lobby on a warm autumn day. The food was exceptional.
Entree.
Togarashi tiger prawns with a citrus and summer berry salad.

These lovely prawns were well seasoned and had a beautiful fresh flavour. I'm not a fan of salad so I steered clear of it but it did look pretty.

Entree number two was a pink peppered kangaroo carpaccio, a rocket and  pecorino salad served with roasted macadamia aoli. This was Andrew's dish which I had a taste of. The meat tasted like rare beef the aolie was creamy with crumbs of macadamia mixed though, again I passed on the salad.

Main. Char grilled lamb loin with a warm potato salad, sugar snap peas and cumberland sauce. The lamb was perfectly cooked medium which is exactly how I like my meat. The sauce reminded me of a jus, it had a rich meaty flavour which complemented the lamb beautifully. The potatoes had a creamy mustard dressing. The sugar snap peas were lightly cooked, sweet and crispy, a perfect combination when eaten with the lamb.

Main number two. Moroccan spiced chicken breast with jeweled cousecouse, snowpea shoot salad and harissa dressing. I tried little of the chicken and found it to have a strongly seasoned aniseed flavour. I'm not fond of aniseed at all but those who love liquorish would enjoy this dish.

Dessert. White chocolate and mango brulee with pistachio ice cream.

This dessert was incredible! My favourite was the decedent brulee, it was incredibly rich, thick, smooth and creamy. It had a thin layer of caramel toffee which made a cracking sound when tapped with a spoon.

Dessert number two. Espresso and tia maria semifreddo with baby macaroons and choc mint slice. I only had a little taste of the semifreddo which had a creamy strong coffee taste.

The pièce de résistance was a four layered cake of cheese. The cheese was cut by the bride and groom at the end of the evening. It was then whisked away and cut up and layed out with a variety of crackers, fig paste, strawberries and pistachio nuts. My guess of the cheeses were brie, camembert, blue and vintage cheddar. The brie and camembert were my favourite, rich, gooey, creamy, the perfect ending to a wonderful day.



Love Jem

                                               A Day at the Beach

With the Easter long weekend ending my good friend Jess suggested a day trip to the coast, so we loaded in the car on Anzac Day and after a quick stop at McDonald's we were off. 

While in Batman's Bay we grabbed some fish and chips and headed to beach. The fish was incredible, it was the most juicy, tender, fresh, succulent fish I have ever eaten; the batter was light, crispy; the chips were not great, a little soggy and not a lot of taste. After washing it all down with Coke and iced coffee we headed to explore the beach. At sunset we relaxed by the water eating ice cream. A perfect ending to a relaxing day.

     Jess's Hokey Pokey with Boysenberry on top.

Caitlin's iced coffee.

                                                    My Macadamia with Old English Toffee.

Andrew's Macadamia.

My Amazing Gravy

It's finally here! My gravy recipe! I am very proud to post this recipe. This is the most thick, creamy and gratifying gravy you could imagine. No matter how bad my day has been this gravy never fails to sooth and comfort. This gravy is simply amazing. I usually cook roast chicken and roast veggies mid week which may sound like too much work but with a few easy short cuts it's not as time consuming or difficult as it seems.

Buy a pre-marinated whole roast chicken, the one in this photo is the standard Coles size which is 1.7kg. I buy mine from Coles or Woolworth's. Grab a couple of packets of Birds Eye roast vegetables. Preheat the oven 200 degrees fan forced for ten minutes, chuck the chicken on some oven proof paper and spray with oil, put the chicken on top, give it a big sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/3 cup of oil (massage all over the breast and sides, if you have time). Pop the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes. While the chicken is cooking away grab a big bowl and throw in a few big swings of canola or vegetable oil and mix in the herb sachets. Next chuck the frozen veggies in and mix until the veggies are fully covered in the herby oil.                                                 

Once the chicken has been cooking for 30 minutes throw the veggies back into the roasting packet tins and pop into the oven. Pop the timer on for one hour. Take the chicken out after 45 minutes but leave the veggies to keep cooking for the last 15 minutes. So all up the chicken cooks for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

My chicken weighs 1.7 kg, most instructions tell you to cook chicken for 30 minutes per kg. But if you want a perfectly cooked moist chicken then take it out 15 minutes early. Take the chicken out and put it in a large bowl and cover with glad wrap, put aside, now its time to make the gravy. Note: the chicken will continue to cook while standing. Always leave a chicken to rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

To make the gravy pour all the oil and chicken juices from your roasting tin into a small saucepan. Scrape off all residue from the grease proof paper into the saucepan as well.

Next put 3 heaped tablespoons of Gravox Supreme chicken gravy mix (not the instant one) into the saucepan and stir to combine. Cook this on the stove on high for 1-2 minutes, whisking throughout.

Grab 2 cups of warm water and add a little bit at a time. After adding each bit of water whisk until it thickens, then add more, and keep whisking throughout . Keep doing this until all the water is used.

Next take the saucepan off the heat and place to the side. Pull the plastic wrap over the chicken to the side and carefully tilt the bowl over the saucepan until the juices from the rested chicken pour into the gravy.



Next grind lots of fresh cracked pepper and salt into the gravy then pour in a small tub of thickened cream and whisk on high heat for a couple of minutes until it thickens and reduces a little. The sauce should coat the back of a wooden spoon. If it doesn't thicken enough on high heat simply place 1 tablespoon of corn flour into 3 tablespoons of water and mix, then add to the gravy and whisk on high heat; it will thicken quickly. Check the gravy for seasoning. Now your amazing gravy is ready!!



Enjoy!



                    Quadruple Layered Mud and Profiterole Cake

My good friend Renee turned twenty five so I decided to make her a really special cake. With the help of my friend Jess we made her a delicious and impressive looking cake. It was pretty easy to make as we simply used two packets of Betty Crocker Decedent Chocolate Mud Cake mix. After cooking the two cakes I left them to cool and then cut them in half. Jess and I then made an incredibly thick chocolate icing which was slathered between each half of the cakes. Finally we used another packet mix for the profiteroles. All up it took about four hours and the result was a decadent, moist cake. I'll definitely make this cake again, it was a winner. Heres the link for the icing recipe: (note) I doubled the recipe amount and added about half a cup of coco powder to make to icing darker. Warning! my electric beaters almost burnt out while making this, it is an incredibly thick icing recipe.
Scroll down until you see the heading Chocolate Butter Frosting:
http://southernfood.about.com/od/chocolatecakes/r/bl30106l.htm