PORK ROLLS, GYOSA, JULIA'S CAKE, FRITTATA

PORK AND VEGETABLES ROLLS

2 medium carrots, cut into 5 cm sticks
1 zucchini, cut into 5 cm sticks
3 spring onion, cut into 5cm pieces
1 pork fillet, sliced and each slice opened flat

Lay pieces of vegetables inside each pork slice and roll up and secure ends with a toothpick. Dust rolls lightly with cornflour and fry rolls until lightly browned all over. Mix:
1 tbs sugar
1/4 mirin
2 tbs sake
1/4 cup soy sauce

Add combined ingredients to the pan with pork, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer until rolls are cooked through. Remove rolls from pan and let sauce simmer until reduce in half. Return roll to coat with sauce. Remove toothpicks and serve.


GYOSA - JAPANESE DUMPLINGS - A mixture of pork, cabbage, soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, spring onion, garlic and sesame oil is used to fill gyosa wrappers to make little parcels... They can be fried or steamed... We at home think they are a very yummy snack to have any time of the day/parties. Serve them with dipping sauces (sweet chili sauce or a mixture of soy sauce, ginger and vinegar)

I AM SO SO SO PROUD... This week has been an enjoyable one for me as my little and beautiful daughter (Julia - 9 years old) has been demonstrating an interest in cooking... On Tuesday she baked her FIRST CAKE. The recipe came from a book she borrowed from school library "WOMBAT STEW COOKBOOK by Marcia Vaugham. Seeing her cooking made my eyes filled with water... Specially that it was an "old style cake recipe" which she made everything by hand (didn't use electric mixer). It turned out wonderful... Fluffy, moist and a very nice taste. Maybe she will take over me someday... To be honest, this cake was better than most I have done... CONGRATULATIONS JULIA!!! KEEP THE GOOD WORK!!!

TASMANIAN DEVIL FOOD CAKE

Mix in a bowl:
120 ml oil, 225 ml milk, 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla extract.
Mix in another bowl:
1 1/2 cup plain flour, 1 cup sugar, 3 tbs cocoa (she used choc nesquick (4 tbs)), 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and 1 tsp baking soda.
Stir the dry ingredients into wet ingredients and beat with a egg whisker for 2 minutes. Bake in a greased 20cm square pan for about 35 minutes (test with skewer)

LUNCH WITH THE GIRLS
Yesterday I received two Brazilian friends for lunch. It was a little unexpected, so I haven't had prepared anything to serve them... I look into the fridge and took anything I could find to give them at least a hot lunch as I didn't want serve the usual sandwich... I made a never fail

VEGETABLES AND HERBS FRITTATA
Put a little olive oil in a frypan and saute: 3 spring onion (white part) chopped, 2 garlic cloves chopped, 1 chopped carrot and 1 chopped zucchini. Let it cook until vegetables are soft. Add 2 cooked potato and 1 chicken stock, crumbled. Let all the flavors incorporate. Add 2 handful of chopped parsley and remained chopped spring onion (green part). Whisk 7 eggs and pour on top. Mix vegetables a little to let eggs go to bottom of pan. Cover and cook in a very low heat until partially set. Sprinkle cheese on top and put under a grill to cook top of frittata and melt/brown the cheese. Serve in wedges with a nice refreshing salad.

To finalize the lunch I made coffee and served with homemade cake slices. The chocolate one was my daughter's cake and the other one was an orange and poppyseed cake. Our get together was done with SIMPLE FOOD and we all had a great time!

FRESH PASTA & BRIOCHE BREAD

MY MOTHER IN LAW WOULD BE PROUD OF ME... With this fresh pasta!!! I has been more than 2 years since I've used my pasta machine and somehow I felt the desire to make homemade fresh pasta yesterday... Absolutely TERRIFIC!!!

It is very simple to make, just add 1 whole egg for each 100 g of plain flour. Now it's time to use your arm kneading the dough until gets a nice yellowish color, smooth and elastic. Put it inside a plastic bag while you prepare your machine... Divide dough into sections and pass each of these sections into the machine making it thinner as you go (use the machine instructions for that). Another thing I like to do: add 1 tbs of olive oil (with the eggs) for each 300 g of flour.

Those are my 3 cheeses & spinach ravioli... A mixture of feta cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan, tasty cheese, baby spinach, garlic, salt and egg white was made to fill the raviolis.

Boiled raviolis for about 3 to 4 minutes, drain and it is ready to receive the sauce which in this case was a simple sweet tomato sauce with fresh basil





I was adventuring and decided to do spaghetti as well... For those you need a wood stick to hang the pasta leaving it to dry. It is worth the effort!!!
... They look so cute dangling on the sick... IT IS A TYPE OF DISH THAT MAKES YOU APPRECIATE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE!!! ... Cups of flour with eggs and you have a wonderful meal!!!


For the spaghetti, I made the traditional "macarrao alho e oleo" translating: "Garlic and oil pasta"... In a frypan put lots of olive oil, sliced garlic and anchovy filled and let it heat mixing it until garlic is golden and fish has dissolved. Add hot cooked spaghetti and toss until all combined. Stir in fresh chopped parsley and top with grated Parmesan cheese... #licking lips#

Guess... You're right! It is the famous BRIOCHE! I was really brave wasn't I? To be completely honest, It wasn't excellent, but good enough to eat warm with butter and jam... Just the smell of fresh baked bread is enough to make anyone crazy!!! Specially in a house of Brazilian/Italian couple... WE KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE A NICE BREAD!

It was a nice try and maybe better next time...

CHOC BROWNIE, FRIED RICE, HONEY MILK BALLS, CHICKEN SALAD

WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY... Not too cold or hot... Perfect to bake! And that's what I did today... I woke up in a good mood and as soon as my husband and kids went off to work/school, I started my journey into the kitchen.

This gorgeous piece of heaven is a CHOCOLATE & ZUCCHINI BROWNIE. I found the recipe surfing the net and after reading good reviews, I decided to try. Really is wonderful... Moist and chocolaty! Now I found a way my daughter will eat her vegie... She didn't noticed the zucchini inside the brownies and ate 3 pieces in one go!

Zucchini Brownies
2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tablespoons vanilla
1/2 cup oil
2 cups peeled and grated zucchini
1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa in a bowl.
2. Add the vanilla, oil, and zucchini and mix well.
3. Bake in an ungreased 23 x 33 cm pan at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

Last night we had rice and as usual, we had some leftover, so I made it into a FRIED RICE which I add whatever I had inside the fridge. I fried some spring onion (white part) in vegetable oil, add some carrot, red capsicum, snow peas, ham, ginger, garlic, egg and seasoned with some ketchup manis, chili and soy sauce. My husband ate it for lunch and he said it was a delightful taste lunch... Just need a nap!!!

Another invention to use my mini Brazilian paper cups... HONEY MILK BALLS. They are somehow tasteless soon we put them in our mouth, but soon after they burst in flavors and is like we are kissing someone who just had a peanut butter sandwich... Very yummy endeed and shuttle in flavor!
Honey Milk Balls
1 cup oats
1 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1. Mix all ingredients until evenly combined with clean hands
2. This will be sticky, but worth it!
3. Form into balls. Remember these are no bake!
4. Serve immediately if able, but can be stored in an airtight container for later.


Dinner? We had some pork/tofu & vegetables lettuce wraps and this beautiful salad which I used banana leaves to hold it. It looks very tropical, however the salad was a Vietnamese/Malaysian Style.
I made a mixture of cooked chicken breast, vermicelli noodles, cucumber, carrot, red capsicum, zucchini and spring onion. Them I made two types of dressing:

PEANUT SAUCE:
peanut butter, soy sauce, skim milk, chopped garlic, honey, water and chili. No measure here, but just adding accordingly with taste and texture. Do as you like!
GARLIC,CHILI FISH SAUCE:
1 1/2 tbs sugar, 1 tbs water, 1/2 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs rice vinegar, 1/2 chopped garlic clove and chopped dried chili. Just mix everything and add to the salad.

WEEKLY MENU

It has been a while since my last post... Not really a busy week, but only a bit desmotivated to write... Must have been the heat... It is getting very hot... To be honest; I am not looking forward for Summer to come!!! Well today's post will be a display of what I have been cooking this past week:

This cake I did on Friday. It is a "only yolk" VANILLA CAKE with smooth buttercream and custard topping. For the filling I used more buttercream and strawberry conserve. It was very yummy! Today we eat the last piece and still was moist and delicious!

For Friday dinner, we had this easy and nutricional VEGETABLE & TOFU NOODLES stir fried. I add some garlic, ginger and sweet chili sauce which gave the heat needed for this dish. Just a nice bowl of noodles!

Yesterday was a weird day at my place... We did not have a normal routine and even the meals were all over the place... I didn't cook a proper lunch neither dinner. My son had to go to a Cadet Camp and we had to wake up very early, so by 10:30 am we were already hungry and we snacked all day long. This deep fried dish is called CORN DOG. I don't know why the corn name to it, but it is just a sausage deeped into a basic batter and fried until crisp. We served that with a tomato sauce.

When I have finished the corn dogs, I had a lot of batter left over, so I add some sugar and vanilla extract to it and deep fried to make this yummy SUGAR DOUGHNUTS... Dusted with caster sugar and cinnamon... Delicious! My husband love them. They are fluffy, sweet and very naughty! *It is weekend!*

VEGETABLES QUICHE. This one I have done together with a friend last Wednesday (our cooking day!). I was in a hurry and the pastry didn't cook the way supposed to, but still was nice and the vegies very tasty.

That's my so loved HOMEMADE PIZZA... It did take a long time for me to master it, but today I have to say that my pizza is a very nice one... I am very proud of this achievement... I had to learned doesn't matter what... I would not have forgiven me (I am married to an Italian man). I am a Brazilian person but I KNOW HOW TO MAKE A WONDERFUL PIZZA DOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PINK FROSTED CUPCAKES

Today I went to a new sugarcraft supplier at Wetherill Park and it was like if a child was getting inside a huge "Toy Store"... I think my eyes were shining bright until the time I had to leave the store. I was fascinated with soo many things I could make... So many ideas... Inspired by my trip to "wonderland" I decided to make some icing and pipe on some basic vanilla cupcakes. I was so excited that I even didn't wait the cakes to cool down to pipe on them, so I paid the price: some icing was already melting... but still tasted very good... and soo smoooth... To jazz up my simple cupcake recipe, I just added some white chocolate inside each before bake them... It was yummy!!!

PHILADELPHIA TRUFFLES & CHICKEN AVOCADO TOASTED SANDWICH

PHILADELPHIA TRUFFLES


Another idea from Suyin... It was just impossible to resist... I had to try! Making them was easy as it had just 3 ingredients, however to cover them in melted chocolate was time consuming and fidgety... Just blend a package of Tim Tam biscuit and mix well with 250g philadelphia cheese. Make little balls and cover them in melted chocolate. Making cute designs turn them into something really special! I guess you all are wondering about the taste: Rich, smooth and chocolaty. The cream cheese break the Super Sweetness of chocolate making these truffes delicious! Make little bouquet of truffles and you have a wonderful gift idea. Superb!!!

Today my lunch was very simple:

GRILLED CHICKEN & AVOCADO SANDWICH

I put some avocado and half grilled chicken breast fillet (that has been marinade in a mixture of oregano, parsley, garlic, pepper, paprika and olive oil) into a piece ot Turkish bread and toasted in my sandwich machine. It was very simple but the taste was really good! To fill my plate I served with a mixed lettuce, tomato and olive salad drizzled with balsamic dressing.

CHICKEN PIE

CHICKEN PIE - MINI

By 10:30am, as usual, I was thinking in what to do for lunch... I realized that I still had some chicken filling mixture from a previous Brazilian snack I prepared last month, so I decide to do my own version of Australian passion; PIES!!! For the pastry:

1 1/2 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
125g chilled butter

In a food processor put all ingredients and whiz until resemble breadcrumbs. With motor running, add "almost" 3/4 cup cold water or until dough becomes together into a ball. Knead dough until smooth, wrap with glad wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for around 20 minutes. Pass this time, roll dough until thin, cut circles using cup or cookie cutter and press into greased 3/4 cup muffin tray. Put any filling you desire inside and cover with a smaller dough circle. Press edges with a fork and bake in a preheated hot oven (200 C) for approximately 20 minutes. Today we served these yummy chicken pies with a refreshing salad, however it would be lovely to take to a picnic...

CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE & BAKED CHICKEN

LEMON GRASS, GARLIC & HERBS BAKED CHICKEN

What a beautiful day it was today... I and up staying all morning in the garden imagining what I could star growing right now to collect at the end of year (when my mum would be here from Brazil). I am thinking in plant grape tomato again (as last year was a success), baby eggplant, green beans and some more herbs... The chili trees I planted last year are still giving some fruits, so I used some to do my baked chicken today. I picked parsley, rosemary, chili and lemon grass... And it was all from my little garden... I am so proud!!! Them I mixed with garlic, olive oil, paprika, onion, carrot and chicken drumsticks and put everything to roast in a hot oven for 1 hour... I served with rice and salad... It was a very enjoyable meal!!!

CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE

I think I am addicted to bake... To be honest, I do need to loose some of the weight I have been putting on for a while, but to bake is so irresistible... Especially if you are not working. Everytime I pass through the kitchen I am look the oven thinking in what I could try next time... I need to resist this urge as I should be cooking more of WW food which is not bad at all. I need I bit of planning and discipline... Meanwhile... Look at this CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE I have just done this afternoon... I will be honest: it was the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE I've done in my life! It was my first attempt with mud cake and it was a success! This in a way is a bad news because my hands will be itching to cook it again... Everything about the cake is nice; texture, taste, color, smell, height... Next time I am asked to bake a chocolate cake for a birthday party, this would be it!!!

BEAN & RIBS STEW, CREAMY MUESLI, CHOCOLATE CAKE

SMOKED RIBS & BEAN STEW

Last night I made this hearty and substantial meal for dinner. I was out all day and have not prepare anything for dinner prior to leave, so I had to use my wonderful pressure cooker to cook the beans and smoked pork ribs from scratch as I didn't soak the beans. Unbelievably took me only 40 minutes to do that. I just put dried red kidney beans, 3 bay leaves and the ribs in the pressure cooker, filled with water and let it cook. When it was done, I seasoned the stew with garlic, salt and pepper... woala! Served that with my yummy garlic rice and a salad made with cos lettuce and mixed sprouts/nuts topped with vinaigrette. It was just perfect and we eat literally like PIGS!!!!

CHOCOLATE CAKE
For dessert? Remember that cake I made in just 2 hours? That was our grand finale... I am still shocked with the result of this cake without eggs and milk... The recipe is below, just look into yesterday post. It is worth it to try make it especially if you haven't been to the market/grocery shop lately... Just have a look the sliced cake to see how moist it is...

MUESLI WITH FRUIT AND YOGURT
Ok... Let's talk a bit healthier now... This morning my breakfast, after my cup of tea with my husband before he left to work, was this creamy, fruity and sweet combination of yoghurt, strawberry and natural muesli drizzled with natural golden syrup. To make it even more sophisticated, I decided to serve MYSELF in a flute glass which made this feels and taste like a special occasion... As they say: PRESENTATION MAKE DIFFERENCE!!! And this is true... I usually have this on a normal small cereal bowl, but today it was nicer... Somehow...

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE & JAPANESE MEAL

This was a cake I made in just 2 hours... It was a record!!! I realized I didn't have any eggs and just a 1/2 cup of milk in my cupboard... For that reason, this cake would be a good alternative for those who's allergic to eggs. The result? It was moist, chocolaty and really good. For the filling, I made a coconut paste (sweet) and it tasted a bit like bounty chocolate bar... I would recommend it for coconut lovers!

EGGLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

3 1/2 cup self raising flour
2 1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 vegetable oil
2 1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 175 degrees C. In a large bowl, sift flour, cocoa and salt. Add sugar and mix together. Add wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Bake in a greased 23cm round pan for approximately 50 min or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Let it cool, cut in half and sandwich it with coconut filling. Top with icing.

COCONUT FILLING

Put in a saucepan: 1 cup sugar, 2 cups dessicated coconut and 2 cups coconut milk and cook until thick. Add 1 tbs cornflour with a bit of water and mix until comes out from bottom of pan when tilt. Add 1 tbs of butter and mix until melted and mixture is shiny. Reserve

CHOCOLATE FUDGE ICING

2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
6 tbs margarine
2 tbs light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients in a saucepan. Slowly bring to a full boil. Let it boil for 1 minute. Cool and beat with mixer until mixture is of spreading consistency. Pour over cake quickly.

JAPANESE MEAL

This is our favorite Japanese meal, which I already master to my family's taste. It is CALIFORNIA ROLL, MISO SOUP WITH TOFU AND MUSHROOM AND CHICKEN TERYAKI SKEWERS. This time I cooked these with a friend of mine and apparently her husband was impress... We showed him that this kind of meal can be done at home and it is as nice as in a Japanese restaurant. I am glad he liked and she said: I CANNOT MAKE HIM STOP EATING!!!

BAKED PORK RIBS - AMERICAN STYLE

After my husband has begged I decided to do the PORK RIBS for him. The deal this time was that I cheated a bit... I used bottle sauce to marinade the ribs and as they always says; nothing like a homemade food... The sauce wasn't too bad, however not even compare to the sauce I make myself which I use brown sugar, plum sauce, tomato sauce and much more...mmm...Very yummy!!!

This was the sauce I bought today at Chinese store. It gave a very strong smoky flavor to the ribs (which I liked) but I was expecting to turn up a little more sweet... Nevermind, the ribs were vanished in the end anyway... The problem is that I still own my husband his "favorite" ribs # maybe next week #

CHEESE BREAD & BAKED POTATO AND CAPSICUM

These little balls are very famous all over Brazil... They are called PAO DE QUEIJO or CHEESE BREAD in english and I believe there isn't one Brazilian person who dislike them. They are sold throughout Brazil and the best way to eat them is while they are hot and together with a fresh hot coffee... The ingredients are manioc(cassava) flour, salt, milk, vegetable oil, eggs and lots of cheese. They are baked in the oven until puffed and golden in color. We Brazilians cannot eat just one, so we usually make them in big quantities!!! You better grab one quickly or you end up without one!!!! THEY ARE REALLY DIVINE!

Now this dish I learnt with my mother in law... She called it "pipe patate" (I don't know if I wrote correctly as it is an Italian dish), but I called baked potato & capsicum. It is a simple dish but really a good one. You can eat by itself, with rice and salad or like in the picture with bread. The taste is powerful and texture sort of creamy... Very nice with wine and an antipasto platter. It is a comfort food and enjoyed by many in our family.



BAKED POTATO AND RED CAPSICUM
4 chopped potatoes
3 chopped red capsicum
1 chopped carrot
2 chopped onions
4 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tbs tomato paste
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix everything, put in a baking dish and baked in a hot oven (200 degrees) covered with foil for 30 minutes stirring once. Take foil out and keep baking for a further 25 minutes or until all vegies are soft. Transfer to a serving dish and drizzle a little of olive oil for a glaze look. Serve with toasted Italian bread and a green salad. Just wonderful! I add some black olives for a touch of color.