Sep15

Nigella Lawson’s Coconut Cake

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Ages ago, my friend Amy suggested this cake would be perfect here at foodthatserves and yesterday, I finally got around to making this chuck-almost-everything-in-the-food-processor cake. If you follow the recipe below, you’ll end up with a yummy looking cake much like the one above and you’ll love the taste too. For those who are trying to reduce their overall fructose intake, I was so thrilled with the result of this using dextrose instead of sugar. You can buy dextrose from the home brew section of Big W(oop) as it’s affectionately known in our household or from specialty home brew shops and health food stores. Dextrose is actually cheaper than caster sugar to buy and all I did in this case was exchange it directly for the 175g sugar required. The fructose free cake that resulted was yummy and just like a normal cake. Instead of the icing Nigella suggests, I served it with whipped cream and defrosted blueberries from the freezer – so good. Total cost to make is around $3.

  • 175g/6oz butter, softened
  • 175g/6oz golden caster sugar
  • 175g/6oz self-raising flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 50g/2oz desiccated coconut
  • 2 tbsp coconut cream, or single cream

FOR THE BUTTERCREAM FILLING AND TOPPING:

  • 280g/10oz icing sugar
  • 100g/4oz butter, softened
  • 3 tbsp coconut cream, or single cream
  • 5 tbsp raspberry jam
  1. Preheat your oven to 180C (fan oven 160C), Gas 4. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins with greaseproof paper.
  2. Mix the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs in a food processor for 2-3 minutes until smooth. Gently stir in the coconut and cream.
  3. Divide the mixture between the tins and smooth the tops. Bake for about 25 minutes until golden and firm.
  4. Loosen the edges and leave in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool. Peel off lining paper.
  5. To make the buttercream: beat together the icing sugar, butter and coconut cream until smooth. Spread one sponge with the jam. Top with just under half the buttercream and sandwich with the other sponge. Swirl the remaining buttercream on top of the cake.
Sep13

Beef & Eggplant Pasta Bake

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When I stumbled across this recipe, I was so excited to try it because I’d not much cooked Greek style food before and the whole thing promised to be easy, yummy and affordable, which is just what this blog is about . It proved to be excellent and I’m thrilled with the nutritional value of it too. This recipe was originally published in Good Taste magazine and it scores a fantastic 4/5 stars on taste.com.au. Enjoy the fact that the veggie components mean it can be eaten on its own or serve with a side salad and some crusty bread. Depending on the cost of eggplant (worth a trip to the grocer for this one!), this dish, which serves 6-8 will cost around $12 to make.

  • 105g (1/2 cup) risoni
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) olive oil
  • 1 large (about 450g) eggplant, thinly sliced lengthways
  • 1 tbs olive oil, extra
  • 1 brown onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 500g beef mince
  • 2 tbs tomato paste
  • 1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
  • 1 tsp dried or fresh oregano
  • 250g Greek-style natural yoghurt
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • Ground cinnamon, to dust
  • 2 tbs chopped fresh mint (if you have it)
  1. Cook the risoni in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following packet directions. Drain.
  2. Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 3-4 eggplant slices and cook for 3 minutes each side or until tender and slightly golden. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to drain. Repeat, in 3 more batches, with the remaining oil and eggplant, reheating the pan between batches.
  3. Heat the extra oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, and cook for 4 minutes or until soft.
  4. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5-6 minutes or until the mince changes colour. Add the tomato paste and stir until well combined. Add the tomato and oregano, and stir until well combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the risoni.
  5. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spread the mince mixture over the base of a 2L (8-cup) capacity ceramic baking dish. Arrange the eggplant, overlapping slightly, over the mince mixture to cover. Combine the yoghurt and egg in a bowl. Pour over the eggplant and spread evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the yoghurt is just set. Dust with cinnamon. Sprinkle with the mint to serve.
Sep5

Praying for God’s help to be more like this

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Inconvenienced by Inconvenience

By Tim Challies

Inconvenienced by Inconvenience

It is Labor Day today, and we anticipate spending the day with friends. We will be spending the day with these particular friends because a few weeks ago they emailed and said, “We want to do something on Labor Day. With you. At your house.” They just went ahead and invited themselves over and invited some mutual friends to come with them. I love it.

Many years ago I wrote about this subject of inviting yourself over and was rather surprised to hear how many Christians find this an objectionable practice. I found myself thinking about inviting yourself into another person’s home while reading Rosaria Butterfield’s book The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. She writes about the open door policy in their home and it reminded me of my younger days in my parents’ home: “Anything worth doing will take time and cost you something. We notice, as our attention focused more on families and children, that many people in our community protect themselves from inconvenience as though inconvenience is deadly. We decided that we are not inconvenienced by inconvenience. We are sure that the Good Samaritan had other plans that fateful day.”

Let me offer a few reasons that you ought to be willing, eager even, for people to invite themselves into your home.

Your house is not your own. We all know this in theory, but we have difficulty putting it into practice. Everything you have, everything you own, is a gift of God that is meant to be used for his purposes. This applies not only to money (that’s too easy!) but also to possessions. Your car is God’s car, your house is God’s house. Just as you are expected to be a faithful, generous steward of your finances, you are to be a faithful, generous steward of your house. I would suggest that people cannot feel welcome in your house until they are convinced that they can invite themselves into it. And I would suggest that you have not fully reconciled yourself to the fact that it is not your house until you are willing to have others invite themselves in. Do people feel welcome in your house? Do they feel that they can invite themselves to your house for counsel, fellowship or to “borrow” a couple of eggs they need to finish a birthday cake?

One of the highest purposes of Christians is to extend hospitality and friendship to others. In a culture where individuals are becoming ever more individualistic and families are ever-more retreating into their own lives, Christians can be known as people who graciously and cheerfully extend hospitality to others, who refuse to be inconvenienced by inconvenience. Christian houses will be known as the ones with open doors, where invitations are extended and expected. This is the type of house I grew up in. It is the type of house I have grown to love.

Your time is not your own. In the same way God gives us money and expects us to use it faithfully and wisely, he gives us time and expects us to use it in a way that honors him. Yet we all constantly battle against becoming selfish with our time, we battle grumbling against others when they use our precious time. As Butterfield says, we protect ourselves against inconvenience, and one way we do that is by keeping our doors closed. Do people feel that they can presume upon your time? Do they feel that you are available to them if they have questions or concerns or if they need to learn how to use those eggs to bake that birthday cake? Or do they feel that to use your time is to cause you inconvenience and that you are hesitant to make time in your schedule for them?

Your home is not your own. I’ve often differentiated between a house and a home to show what a thrill and what an honor it is that the Holy Spirit makes his home within us. It is an important distinction. A newly constructed neighborhood not far from me advertises “homes beginning in the low 300’s.” But they aren’t really selling homes, are they? They are selling houses. A house only becomes a home when a person lives in it and when it begins to take on the personality of the inhabitants. An empty house is just a shell. It is much like a dead human body, which is a body, but not a person. A home is also a gracious gift of God. The gifts, personalities and talents of the various inhabitants combine to make a home what it is. All of these are given by God and he expects us to be faithful stewards of them.

Is your home open to others? Do you allow people not only past the door of your house but also in your home, into the life of your family? Do you invite people into your living room, the formal room immediately beside the front door, or do you invite them into the kitchen where you can be less formal and extend more intimate hospitality? Do people feel they can come to your home only for formal Bible studies or can they come to your home for a personal chat or simply companionship? Do people feel they can drop by at a moment’s notice or do they wait to receive a formal invitation?

When I’ve discussed this subject in the past, I’ve seen many Christians display an attitude that tacitly suggests that their home is their domain and that others do not have a right to presume upon it. But that is simply not a biblical-informed attitude. Your house, your time and your home are not yours. They belong to God and need to be fully surrendered to him and to his better, higher purposes.

It is my hope that people feel they can invite themselves over to my home. I hope they feel that I am willing and eager to use my gifts and talents and time to bless them in whatever way I can. I hope people see that my house and my home and my life have an open door.

Sep5

Spicy Lamb Flatbread Pizza

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I first tasted this delicious home made pizza when my friend Lisa made it for me around this time last year. It was so flavoursome and best of all, affordably priced and quick to make – just the ticket when having people over. Having enjoyed a winter-full of soups, casseroles and slow cooked meals, lately I’ve been craving lighter and greener dinner options, and this delightfully healthy pizza, originally from Good Taste Magazine, fits the bill exactly. And since some lovely friends served up a very similar dinner when hosting us for dinner last weekend, once again, I’ve got the taste for dinners such at this! Do feel free to fiddle with options for topping (we love it with the addition of mushrooms) and if making for more than 4, simply multiply the number of bases needed to cater for half a large flatbread per adult. One last tip when making home made pizzas like these: flatbread labelled Lebanese Bread is half the price of anything similar that’s labelled as a pizza base – and the taste of the finished product is much the same. This easy, yummy affordable and healthy dinner will set you back less than $7.

  • Olive oil spray
  • 1 red onion, halved, thinly sliced
  • 1 red capsicum, halved, deseeded, thinly sliced
  • 300g lean lamb mince
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground paprika
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tbs currants
  • 2 tbs chopped fresh continental parsley
  • 80ml (1/3 cup) passata (tomato pasta sauce)
  • 2 pieces wholemeal Lebanese bread
  • 1 bunch rocket, trimmed, shredded
  • 130g (1/2 cup) low-fat natural yoghurt
  1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Heat 2 large baking trays in the oven for 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray with olive oil spray. Add the onion and capsicum. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until soft. Increase heat to high. Add the mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 4-5 minutes or until the mince changes colour. Drain off any residual fat. Add the cumin, paprika and coriander. Cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic. Remove from heat. Stir in the currants and parsley.
  3. Divide passata and mince mixture among bread. Place on the trays. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until bases are crisp.
  4. Cut each pizza into quarters. Top with rocket and serve with the yoghurt.
Aug31

Big Batch Banana Choc-Chip Muffins

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More often than not these days, I find myself in need of inexpensive and simple recipes that can be made in massive quantities. I’ve realised this is because I don’t have enough time to bake or cook for just one purpose: whatever is on the go has to meet the need of a freezer requiring a terms worth of school little lunches, morning tea for church or suppers for Bible study. I also find it’s much more cost-efficient. So when my friend Kim gave me this bumper recipe for 60 banana choc-chip muffins I was over the moon. Now that bananas have come down in price (it seems it’s not too hard to get them for $2 per kg), now is a great time to make these moist and fudgey treats. If you don’t need 60, this recipe is easily halved. An important tip about these muffins: feel free to use homebrand choc-chips. They’re much smaller than their more expensive counterparts and actually work better in this recipe. Depending on the price of bananas, all up this huge batch of deliciousness costs approximately $20. Thanks for sharing, Kim!

  • 15 very ripe bananas (approx. 4kg)
  • 3 1/2 cups sugar (700g)
  • 5 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 375g butter, melted
  • 5 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 7 1/2 cups self raising flour (1.2kg)
  • 4 x 250g packets choc-chips (1kg)
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius and distribute muffin cases across as many muffins trays as you have and will fit in your oven.
  2. Put all the bananas in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until creamy.
  3. Put all dry ingredients in a huge bowl or plastic 6L all-purpose basin (see picture).
  4. In a large mixing bowl combine mashed bananas, sugar, eggs and melted butter. Tip this wet mixture into the dry ingredients and mix until combined, but don’t over do it.
  5. Using two dessert spoons, dollop one heaped spoon worth of mixture in each muffin case. Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown and cooked through. Enjoy!
Aug30

Biryani

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Recently a friend posted this yummy recipe on my facebook wall and tonight I tried it out. Before finishing his second mouthful my husband asked me to make it again soon! As promised, this Biryani recipe originally from Super Food Ideas was dead easy to make and the smell of it that permeated the house whilst cooking was divine. Including the yoghurt but not the pappadums, this meal cost an affordable $11 to make 4 large serves, though you could use less chicken to make it cheaper if required. Thanks Katrina, for this terrific contribution.

  • 750g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into 3cm pieces
  • 1/2 cup Tikka Masala curry paste
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 large brown onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
  • 1 cup thick Greek-style yoghurt
  • 1/3 cup mint leaves
  • 8 small pappadums, cooked, to serve
  1. Combine chicken and curry paste in a ceramic bowl. Cover. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight if time permits (I didn’t have time to do this and didn’t pre-marinate at all. It was still good!)
  2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Heat oil and butter in a frying pan over medium heat until sizzling. Add onions. Cook for 15 minutes or until caramelised. Transfer chicken to an 8-cup capacity ovenproof casserole dish. Spoon onions over chicken.
  3. Place rice into a sieve. Rinse under cold water until water runs clear. Sprinkle rice evenly over onions. Place stock into a microwave-safe jug. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 2 minutes or until hot. Pour stock over the back of a metal spoon over rice. Cover with foil then cover with a lid. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes or until rice is tender (Start checking from 1 hour – mine didn’t need nearly as long as this). Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Place yoghurt into a bowl. Finely chop 2 tablespoons of mint leaves. Stir through yoghurt. Spoon biryani into bowls. Top with yoghurt mixture and remaining mint leaves. Serve with pappadums.
Aug29

Massive Massaman Curry

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My friend Julie contributed this lovely mild curry recipe and I’m so pleased with the result! Originally from Charmaine Solomon’s Hot & Spicy Book, the whole thing was very easy to make and so tasty. It cooks on the stove for quite a while but pretty much uses just the one pot – and it was no trouble to do other jobs around the place while this yummy curry simmered away. The recipe that follows cost around $25 to make but made no less than 3L, which, served with rice serves approximately 15 people. This recipe is delightfully freezer friendly and can be made in advance for church dinners, weekend hospitality or keeping in the freezer. Thanks for sharing, Julie!

  • 2 kg of chuck steak, cut into chunks
  • 2 tins of coconut milk
  • 5 tbsp massaman curry paste
  • 10 baby potatoes or 1kg potatoes peeled and cubed, whole OR 1 kg of pumpkin peeled and cubed
  • enough small onions for one per person or 4 large, cut into chunks
  • 4 tabs fish sauce
  • 4 tabs lemon or lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tbsp palm sugar (at all Asian grocers) or 4 tabs brown sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted peanuts (easily left out in the case of allergy)
  • 1 cup fresh basil leaves

1. Put chuck steak in large saucepan or stovetop casserole pot with one tin of coconut milk and one tin of water. Add more water if the steak is not covered. Simmer on very low heat with lid on for one and half to two hours, until steak is almost tender. Remove beef from saucepan and set aside. Keep all the liquid.

2. In the same pan heat one tin of coconut milk until thick and oily and slightly reduced. Add curry paste and cook until fragrant.

3. Add meat and liquid back in with sauces, sugar, onions and potatoes and cook approximately 45 mins until potatoes are cooked and liquid has reduced and thickened slightly (If using pumpkin, don’t add until 20 minutes before serving).

4. Add peanuts and basil leaves just before serving. Serve on rice with green beans or broccoli.

Aug25

Fast Portuguese Tarts

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Recently my friend Anna reminded me of this recipe I’d used lots a few years ago. The recipe is my take on Portuguese Tarts, morphed into its current form from a Stephanie Alexander Lemon Tart recipe. These little custardy wonders are dead easy, really yummy and make a very affordable morning/afternoon tea or dessert when served with a dollop of cream or a scoop of ice-cream. They’re quick to make and store for 5 or so days in an airtight container. This recipe makes 36 tarts and costs around $5.

  • 4 sheets of ready rolled puff pastry
  • 6 eggs
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 300ml cream
  • 2 tablespoons real vanilla extract

1. Cut pastry rounds big enough to fit muffin sized tins, with a little extra to go up the sides. Should get 9 out of 1 sheet of pastry.

2. In a bowl combine all the other ingredients with a whisk. Pour liquid into a jug.

3. Fill pastry cases to almost full and bake at preheated oven at 180 deg for 20 mins or until browning on top. Tarts will have risen and look huge, but will fall again when cooling (which is what you want).

4. Cool on wire racks and serve either warm or cold on a platter with them all piled up and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 36.

Aug13

Chicken & Leek Rice

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This one pot dinner was contributed by Louise a few months ago, but I’ve only just got around to giving it a go tonight. And I’m so glad I did! This was such an easy, yummy and affordable meal – exactly the kind of recipe this blog is about. Originally from Good Taste magazine, this tasty recipe made oodles and will definitely be one I grab when I next need a fuss free meal for a fair few people. As well as all these things, what I really like about this recipe is the fact that you probably already have all of the ingredients in the cupboard and it utilizes only one pot, so there’s not much washing up. And one more thing: to increase time spent with guests, you can prepare this recipe to the end of step 1 up to 2 hours ahead. Store in the fridge until ready to finish if off. Total cost is around $10 and serves 6+ adult size portions.

  • 6 (about 1kg) chicken thigh cutlets
  • 1 tbs plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
  • 60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
  • 2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
  • 1 leek, ends trimmed, halved lengthways, washed, coarsely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 600g (3 cups) long-grain rice
  • 1L (4 cups) chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup fresh continental parsley leaves
  1. Place the chicken, flour and Chinese five spice in a sealable plastic bag. Season with pepper. Seal and toss to coat.
  2. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until browned. Transfer to a plate.
  3. Add the carrot, leek and garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until the leek softens.
  4. Add the rice and stir to combine. Add the stock and stir until well combined. Return the chicken to the pan. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 12-15 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed. Set aside, covered, for 10 minutes to stand. Season with extra salt and pepper and sprinkle with the fresh parsley leaves to serve.
Aug7

Thai Chicken and Corn Cakes

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I made this modified Ainsley Harriott recipe for the first time last night and everyone loved it. The kids devoured these yummy Thai chicken and corn cakes and I loved them not just for taste but also for simplicity: everything just goes in the food processor for blitzing. And it was so affordable: the total cost being less than $10 (and it made 20 rissole sized cakes which is two dinners worth in this house). Next time I make hot finger food I’m going to roll them into little balls to dip in its sauce using a toothpick for a yummy starter. These Thai chicken and corn cakes are freezer friendly, which makes this recipe my new favourite.

  • 3 skinless chicken breasts or 5 thighs (approximately 750g)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
  • 50g breadcrumbs
  • 1 x 400g tin corn kernels, drained
  • half bunch fresh coriander leaves
  • 4 spring onions, sliced
  • 2 tbsp sesame or peanut oil

sweet chilli sauce

  • 4 tabs sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 teasp soy sauce
  • 1 teasp fish sauce
  • 5cm piece cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
  1. Roughly chop the chicken breasts and put all ingredients (minus the oil and sauce ingredients) together in the bowl of a food processor. Process until combined evenly, though ingredients should still be visibly distinct to the eye.
  2. With wet hands, pat mixture into 20 rissole sized cakes and pan fry on each side for 3-5 minutes, in a very hot fry pan using sesame or peanut oil.
  3. If desired, combine sauce ingredients in a dish (though sweet chilli sauce straight from the bottle is great with this dish too).
  4. Serve with mashed potato and steamed vegetables or a salad of asian greens. Makes 20 cakes, and serves 6+ adults.