Dancing Lady salad

End of year pig-out

Today we had our end of year team lunch so we headed off to Henley Beach for a meal at the Thai Orchid. After that it was back to my place for dessert, as on Sunday after Jenna's birthday, I once again made the Chocolate Pavlova with the egg-whites left over from making the cream puffs.

The pavlova must be good because between the guys, they averaged about 3 slices each (I won't mention how many Richard had!). This time I have a photo.. or two.

Jenna is 5

The baby of the family, my niece Jenna, turns 5 next week. Today she had her birthday party. I don't believe I have ever seen her so excited, and she had so much fun all day. For a few years now she has been a fan of Dora the Explorer, so she got lots of Dora gifts, but when she hugged one of the boxes...well it just completely cracked me up. I need to also point out the uncanny resemblance my niece has with Dora...she even has the same shaped head!







Happy 5th Birthday my sweet. I love you.

Custard

There seems to be hundreds of ways to make custard but recently I nagged mum to show me how she does hers...

4 tbsp plain flour
4 tbsp white sugar
600 mls milk
3 egg yolks

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, eggs and some of the milk, stirring until there are no lumps in the mixture. Gradually add the rest of the milk, stirring the whole time.

Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and stir over a high heat initially, but reduce it to low when the mixture starts to bubble.

Tip - wash a lemon and cut off one end, pierce a fork through the other end and stir the mixture with the lemon for the essence.


When the mixture starts to get quite thick, take it off the heat.

If you just want vanilla custard then you can add some vanilla essence to the mixture.

For chocolate custard, put 3-4 tbsp of cocoa in a bowl and add a few scoops of the custard. Have the bowl in the sink with some cold water. Stir the mixture then gradually add the rest of the custard.

I made this custard to make cream puffs (which I bought, but can make if I have the time) to take to my niece's birthday party. I made both chocolate and vanilla, and filled the profiteroles with half vanilla and half chocolate custard. Sprinkle with icing sugar.


NB. If you need a larger portion you add more eggs and more milk only (i.e. with 6 eggs you would need 1 litre of milk).

Chocolate Pavlova

Yesterday for dad's birthday I made a pavlova that I had eaten over at the Hope's house a couple of times. It is truly delicious so I hope that Carol (or Nigella Lawson for that matter) won't mind me publishing it here. And apologies because I don't have a photo of the finished plate because I decorated it at mums.

Meringue base:
6 egg whites
300 gm caster sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
50 gm dark chocolate, finely chopped

Topping:
500 ml thick cream
Punnet of your favourite fresh berries (I used a frozen berry mix)
2 - 3 tbsp coarsely grated dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 180c but turn oven down to 150c when the pavlova goes in!

Beat eggs whites to satiny peaks, then add 1 spoon full of the sugar at a time while beating constantly. Stop beating when all sugar is dissolved and mixture is shiny. This can take up to 15 mins.

Sprinkle in sifted cocoa powder, add vinegar and chocolate and gently fold through the mixture.

Scrape mixture onto a sheet of baking paper on tray and make a disc with the mixture approx. 23 cm in diameter. Don't spread it too much or it will be a flat pavlova.

Bake in the oven for 1 to 1.5 hours. Turn oven off but leave the pavlova in there to cool completely.

NB. Nigella says that when it is ready, it should be crisp on the sides and dry on top, and when you prod the centre you should feel the promise of 'squidginess' beneath your fingers.

You can invert the pavlova. Whisk cream and pile on top of meringue then scatter berries over the cream and sprinkle with remaining dark chocolate.

Enjoy!

Maggot cheese or mussels in coconut broth?

I am having withdrawal symptoms from not baking, but lately I have been either too tired or too busy. So tonight to alleviate the yearning, I thought I would watch another episode of Season 4 of Hell's Kitchen. But after watching that I was as bright as a button so I thought I would check out some Gordon snippets on you tube (it's 11.30pm and too late to get into the kitchen).

Unfortunately the video I wanted to post had embedding disabled, so do yourself a favour and search for "Gordon Ramsey maggot cheese" on you tube. (But only if you think you can handle it. Personally it is one cheese I won't be trying in this lifetime.)

Then I found this video, and this dish looks so good to me I reckon I would eat every last morsel.

2008 Music - year in review

Forget about the Arias. Here is where you need to come to find out about the best music releases this year... well, out of what I've been listening to at least.

My top 10 albums of this year (in no particular order):

1. Empire of the Sun - Walking on a dream (This album saw the collaboration of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, and oh what a collaboration!)
2. Sia - Some people have real problems (Adelaide girl who went to the UK to be heard back in Adelaide. One of the best female artists to come out of Australia I reckon.)
3. Kings of Leon - Only by the night
4. Jackson Jackson - Tools for survival (Another Oz collaboration. Another success.)
5. Augie March - Watch me disappear (Like a good wine, these guys just get better with age.)
6. Bliss n Eso - Flying colours (Ausie hip hop, who'd have thought? Play it loud!)
7. Girl talk - Feed the animals (Mash it! Love it!)
8. Goldfrapp - Seventh tree
9. Laura Marling - Alas, I cannot swim (I have raved about this girl on this blog before...so young...so brilliant!)
10. As for number 10, I couldn't decide whether to leave off Gnarls Barkley's - The odd couple, or Josh Pyke's - Chimney's afire.

Dishonorable mention:
Coldplay - Viva la vida. This is weird. I really liked this album when I first bought it, but I don't think I have played it again after the first few times. I have decided they are boring (and it has nothing to do with the news that they are snubbing Adelaide in their Australian tour next year).

My top 10 single releases of this year (in no particular order):
1. Cass Mccombs - That's that
2. Moby - Disco lies
3. Empire of the sun - Walking on a dream
4. Kings of Leon - Sex on fire
5. Goldfrapp - A&E
6. Fleet Foxes - White winter hymnal
7. Rihanna - Please don't stop the music
8. Bon Iver - Skinny love
9. Lisa Mitchell - Neopolitan dreams (This is the Lisa Mitchell that was on a recent series of Australian Idol. She got voted off, I stopped watching. Cannot wait to hear her first full album release next year.)
10. I am pathetic. I couldn't decide whether to leave off Pnau & Lady Hawke's - Embrace, or MGMT's Time to pretend.

Notes:
I am very pleased that such a large number of Ausie artists make the album list.
I am fairly certain that sometime next year I will buy an album that was released this year, and I will mentally change the list.