Tonight potato dauphinoise is the side dish I cooked for the family. I didn't want to boil some spuds and plonk them down on the plate or they would have looked at me sideways. They are used to good food and the classic meat and three veg doesn't go down well around here. And that's fine by me. I love variety and get bored if I have to cook the same things twice. That's why a family that is fussy about quality and this blog work well together. This is a simple dish which takes little preparation and then it cooks while you prepare the rest of the dinner. It could be made in one large dish but I prefer individual dishes. That way I could use a smaller one for me and still feel like I had the same food without stretching my waistband too far. In the photo you will notice that the front one is much smaller. Adriano had two of the big ones and Dario the other. This recipe is not low Fodmap. Potato Dauphinoise Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Serves: 4 Ingredients … [Read more...] about Potato Dauphinoise
Brandied Fruit Slice – morning tea tucker
Over the weekend I found these brandied fruit slices on one of my favourite blogs, Hotly Spiced. Charlie is a mother of three children, two of whom are teenagers and, while cooking delicious recipes, entertains us with stories of her day to day life and sometimes, past life as a mother. And very occasionally further back to her childhood. She is always amusing, taking the trouble and strife of her family in her stride and all the while turning out great food. Do pop on over for her recipe for these slices. You'll find it here. The base was a little dry but that will be due to my dumb-ass oven. But my Italian husband likes dry cakes and so this one suited him just fine. I guess Italians like their cakes and desserts dry so they can dunk them into their wine. It's a good theory anyway. In a couple of weeks we are going back to visit family in Italy for three weeks and I intend to test all the cakes and their ice cream will get a good seeing to as well. I will take photos to make … [Read more...] about Brandied Fruit Slice – morning tea tucker
Ginger, Coconut, Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies – Gluten Free
I have finally made the best gluten-free cookies in the world. I can't believe they didn't burn in our notorious oven and I can't believe how moist they are inside and so super tasty with the extra heat of the ginger. These are the accumulation of all the knowledge I have built up over the last months making different granola bars each week. I have taken the ingredients which have performed the best and put them all together and hey presto, super cookies. While I am here I just want to pass something by you all. On Pinterest there are millions of pins of uplifting sayings to make you feel good. You know the ones about following your dreams, live life to the fullest etc. But here's the thing. Sometimes we read those sayings and they make us feel vaguely uncomfortable. Have you ever analyzed that? Well here's what I think and I said this recently in a comment on a blog somewhere. I think we put way too much pressure on ourselves to live life to the fullest - it makes us always feel … [Read more...] about Ginger, Coconut, Raisin & Oatmeal Cookies – Gluten Free
Pork Spring Rolls – a learning experience
Today I sent Adriano off with the shopping list which included wonton wrappers. Well, he picked me up 20 minutes late after work because he had been scouring the supermarket from top to bottom for said wrappers - and didn't find any. I was frozen stiff from standing in the chilling wind which whistles down the main street of Remuera, where I work and in no mood to find out we were without wonton wrappers. I made him pull into another supermarket on the way home and sent him inside in search of the essential ingredient for my dinner menu. He returned rather chuffed with himself because, even though he couldn't find wonton wrappers, he had found spring roll wrappers, which he reckoned looked similar. Actually they are not. So no wontons and we had spring rolls instead. I used the same filling and it worked except that the wrappers are paper thin and kept ripping so I had to double wrap them. Lesson learned - don't place hot filling in spring roll wrappers or they will cause you a … [Read more...] about Pork Spring Rolls – a learning experience
Crab & Brie Cups
I'm sticking with the little food. They are a bit more work but it means I eat less and that's always good. Our holiday back to Italy to see family is only a few weeks away and I don't want to look balloon-like. I'm getting older but I don't need to get fatter. So little food it is. I made this recipe up and some purists might say that you can't combine the Thai flavours of chili and ginger with French Brie but I did and they tasted great. The evidence is the lack of a crumb left. I also had left over a bit of the tart filling from last night so I filled a few pastry cases with that, hence the two fillings in the photo. This recipe is not low Fodmap. Crab & Brie Cups Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Ingredients Savory short pastry 1 tbsp flour 1 tbsp butter Milk 1 red chili, chopped finely 1 inch knob of fresh ginger, grated 1 garlic, crushed 1 can of crabmeat ½ a wedge of brie Method Turn the oven on to 180°C/350°F. Oil 12 deep muffin cups Cut out … [Read more...] about Crab & Brie Cups
Chicken, Mushroom and Rosemary Tarts
Left-over chicken and a desire to make tarts resulted in the above works of art. Small tarts like this always look so pretty, it seems like a sacrilege to eat them but eat them we did. I forgot to tell Adriano to buy the creme fraiche so ours were made with milk instead. They were just fine like this but the creme fraiche would make them richer. For a vegetarian version, these would work without the chicken. This is not a low Fodmap recipe. Chicken, Mushroom and Rosemary Tarts Print Author: Suzanne Perazzini Ingredients 375g/13.25oz savory short pastry 8 portobello mushrooms 1 cup chopped up cooked chicken 2 tbsp butter 1 onion finely chopped 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 2 eggs 200ml milk or creme fraiche ½ cup grated Parmesan Rosemary Method Preheat oven to 200°C/360 °F. Line 4 x 12cm tart pans with pastry and bake blind for 15 mins. Remove the pans from the oven and take out the weights. Reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F. Reserve 4 mushrooms and finely chop … [Read more...] about Chicken, Mushroom and Rosemary Tarts
