In the quest for a quick and egg-less baked good to take to a friend’s lunch, I was put on to this delectable brownie recipe. I made it for a second time today, and took out the ‘chewy’ component (Rolos – which are also amaze to use) of the original recipe and replaced them with walnuts.

The brownies are very easy to make, and sure to win over crowds wherever they make an appearance.

I thought this would be a good first recipe to blog as part of my new year’s resolution to blog a whole lot more in 2012!

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter

200g good quality dark chocolate (roughly chopped)

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

395g tin of condensed milk

1/2 cup walnuts (chopped)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

2. Combine the self-raising flour, brown sugar and dessicated coconut in a mixing bowl.

3. Melt the butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pot of boiling water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the surface of the water below it).

4. Add the melted chocolate and condensed milk to the flour, sugar and coconut mixture.

5. Stir through the walnuts until the batter is thoroughly combined.

6. Grease a lamington pan/ baking pan (20*20 cm) and line with baking paper.

7. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for 25 mins until lightly browned.

8. Cool and slice the brownies while they are in the pan to serve.

There isn’t an abundance of tasty vegetarian friendly mexican food to be found in Melbourne. The few exceptions being Mamasita (provided you can get a seat)  for amazing corn on the cob and Trippy Taco for their smoky Tofu Asada tacos. So I thought that instead of trying to find spicy mexican fare in a restaurant, I would have a crack at creating it at home instead.

My man Ottolenghi delivered once again with this excellent recipe from his cookbook Plenty. These quesadillas were relatively easy to make, the most time-consuming step being cooking the black beans. You can adjust the spice level by reducing/increasing the amount of chilli or have a handy bottle of hot sauce nearby to add that extra kick (the El Yucateco Green Habanero Sauce is my fave!)

The balance of the fresh salsa and the melted cheese and sour cream made these quesadillas a brilliant start to my mexican cooking adventure.

Ingredients

8 tortillas

180ml sour cream

120g Cheddar cheese (grated)

Jalapeno peppers (from a jar)

Black bean paste

230g cooked black beans

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

bunch of coriander (chopped)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 tsp salt

Avocado salsa

1/2 red onion (thinly sliced)

1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar (I used champagne vinegar as I had it on hand and it gave a lovely sweet taste)

4 tomatoes (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 red chilli (finely diced)

bunch of coriander (finely chopped)

3/4 tsp salt

juice of 1/2 lime

2 ripe medium avocados

Method

1. For the black bean paste, place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you have a fine paste.
2. For the avocado salsa – combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Heat a griddle pan or barbecue until it’s hot.
4. To prepare the quesadillas, take one of the tortillas and spread with 2 tbsps of the black bean paste, creating a large circle in the middle with a clear edge. Over half of this bean circle, spread some sour cream, sprinkle some Cheddar cheese, add a tablespoon of the salsa and jalapenos to taste. Fold over the other tortilla half.
5. To cook, place the quesadillas on the grill/barbecue and cook for 2-3 mins on each side until the tortillas are charred and the cheese is melted inside.

Serves 4.

As the temperature drops and the skies darken at an earlier hour there is nothing more comforting than a bowl of creamy soup to nurse while watching some good Sunday night TV.

This recipe was in yesterday’s The Age Good Weekend liftout. I usually cut out interesting recipes from the weekend papers and file them away, but I was able to put this one to good use the very next day.

I substituted evaporated milk for cream, and vegetarian stock for the chicken stock, but retained the simplicity of the rest of the original recipe. I even resisted the urge to add chilli and was more than happy with just a generous grind of pepper.

The garlic infuses the delicate zucchini wonderfully, and the butter adds a decadent flourish at the end.

Definitely a soup I will be revisiting again.

Ingredients

750g Zucchini (cut into 1cm thick pieces)

olive oil

5 cloves of garlic

1 bunch of basil

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 litres vegetable stock

125ml evaporated milk (or cream)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

40g grated parmesan

Method

1. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a saucepan and saute the zucchini, basil, garlic and salt. Cook for 10 minutes until the zucchini softens.

2. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then allow to simmer on a low heat for 8 minutes

3. Blend the soup (I use a hand-held blender) to your preferred consistency. Return the soup to the heat and add the evaporated milk, butter and parmesan. Heat for a minute on a low heat before serving.

Serves 4.

The only (minimal) work required is in the prep of the various ingredients, leaving you to assemble the layers in a matter of minutes.

The creaminess of the sour cream and avocado goes really well with the crunch of the capsicum and spring onion, making it a sure-fire hit at your next party.

Ingredients

300 ml sour cream

2 avocados (mashed)

1 can refried beans (400g)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 bunch of spring onion (finely sliced)

1 capsicum (finely diced)

1 tomato (finely diced)

1 red onion (finely chopped)

1 cup mozarella cheese (finely grated)

Method

1. Combine the chilli and salt with the refried beans in a bowl.

2. In a square dish (I used a casserole dish) layer in the ingredients in this order:

• sour cream
• avocado
• refried beans mixture
• spring onion
• capsicum
• tomato
• onion
• cheese

Serve with corn chips.

I’m not going to make any excuses for my prolonged absence from the interwebs and instead I’ll launch immediately into this delightful recipe. Yay.

My friend Emma from work (who provides me with many delicious recipes) took the time to type this one out for me by hand from her book The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Vegetarian Cooking by Linda Fraser. As soon it landed in my inbox I knew I had to try it. As per her suggestion I’ve left out the sun-dried tomato that was in the original recipe, and served it with a spicy red chilli and pinenut oil dressing of my own creation.

It is good to be back =)

Ingredients

Pasta

200g strong unbleached white flour ( I used ’00′ flour)

2 eggs

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons chopped coriander

Filling

1tsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic (peeled and crushed)

450g pumpkin (peeled, deseeded and cut into large chunks)

0.5 cups ricotta

black pepper to taste

Dressing

1 red chilli (thinly sliced)

2 tbsp pinenuts

3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Place flour, eggs, salt and coriander into a large mixing bowl and mix to combine.

2. Knead dough on lightly floured board until smooth

3. Wrap dough in clear film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20-30 mins

4. Fry garlic in olive oil for 1 minute.

5.Steam pumpkin for 5-8 mins, until tender . I placed the pumpkin in a steamer in my electronic rice cooker.

6.Mash the pumpkin, garlic and ricotta. Season with plenty of black pepper.

7. Divide pasta dough into four pieces and flatten slightly. Using a pasta machine, roll out on its thinnest setting. Leave the sheets of pasta on a clean tea towel until slightly dried.

8. Cut the pasta sheets into squares or rounds (the book suggested using a cookie cutter).

9. Top half the squares/rounds with the pumpkin mixture, brush the edges with water and place another round of pasta on top.

10.Press firmly around the edges to seal. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil, add the ravioli and cook for 3-4 minutes.

11. In the meantime make the dressing by heating the olive oil in a pan. Add the sliced chilli and pinenut and let the oil heat through and infuse with the chilli for 1-2 mins.

12.Drain the pasta and toss through the chilli oil. Season with salt  as needed and serve with coriander sprigs.

I found the recipe on www.taste.com.au and followed the suggestion of baking the pudding in muffin tins so it came out in individual serves. I found that easier to serve when entertaining my dinner guests, and overall I think the dessert went down quite a treat.

I have to thank my cousin for taking the mouth-watering picture, sure does look good doesn’t it?

Recipe

Ingredients

Pudding

250g pitted dates (chopped)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 cups boiling water

125 g butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups plain self-raising flour

Butterscotch sauce

1 cup brown sugar

300 ml thickened cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

60 g butter

Method

Pudding

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease muffin tins.

2. Place the dates and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl and cover them with the boiling water. Set aside for 20 mins.

3. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Next beat through the eggs, one at a time.

4. Fold the date mixture and flour into the egg mixture.

5. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 35-40 mins until the pudding is fully cooked all the way through. Test with a skewer.

Butterscotch Sauce

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and further thicken the sauce for 2 mins.

Serve each pudding by pouring over the warm butterscotch sauce, and adding an optional dollop of vanilla ice cream.

There’s nothing quite like the smell of bread baking fresh in the oven, the aroma wafting through the kitchen and overtaking the whole house. I found this recipe in the book Bread: Breads of the world and how to bake them at home and i’ve made it countless times and it has never failed to deliver a deliciously spicy loaf. Making bread from scratch requires a generous dose of patience, with all that kneading and waiting for the dough to rise, but the end result is all the more rewarding for it.

I used a mixture of plain white flour and ’00′ italian bread flour but feel free to use just the plain white flour.

As the bread is loaded with potatoes and spices I find it’s best served on its own – lightly toasted , with just a smear of butter.

Recipe

Ingredients

200g potato (peeled)

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 onion (finely chopped)

1.5 tsp cumin seeds (roughly crushed)

1.5 tsp fennel seeds (roughly crushed)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tbsp butter

2.5 cups plain white flour & 2 cups ’00′ italian bread flour (or 4.5 cups plain white flour)

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

7g dry yeast

200 ml of tepid water

Method

1. Boil the potato in a small saucepan for 10-15 mins until tender. While you are waiting for it to cook, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion with the turmeric, red chilli powder, fennel seeds and cumin seeds for 2 mins until the onions are softened.

2. Drain the potato and mash together with the butter. In a separate bowl mix the yeast with the water and set aside.

3. Put the flour in a large bowl  and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the potatoes, onion mixture and the water and yeast mixture and stir to combine into a soft dough.

4. Roll out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put the dough back in the bowl, lightly brush with oil and cover with a wet tea towel and set aside for an hour.

5. Tip the dough back out onto a lightly floured surface, knead well and press into a loaf tin. Cover with the wet tea towel and set aside for another 30 mins.

6. Remove the tea towel and bake in a preheated oven for 200 degrees celsius for 30-35 mins until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped.

Making homemade pizza is a great chance to be creative, and use up ingredients in your pantry and fridge. I love nibbling on delicious morsels on an antipasto platter, and when combined on a pizza base they turn into a cohesive, yummy whole. Most of the toppings are out of a jar – which really cuts down on prep time. The only real bit of cooking (apart from baking the pizza) is sauteing the eggplant in harissa paste to tenderise the eggplant and add a chilli kick to the pizza. In keeping with the antipasto theme you could also add roasted red capsicum or kalamata olives.

The pizza dough recipe was from Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty cookbook, and I have to say it produced the best pizza base I’ve ever made. I used a pizza stone as I’ve found they help to ensure you get a crisp base, but a normal baking tray would also be fine.

Makes 3 large pizzas.

Recipe

Ingredients

Pizza Dough

650g plain flour

10g dry yeast

400ml tepid water

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil

Toppings

100g fresh mushrooms (sliced)

1tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1tsp harissa

1 eggplant (cubed)

150g marinated artichokes in olive oil

150g marinated sun-dried tomatoes in oil

200g fetta

6 tbsp tomato paste

3 tbsp basil (shredded)

100g baby spinach

Method

1. First to make the pizza dough – mix the yeast in the tepid water and set aside. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt and olive oil. Then add the water/yeast mixture and knead until you have a smooth, silky dough. Add extra water or flour to achieve the right texture. Brush the dough lightly with olive oil, cover with a wet tea towel and set aside to rest for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.

2. In a pan, sauté the eggplant in the olive oil, salt and harissa for 10 mins on a medium heat, until the eggplant is fully collapsed and soft.

3. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. If using a pizza stone, leave it in the oven during that time to heat up.

4. After the pizza dough has been rested, divide into three portions. Knead each portion again on a dusted board and roll out into a large circular shape. I prefer to keep my base quite thin, but its really upto your individual preference. Remember that the base will rise when its cooked so keep it thinner than what you want your end result to be.

5. Smear the base with 2 tbsp of tomato paste, then layer with a third each of the eggplant mixture, artichokes, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and fetta. Don’t overload your pizza with toppings, as it will end up being quite soggy.

6. Move the pizza gently onto the heated pizza stone/baking tray (yes it was quite a tricky endeavour) and bake for 15-20 mins until the base is fully cooked and you have a golden-brown crust. Repeat process for the remaining pizzas.

7. Top the pizzas with the baby spinach and basil, and drizzle with olive oil before serving.

I’ve had a jar of tahini (sesame seed paste)  in my pantry for quite awhile, and last week i finally got around to using it to make some delicious hummus. This was my first attempt at ever making it and I was surprised at how quick and easy the whole process was. The taste of homemade hummus is infinitely better than the store-bought stuff, so it’s really worth giving a shot. You are most likely going to have all of the ingredients in your kitchen already, except for the actual tahini paste – but if you stock up on that it keeps for ages.

This hummus has quite a strong flavour, that’s punctuated by the chilli flakes and garlic.I love eating hummus as a dip with warm pita bread, but my favourite way to eat this was for breakfast slathered on multigrain toast, topped with avocado. Absolutely delectable.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas (drained)

2 cloves garlic

1/2 lemon (juiced)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tbsp tahini

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree until the hummus reaches your preferred consistency. You can add extra water to thin it out if required.

I’m not much of a baker, and I tend to stay away from baking sweet goods, but these cookies are way too easy and awesome to not give a go. I made them on a lazy Sunday with my friend Ruba, and I have to thank her for introducing me to this delicious recipe (although I don’t want to thank her too much as they are too damn addictive).

It’s a recipe slightly modified from 101 Cookbooks (and originally sourced from David Lebovitz’s Great Book of Chocolate). Based on Ruba’s experience in making these cookies countless times we decided to halve the quantity of sugar in the batch we made today, as the original recipe can cause a bit of sugar overload.

These cookies are wonderfully nutty and I think best enjoyed  still slightly warm from the oven, when the chocolate is warm and gooey.

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar

115 grams butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp bi-carb soda

1 1/4 cups white flour

1 1/2 cups chopped dark chocolate

1 cup chopped walnuts

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.

2. Beat the brown sugar and butter together until smooth. Mix in the egg, bi-carb soda and vanilla essence. Stir though the flour, then add the chocolate and walnuts.

3. Shape the dough into balls by hand, they do expand considerably so keep them about 5cm. Place them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Make sure there is plenty of space between the balls.

4. Bake for 17-20 mins. The balls should collapse and produce flattened cookies (although today we did need to flatten them slightly with a spatula as they were cooking). Take them out of the oven when they are brown on top, they may appear to be too soft at this stage but they will harden as they cool.

Makes about 20 cookies.