simple way to roast capsicums

This is a simple way to roast capsicums for use in any recipe.
Preheat the oven to 230C- 240 C.

Cut the capsicums into quarters. Remove the seeds and the membranes.Place on a large oven tray, skin side up.

Roast in preheated oven until the skin blisters and turns black. Remove from oven and cover with plastic film or place in a paper bag until cool.

Be careful, they are very hot when straight from the oven!

Peel away skins and use as desired.
Choose any colour capsicums and if you are in a hurry, it is quicker if you use the griller.

After they are roasted you can add olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or lightly pan-fry in olive oil and garlic to serve with feta cheese on crunchy toast or Turkish bread.
tasty & fun!


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roasted red capsicum & tomato soup

This tasty recipe is straight out of taste.com.au and is so easy to make!

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large brown onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 500g ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 500ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
• 1 x 425g jar roasted red capsicums, drained, coarsely chopped
• 1 x 410g can tomato puree
• Fresh basil leaves, to serve
• Olive oil, extra, to serve
• Bought hummus, to serve
• 2 Turkish bread rolls, split, toasted, cut into 3cm-thick slices
  
• Step 1
  
  Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, cumin and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  
• Step 2
  
  Add the tomato, stock, capsicum and tomato puree, and bring to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until the tomato is tender.
  
• Step 3
  
  Pour the tomato mixture into the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Step 4
  
  Ladle the soup among serving bowls. Top with the basil and drizzle over the extra oil. Spread hummus over the Turkish toasts and serve with the soup.
  
  
  click on the link to see it on the taste.com.au site.
  
  changes I made are:
  I used 5 cloves garlic.
  used chilli paste instead of cayenne pepper.
  and used toasted croutons instead of the Turkish Bread & Hummus.
  
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roasted tomato soup

This recipe is straight from taste.com.au and it delicious!!

The potatoes give it the creamy texture.

• 1kg roma tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 200g potato, peeled, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• Fresh thyme leaves and bread, to serve
  
• Step 1
  
  Preheat oven to 220C/200C fan-forced. Place tomato on a baking tray. Drizzle tomato with half the oil and top with thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.
  
• Step 2
  
  Heat oil in a saucepan. Add onion, garlic and potato. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and sugar. Stir in stock and 1 cup cold water. Cover. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, for 15 minutes or until potato is just tender.
  
• Step 3
  
  Add tomato to stock mixture. Carefully blend soup until smooth. Sprinkle with thyme. Serve soup with crusty bread.
  
  
  Click on the link to see the recipe on Taste.com.au

Well worth making as it is quick and easy ... I used 4 cloves garlic, I didn't have any Thyme so left it out and I used only one teaspoon of the brown sugar.


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Beer Butt Chicken

Here is a tasty and fun way to BBQ a chicken!

Purchase one large free range chicken....

this is the stand you can purchase from Bunnings for about $9.95 or if you are clever, create one of your own.  Some people just use the beer can and not have this extra 'stand'.

prepare the chicken, by removing 'the bits' you don't want.  Add any seasonings you like with some olive oil and rub all over.

take one can of beer and pour (or drink) about 1/2 cup from it. Then to the can add about a tablespoon of the seasoning that you have rubbed over the chicken.  Might be curry powder, Moroccan seasoning, or anything else you like to have with chicken.

Place the beer can in the stand, or if not using the stand, place it in a baking dish.

Place the chicken over the can - gently - and wriggle its butt to fit over the beer can firmly.

now place the chicken, the beer can, the stand in a baking dish in the oven or covered BBQ.

I also place foil over the baking tray as I never like cleaning these afterwards!!  Water in the base also helps the pan from 'baking' dry.

Add the vegetables you want.

Depending on the size of the chicken, it will take at least an hour, sometimes two hours with the large chicken.

once it is cooked and ready, place it on a tray or large plate and VERY CAREFULLY lift it off the beer can.

Remember this will be VERY HOT.

it is now ready to serve with salad, vegetables etc.

If you do not drink beer due to the taste, you will not be able to taste the 'beer' in this recipe. However if you do not drink beer due to other reasons, this can be done with apple cider or other drinks too.

It certainly is a very moist and tasty chicken.

this will be a tasty fun BBQ!!

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Tasty Rhubarb Relish

Found a recipe for Rhubarb Relish this morning and then altered it to suit!

It is delicious!

Two onions chopped finely

500 grams chopped rhubarb

150 ml of brown vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

6 level teaspoons of curry powder

2 level teaspoons of Moroccan seasoning

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cups sugar

Put all ingredients in a large saucepan on the stove top. Boil gently and stir for 30 minutes.  Bottle, refrigerate and enjoy!

This makes enough to fill two medium sized pasta sauce bottles.

I actually slightly cooked the chopped onions in a spoonful of butter first, then added the curry and other seasonings and stirred for about 5 mins.

Then added everything else and cooked on a low heat, stirring on and off for about 30 mins before placing in pre boiled jars.

serve this tasty relish on burgers, grilled chicken, cheese sandwich, BBQ'd fish and anything else you can think of!!

it was Tasty Fun to make and am sure you will enjoy it too!!



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The Tai Tai High Tea

While living in Singapore I often heard the term Tai Tai in relation to the "Expat Ladies". The tai tais being equivalent to “ladies who lunch.” In other words, a tai tai is a woman who is married to a wealthy man, loves to shop, has the manicure and pedicure each week, and often goes to spas ..... and a tai-tai always sleeps until at least 9:00 am.

But not all "expat ladies" in Singapore like being labeled with the term Tai Tai. Some feel it demeaning yet others just think of it as an endearment. Most just laugh it off if someone made a comment about us heading off for lunch with friends by saying "ah ha the Tai Tai ladies are going to lunch eh?"

Tai Tai was a term used in Chinese circles for supreme wife (implying situation where a man is  wealthy enough to have several "wives')  but no longer strictly interpreted.  

Term now applies to citizens of the world with an Asian viewpoint  who have "bounds of time and money".   A Tai Tai is a privileged lady of means and the term implies respect.
Awhile back I decided to host an afternoon tea at my home to "welcome spring". I intended to serve delicious cakes and slices on a well set table complete with cake servers, tiny cake forks, a three tier cake stand etc. On mentioning this to a friend from Singapore she made comment about it being a Tai Tai High Tea, hence the title of the blog but not referring in anyway to these lovely ladies and our afternoon tea to welcome spring. 

The ladies that came  - all 17 of them - are from the area where I live. Over the short time of living here I have come to respect these women and to enjoy their company. So yesterday I got to know them a little more in a relaxed atmosphere, over cups of tea, plates of cake and a glass of home made baileys!
 
the following are a few images are of our afternoon tea:

I had asked them to not bring anything, just themselves so they could enjoy the day without having to fuss with baking something. But a couple still came along with a plate of goodies, another with a box of chocolates and another with a bunch of daffodils. We even received a beautiful Daphne plant complete with card that said 'Welcome to Ballan, John and Leone'

we are overwhelmed with the generosity of these ladies.

I had a great day and certainly enjoyed the company of these lovely ladies and hope to host a similar afternoon perhaps to welcome 'summertime'!


so our little tai tai high tea is a little tongue in cheek but was a lot of tasty fun!!





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tasty & zesty lemon curd!

(above) my first jar of Lemon Curd - recipe below.

Fruit curd is a dessert spread and topping usually made with lemon, lime, orange or raspberry.

Specific types of fruit curd are named after the central curd in them - for example, that made with lemons is known as "lemon curd". The basic ingredients are beaten egg yolks, sugar, fruit juice and zest which are gently cooked together until thick and then allowed to cool, forming a soft, smooth, intensely-flavored spread. Some recipes also include egg whites and/or butter.

In late 19th and early 20th century England, home-made lemon curd was traditionally served with bread or scones at afternoon tea as an alternative to jam, and as a filling for cakes, small pastries and tarts.

Homemade lemon curd was usually made in relatively small amounts as it did not keep as well as jam. In more modern times larger quantities are feasible because of the use of refrigeration. Commercially manufactured curds often contain additional preservatives and thickening agents.

Modern commercially made curds are still a popular spread for bread, scones, toast, waffles, crumpets, pancakes, or muffins.

They can also be used as a flavoring for desserts or yogurt. Lemon-meringue pie, made with lemon curd and topped with meringue, or lemon meringue cupcakes as seen below:

Curds are different from pie fillings or custards in that they contain a higher proportion of juice and zest, which gives them a more intense flavor. Also, curds containing butter have a smoother and creamier texture than both pie fillings and custards; both contain little or no butter and use cornstarch or flour for thickening. Additionally, unlike custards, curds are not usually eaten on their own.

Other flavor variations also exist using citrus fruits such as limes and tangerines, passion fruit, mangoes and berries such as cranberries or blackberries. Hundreds of commercial variations are sold globally.

most of the above information is from Wikipedia.

RECIPE

2 eggs plus 2 egg yolks

3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar

1/3 cup (80g) chilled unsalted butter

zest and juice of two lemons

see method below:

hint:
when grating lemons, place some cling wrap against the inside of the grater (or under) to capture the zest .

Whisk whole eggs, yolks and sugar in a saucepan until smooth, then place pan over a low heat. 

 Add the butter, lemon juice and zest and continuously whisk until thickened......

Strain through a sieve into a sterilized jar. Lemon curd keeps covered, in the fridge for two weeks.

 

the above took nearly an hour to prepare the ingredients, whisk and sieve .... a lot of work for just one jar of curd, but so worth it. The taste is tangy and delicious!

HINT:

The above states to use two whole eggs plus two egg yolks. I used the extra two egg whites left over to make a few macaroons.


HINT:

In the above recipe I used 3 small lemons and one medium to make the curd, but I did not throw away the left over lemon skin and pulp, I placed them in a saucepan along with some vanilla essence, cinnamon and a chopped orange and placed them on the stove using low heat to use as an Air Freshener for the day. 

It did make the house smell nice!

see below:

Hope you enjoy this tasty lemon curd as well as the spicy smelling 'air freshener'!



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