Completos (Chilean Hot Dogs)

Start with nice fresh rolls, I like them a little crispy rather than soft
Make some mayonaise with egg yolks and oil, slowly adding the oil
Stirring constantly and adding more oil as you go
I add salt and lemon juice to the end result
Mashed avocado with a little oil and salt

Chopped tomatoes with a half clove of crushed garlic,

The last item (along with the sausage) is AJI (pronounced Ahee) which is a salsa made of onions, garlic, crushed chillies, corriander (cilantro), lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper...

Red Peppers

If I see red capsicum on sale I try and buy a kilo or so and roast them for preserving...








I put them sliced up, under a grill and blacken them as much as I can so that they are well cooked therefore giving extra flavour and softness...








Cover them in glad wrap and let them steam their skins almost off and then you peel the skins right off...









Once I have them peeled I dress them with salt and balsamic vinegar and lots of olive oil... I dress them whilst they are still warm so they absorb the flavour... If I feel that they are not soft enough or perhaps I did not cook them long enough or indeed if they were not ripe enough on picking, I will throw the whole lot into a frypan and cook them off... reducing the vinegar and softening the capsicum and sweetening the entire taste...


I often add these (chopped up) to any tomatoe based sauce I am making... I use it on a cheese platter in a little bowl... I love it with my eggs and bacon as a side dish... it is great in toasted sandwiches or any sandwich really... I think it's yummy in a savoury tart with goats cheese and caramelised onions... really you can do what you like with it... I keep it in the fridge topped up with oil to stop the air getting in and it will keep for a few weeks...

Enjoy......................

Pierogi and then some...

The filling is boiled mashed potatoe, cottage cheese and I egg...








The outer is sort of pasta, it's plain flour, an egg and warm water...










I roll it out so I can cut it...








The bits I have cut I then roll into little balls...











I roll these out with a jar or glass...









Until I get a little round shape the size of my palm...








I fill this with about a teaspoon of filling...








Close it tight by pinching it avoiding air pockets...










I shape it into crescents...








Line them up and either boil them or freeze them or both...









This time I made a tomatoe sauce with basil...







Topped it with cheese and baked it in the oven, yum...

Apple and Raspberry Crumble

This is something I cooked pre-blog days so it was winter and it was appropriate and delicious...
I used my father's beautiful apples from the farm...
And the last of his raspberries I had left in my freezer...

Sorry to say I did not take a photo of the final/cooked product so I am randomly showing a photo of a pancake stack that I took with me to a dear friend's dinner as my contribution... I had filled it with grated chocolate, nutella and grated walnuts. I alternated the three and I topped it with chocolate sauce and cream and the hostess kindly served it up swirling the chocolate sauce and cream and made it look great... AGAIN I did not take photos so please feel free to use your imagination!!!!!! P.S. I will get better at this blogging capper, just give me some time...........

Faded Rose

Sometimes I just cannot bear to part...




With something so pretty...


but sadly faded...

Cake for Veronica

So it's obviously a chocolate cake but I use sour cream in the mix so it's beautifully moist...
Slice it up in to or you could have baked it in two lots...
This is melted chocolate, icing sugar, butter, sour cream and golden syrup and...
It goes in the middle and on top for extra effect...
See, perfect... get your fork and eat your way silly like Veronica and I did...

Happy Birthday Dearest Veronica.... x x x x

Pavlova for Adele

It's Adele's 18th Birthday today and I am making her a pavlova... must make a decision about which candles to use...

Start with a clean, copper bowl if you have one, vinegar and salt or lemon juice and salt will make it cleam and get rid of any oily residue...
Weigh out your sugar... my dear father came to Melbourne with a handful of possessions and this is one of them, he bestowed it upon me... I miss him dearly...

So fresh are these eggs, they still have the poop on them... a trip to Daylesford and the bonus was eggs on the side of the road for sale and a huge bag of freshly dug potatoes... life is good...
The trick with pav is to add the sugar slowly, think of making homemade mayonaise and the way you slowly add the oil, well it's the same with pav, the sugar must melt into the mix...

Mix for at least 10 minutes adding the sugar the whole time, you will see your mix changed shape and become quite firm and glossy....
Pile it high as it does spread quite a bit, and bake in a slow oven 160 should do for about an hour... Next picture is the end result after baking and decorating, now eat it!!!!!!!

(P.S. I used raspberries, rose petals and almond slithers and cream of course. I have also done this pavlova with pink food colouring and rosewater in the mix prior to baking, oh and I decorate that one with one other tiny detail, mint leaves from Roger's herb garden, thanks Rog!!)

Rainy days and Mondays...

Rain running down the balconey.... Plants....
New growth... a sign of spring....
View out of bedroom window, the shadow is our building...
Soon the trees will not be bare anymore....