Bacon, bacon, bacon, bacon, for years everyone has been obsessed with bacon. The craze reached a fever pitch somewhere around 2010/11 and while every expert has predicted [hoped for] its demise ever since our addiction to bacon seems to give no hint of waning. Not only are there stacks of savory recipes out there but you can find hundreds of festivals in celebration of it and websites devoted to its existence. Then, as is always the case with any trend, bacon made its way into desserts. You … [Read more...]
Mushroom & Lentil Burgers – Vegan, Gluten Free
It's fine, don't worry about me, I'll just have salad and bread... It's a phrase known well by many non-meat eaters when faced with a weekend BBQ in Australia. Barbequing here generally consists of steaks, sausages, a bit more steak, another sausage, and maybe some chops. No, we don't generally 'throw another shrimp on the barbie' [and even if we did we'd call them prawns and they'd probably still have the heads on] and while there is always a pile of white bread or rolls and perhaps some … [Read more...]
Spiced Sultana (Raisin) & Onion Chutney
Food inspires me. I think about it all.the.time. perpetually jotting down ideas and notes for future recipes, testing flavours and combinations and techniques, making things up - mad scientist style - as I go along. Luckily RJ is a willing participant and occasional ring-leader, tasting my creations, discussing over breakfast what we will have or for lunch or dinner, detouring in foreign countries for specific dishes. All this leads us back [well for this post at least] to a dinner we had at … [Read more...]
Finnish Emergency Bread – Hätäleipä & Truffle Butter
When I met RJ he used to eat at least 4 slices of white bread a day. Not necessarily as part of a meal mind you, but just because. Toast for breakfast, toast before dinner [no matter what or when dinner was], bread with dinner. Sliced, white, from a plastic bag, every time. It appalled me just a bit - as did putting ketchup/tomato sauce on beef stew but we'll save that one for later... *waves at RJ* hi mate, yes, I'm talking about you again - haha. I was not allowed white bread growing up. … [Read more...]
Caramelized Onion Jam
Why did I make Caramelized Onion Jam at 10 o'clock in the morning you ask? We'll blame it on the Pear Sandwich. I needed something to accompany the pears and cheese and greens. Something that is savory but pretends to be sweet. Something that is so ridiculously easy to make but pretends to be posh. Luck would have it there were actually onions on hand and some left over thyme in the fridge so a few onion cutting tears later and this goodness emerged. You could put it in a tart … [Read more...]
Pear, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Jam Sandwich
Have you ever eaten a pear straight off a tree? It is an experience like no other - although closely related to biting into a peach still warm from the sun while standing at the edge of the orchard where they were grown, or munching on sweet corn only snapped off the stalk hours before hitting the table. In my About profile pic I'm standing in my mum's vineyard under a tree... a pear tree to be exact. Skirting the edges of the grape rows are a few pockets of these trees - remnants of an … [Read more...]
Banana & Almond Butter Stuffed French Toast
Happy Bloggiversary to me! 84th & 3rd turned 1 year old last week and to celebrate I turned the computer off, boycotted cooking and went to yoga, I deserved it. A whole year, can you believe it? In honour of this momentous event I made French Toast for brunch this past weekend. Not this French Toast, or this one but a whole new beast - Banana and Almond Butter Stuffed French Toast. And it doesn't stop there... vanilla, orange juice, and oh, right, Bourbon. Because you can't really have a … [Read more...]
