The most delectable buttermilk pancakes . . . .a weekend tradition (only 5 and a bit ingredients!)

 I have a bad habit of being very non-committal with certain things. Hairdressers, makeup brands, recipes. I always think that once I have found something that I like that there must be something better out there so generally always try new things in the hope that I will find the holy grail of whatever I am using / making.

Pancakes are a love of mine from way back. When I was a kid, crepes were the go, but then I was introduced to fluffy pancakes at a friends house. They were very sophisticated in the 90's and had the pre-made mix that comes in a little plastic bottle and you add milk or water to it. I was enamored.

From then on, my breakfast of choice when eating out or at home has been pancakes. I used to use a Marie Claire recipe and was quite happy with that but I wanted them fluffier!



I Googled some buttermilk pancake recipes online but they seemed a little long winded for the morning so then I turned my eye to the buttermilk container and decided to try their recipe.

There is no need to test a pancake recipe any further. I have found the ultimate, and from the weirdest place, the recipe on the side of a buttermilk container! I changed the recipe a little as there were blueberries and orange zest in it (which are awesome additions but wanted something plain).

Check out the elevation on these little suckers!

Buttermilk notes: often there is a suggestion that you can make your own buttermilk by adding an acid to milk (i.e. vinegar or lemon juice). I find in this case it is better to use buttermilk that comes in a container. It makes the pancakes rise more.

So here is a modified recipe for mindblowing recipes adapted from Dairy Farmers

1.5 cups self raising flour
2 tbsp sugar
375ml buttermilk
1 egg
20gm of butter, melted
*optional - the finely grated zest of half a small orange


1. In a mixing bowl, add sugar and flour and mix with a whisk.
2. Melt butter in microwave and allow to cool slightly.
3. Add buttermilk and egg in a separate bowl and whisk lightly.
4. Make a well in dry ingredients, add in buttermilk/egg mixture and stir. Once there aren't many lumps, whisk in slightly cooled butter (and zest if you are using).
5. Heat a non-stick frying pan to a medium/low temp and melt a smidge of butter.
6. Drop 1/4 cup amounts (or however big you want them) of pancake batter in pan and cook until bubbles rise to surface, then flip. Cook for a small amount of time until the other side is golden and when you press lightly on the pancake it bounces back.

Et voila! My favourite thing to eat with pancakes is maple syrup and banana or strawberries, with lemon juice and sugar coming in a close second.

Get these suckers into your weekend rotation!

Daring Bakers Challenge May 2014 - Pao De Queijo

 This month's Daring Bakers' Challenge took us on a trip to beautiful Brazil! Renata of "Testado, Provado & Aprovado!" taught us how to make Pao De Queijo, tasty cheese buns that make the perfect snack or treat, and that will make your taste buds samb
First month of completing the Daring Bakers challenge and I was travelling to Brazil. I'm excited!

I enjoy baking but I was after a bit of direction and a challenge so decided to join onto the Daring Baker phenomenon that I have noticed on quite a few of my favourite foodie blogs.

I decided to go for the 'traditional' version of the recipe that was provided before I tried any quick versions.

It was really interesting to mix due to the tapioca flour, it reminded me of when I was in primary school and we made our own 'Gak' from cornflour and water. You know Gak, punch it and it's hard but you can poke it slowly . . . .eeekk.  If you feel like making some Gak (if you even know what I am talking about) click here!

It was quite easy to make with few ingredients. The only unusual ingredient was the tapioca flour, but this was easily found in the Asian section of Woolworths. 



I halved the recipe as it was supposed to make 80 balls. Really, what would I be doing with 80 cheeseballs? Making myself sick, that's what!

So, find below the recipe that was halved.

The daring bakers challenge suggested using the batter as a waffle or using the completed balls in a sandwich press with some ham or cheese. I don't have a sandwich press, the thought of making them into a waffle didn't really float my boat, so I used them as a kind of biscuit for some coriander and lemongrass dip. Oh. Yum.


I am excited to see what the next Daring Bakers challenge is!












Please find the recipe below, I halved this.

TRADITIONAL PÃO DE QUEIJO
Servings:
Yields about 80 small balls

Ingredients:

500 gm (4 cups) tapioca starch (If you have access to sour tapioca, you can use 250gm (2 cups) of each)
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
2-3/4 tablespoons (40 ml) (1½ oz) (40 gm) butter
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (3 gm) salt (or to taste depending on how salty your cheese is)
3 cups (750 ml) (9 oz) (250gm) Monterey Jack Cheese (or another cheese of your liking, or a mix of cheeses), coarsely grated
1 to 3 large eggs

Directions:

• Heat milk, butter, and salt in a small sauce pan until it comes to a boil. Watch closely as it may boil over. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Sift tapioca starch into a large bowl.
• Pour the boiled (hot) mixture over the tapioca and start stirring with a fork. The milk mixture will not be enough to form a dough yet. You will have a lumpy mixture, that's what it is supposed to be
• 
• Keep stirring with the fork, breaking down the lumps as much as you can, until the mixture cools down to warm.
• At this point, preheat your oven to moderately hot 400° F/200° C/gs mark 6
• Add the grated cheese to the tapioca mixture and mix well, now using your hands.
• 
• Add one egg at a time, mix with your hands until dough comes together. I suggest you lightly beat the egg with a fork and add little bits until the dough comes together into a soft but pliable dough. You only have to knead it a bit, not as much as you knead a yeasted bread. It's OK if it is slightly sticky.
• Form balls with the dough and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon mat or lightly greased with vegetable oil. If necessary, you can oil your hands to make shaping easier. The size of the balls may vary from small bite-sized balls to the size of ping pong balls. They will puff up quite a bit after baking. I personally prefer the smaller ones.

• Bake for about 25 minutes or until they just start to brown on the bottom. You may have golden spots of cheese on the crust. Don't over-bake as they will get hard and bitter.
• NOTE: If your dough gets too soft and sticky to shape balls, you can always add a bit more tapioca starch or pop the dough into a piping bag and pipe the dough on a baking sheet.
• Serve hot or warm. Brazilians love them with a cup of coffee!

Gratuitous cute cat shot. Of course she was lying in the only spot in the house with sunlight.

Bellabox April 2014 . . . . . . .

The unveiling for this months Bellabox took place before 8am as I was actually at home to receive the Bellabox, instead of it being tucked in a pot plant like usual (which led me to have a strange and interesting conversation with my postie!).

I have been on the fence about whether to keep this beauty subscription going as it has been a bit up and down. I quite like this months though, so I guess I will be keeping it going for another month!
I really like the new packaging. The little blue box is quite sturdy and good for storing odds and ends once you get a few of them, or even reusing them as gift boxes. They are definitely better than the cardboard envelope things that they had there for a while with the products floating around within.



This month, I am going to take a punt and guess that the star product is the Burts Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Balm is the star of the show, from the bee themed sleeve around the box (which I quite liked, very cute). I have tried this before and enjoy it. It is different from most cuticle creams as it is a lot waxier and doesn't seem to deposit as much product on your cuticles. More like lip balm for your fingers. It does work though. My little dessicated cuticles are doing a happy dance right now.





The next full size product was a Red Earth eyeshadow. Talk about a blast from the past. I thought Red Earth was in the grave. Last time I saw a product of theirs it was in Priceline. I bought a liquid highlighter of theirs that is similar to Benefit High Beam. I could see from the info card that Red Earth can be purchased from their website. I wonder if they will be entering a bricks and mortar store or whether they are just going to stay online. The eyeshadow I received looks very dark grey in the pot so I was a little disappointed, once swatched though I was happy though as the shade is quite sheer and will look great as a wash on the eyelid. It isn't shimmery but has a really nice pearlesent finish.



A small Loreal Base Magique Primer sample was also included. I wanted to try this out so am happy that this was included.



For the eyecream lovers, there is a Indio Eye Rise eye cream. It is anti-aging (aren't they all) with suncream and 'concealing properties'. Will give this little sucker a whirl, everyone loves anti-aging with some concealing properties. 


A Gatineau Aquamemory Moisture Replenish cream was also included. This is more of a luxe sample so will give me a much better idea of the product. It's RRP is $104 though and considering my Origins is only $60, it would have to be pretty special.

There was also a card with 4 Revlon Nearly Naked shades on it. Meh.

All in all, quite like it. Am interested in the eye cream, the cuticle cream pretty much recoups the cost of the box and the eyeshadow is a shade I wouldn't normally wear so takes me out of my comfort zone!.

[COOK IT] Slow cooker aromatic lamb shanks with quince and pearl cous cous

I went a bit crazy at the shops the other week and bought 4 quince. 4 HUGE QUINCE. I wasn't really interested in making something deserty, so decided to make quince paste. I didn't contemplate beforehand how much quince paste it would actually make . . . . . .

So after giving some away, I still have a stash of it in the fridge. Lamb shanks were a bargain buy last week, so quince paste and lamb shanks it is!

I have been loving Moroccan spices at the moment so decided to chuck some Ras El Hanout in to flavour it as then it reminds me of a tagine with the awesome mix of slow cooked meats, some sweet fruit and spices galore.

So, if you feel like a super easy, but tasty meal, read ahead.


Aromatic Lamb Shanks with quince and pearl cous cous

Lamb Shanks 
(serves 4)
2 large lamb shanks (or 4 small)
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
1 heaped teaspoon Ras el Hanout (I bought mine, but a recipe can be found here)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
salt/pepper
120gm quince paste
1 can chickpeas
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock

Pearl Cous Cous
 1.5 cups of pearl cous cous
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon shopped garlic
salt/pepper
fresh coriander, chopped
flaked almonds, toasted





1. Turn slow cooker on. Drain chickpeas and place in bottom of slow cooker along with chopped carrots.  Heat up a non-stick frying pan, pour in a little olive oil and brown off lamb shanks.



2. Place lamb shanks on top of chickpeas in slow cooker. Using the same frying pan cook onion until softened and then add in spices. Toast spices for around 1 minute, then add in beef stock and quince paste. Stir until quince paste is dissolved and then add tomatoes. Leave on heat until warm and then pour over lamb shanks in slow cooker. Put lid on and cook for 8 hrs on low or 5 or so hours on high (or until the lamb is falling from the bone, it will differ from slow cooker to slow cooker). I often liked to leave the lid off for the last 1-2 hours to help some of the liquid evaporate and thicken the sauce.

3. Bring salted water to the boil in a medium saucepan and add pearl cous cous. Simmer for 4 minutes and drain, making sure to reserve about 1.5 cups of the cooking liquid. Add butter to saucepan and melt, then add garlic and cook until softened and fragrant. Add in pearl cous cous and 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 4 minutes or until al dente. When done, stir through coriander. Sprinkle with coriander and toasted almonds.

You could use a few different things other than the pearl cous cous i.e. regular cous cous, pasta, mashed potato.

If you don't have a slow cooker, this could easily be made in a dutch oven, cooked for round 3 hours at 160 degrees.

Dulce de Leche Chocolate brownies . . . . . . . what to give your neighbours when they won't accept gifts!

I think I have had a pretty good run with garden maintenance for the majority of my life. I have lived in many rental properties but have only recently mowed my first lawn. Kind of shameful for someone who likes to ignore gender rules and get my 'handyman' on (in a non-dirty way....!)

I have been blessed with either my Dad or brother mowing the lawn, have had no lawn, lawn maintenance included in rent or neighbours that have mowed the lawn. I have lived where I currently live for nearly a year and the neighbour has mowed our front lawn once a fortnight (or a week in summer) without being asked and then for a while also mowed our back lawn. Myself and my flatmate greatly appreciate his efforts and tried to thank him with beer (which he refused to take) so now we are going the baked good route. 

I don't know my neighbour and his family's food tastes all that well, so thought that something chocolate always goes down well. I have made these Dulce de Leche Chocolate brownies many times and they never disappoint. They are also very simple to make and only use own bowl to mix up and cook in 30 minutes (not counting if you cook your own caramel.

So, if you need to say thank you to someone but they won't accept gifts, try this on for size. Who can say no to a baked good that has been made especially for them? Someone without a soul, that's who, and then they don't deserve them!

I have had a fondness for dulce de leche / cooked sweetened condensed milk since my childhood when all Christmas's and family occasions included delicious caramel tarts made from a a sweet biscuit heated into a tart shape and then the caramel spooned in and occasionally cream on top. DELICIOUS! So I am all for using this same caramel in other recipes.

You can of course use caramel in a tin for this recipe, but I really prefer cooking my own.

Dulce de Leche Chocolate Brownies

(recipe from the master David Lebovitz, altered slightly)

• 8 tablespoons (115g) salted or unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped (i used 45%)
• 1/4 cup (25g) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
• 1 cup (140g) plain flour
• 1 cup Dulce de Leche 

1. Day before or at least 3 hrs before cooking brownies, prepare dulce de leche. Place unopened can in a saucepan full of hot water, bring to boil with lid on, then reduce to a simmer and simmer for 2.5 hours. VERRRYYYY IMPORTANT. Do not let water evaporate from saucepan. You will need to check on water level every 1/2 hr or so and refill if needed. If the saucepan boils dry, the can can be at risk of exploding. When 2.5 hours is up, run cold water over can for a minute, take can out of saucepan, place on a plate and then put in the fridge. If you open the can whilst it is still warm, the caramel may spurt out and burn you. If this is all too much work, skip this step and buy a can of caramel top and fill instead!

2.Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Place butter and chocolate in a saucepan and melt, stirring the whole time, over a low heat. 

Yep, forgot vanilla, but I liked it without. Feel free to add!

3. Turn off heat and sift in cocoa. Stir until there are no lumps. Add in eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition. 

4.Stir in sugar until combined, then flour.

5. Line a 20cm x 20cm square pan with foil and rub with butter or spray with oil, whichever floats your boat.

6. Place half of batter in bottom of pan. Plop spoonfulls of caramel randomly on batter and then run a knife through to break up the caramel a little. Place second half of batter on top and repeat with caramel and swirls.

7. Place in oven for around 30 minutes. Check after around 20 minutes as you want a bit of moistness in the middle.Makes for a delightfully chewy brownie once it has cooled down.

8. Cut and deliver to neighbours (what will fit into your chosen container of course, you don't want to overwhelm them with your kindness).

[DIY] Tufted Ottoman . . . . . a tufting initiation

I have been lusting after a number of tufted items recently. Tufted ottomans, chairs, bedheads. If it has a button on it, I have lusted after it.

I am making a tufted bed head soon so thought I would start on a smaller project to have a bit of a practice go.

There are a  heap of tutorials online for ottomans that reuse coffee tables and the like, I was more interested in a larger, rounder, close to the floor version (this week anyway).



I couldn't really find any comprehensive tutorials about making an ottoman from scratch so I thought I would add my contribution to the mix!

Disclaimer: as this piece is so low to the floor and doesn't have a heap of framing / reinforcement, I wouldn't use this for seating (except maybe for littlies).

First step, find someone with a large car or trailer to help you get a sheet of ply. My ottoman was around 800mm diameter, but you can change this to your own preference. The ply I got was 15mm thick.

To create the circle draw a 800 x 800mm square on the ply. Find the middle point of this square i.e. measure up 400mm each side and draw line across so lines intersect at centre, This intersection is the middle. 

Tap a nail into this intersection, lightly, as it will be removed later.

Knot a piece of string around nail, measure 400mm from nail to end of string, wrap extra string around pencil and make sure string length measures 400mm once wrapped.



Rotate string around nail to create circle. This circle is never going to be 1 billion percent perfection, as your hand is changing angles. I found this method was fine for my needs though.



Cut circle shape out with a jigsaw.



Place circle of ply atop foam (I used foam that was medium density and approximately 6cm thick).



Trace around circle with a marker. If the width of the foam is less than the diameter of the circle, patch up edges with extra foam as needed. 







Now to drill holes for the button tufting. I decided to do a 4 x 4 pattern (16 buttons in total). I measured them out evenly from the centre point that I had nailed in the ply and then drilled through.

Now to drill the holes for the feet plates. Using centre point and the lines you would have used to map out the tufting, mark where holes will go for the feet plates and then drill holes depending on the hardware you have chosen

At this point, I made a frame for the bottom as was going to use some different feet, I decided to remove it when covering though.



Place batting on the floor and place foam and ply on top. Tuck each edge of batting up and staple (whilst pulling firmly on the batting) and staple where north, south, east and west would be. 


Starting on one quarter, pull batting up and fasten with staple, pulling batting tight as you do so.



Once batting is secured all the way around, trim off excess.





Iron fabric that you are using and place on clean surface and fasten with staples like you did the batting. The circular shape can be a bit difficult to staple down and you may find that you need to add a pleat every now and then.

Trim off excess fabric.

Attach feet plates (I used the Leggz brand of legs and plates from Bunnings).


Now for the tufting! There are many tufting examples out there that explain the process a lot better than I ever could. 



Getting a long upholstery needle with make the whole process a lot less painful. Insert long needle up through tufting hole, thread through button and then thread back down through foam and out through same hole. Once both threads are out the bottom of the ply, staple gun in a haphazard pattern until the thread doesn't budge. Complete this with all tufts, making sure to check that the tuft depths are the same when you staple the threads.

I decided to neaten the bottom with some hessian. I just folded the edges under an stapled. 



I then found the feet plates and made a small hole on the hessian for the feet threads to screw into the feet plates.

AND DONE. I just need to Scotchguard it so sticky little fingers (or paws) get to it!



Not quite sure about furniture placement now either . . . I think a rearrangement is in order.