I haven't blogged for quite some time. I have been trying to get my small business going! You can check it out at facebook.com/yesitismekelly for hand-decorated photo frames and other bits and pieces... (How's that for cross-promotion?)

Anyway.... My freezer, which is normally well-stocked, is looking rather empty, so I decided to whip up some food for lunches. I made a crustless quiche, which is really easy to do, barely any preparation time, and not much cooking time either. You can add whatever you have in the fridge really...

For your basic quiche base:
Grease a round cake tin or quiche tin and preheat your oven to 180 degrees (c).

Beat 5 eggs (at least until yolks are broken up), with about 1/4 cup of milk. Season with salt and pepper and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

I decided to make a tomato and basil quiche, so I sliced about 12 mini romas in half and sauteed them in 2 teaspoons of garlic, then added about 2 tablespoons of freshly chopped basil. I added this mixture to the basic quiche base, then poured it into the tin. I topped it with some finely sliced kalamata olives, for a bit of extra flavour.

Bake the quiche for about 20-25 minutes, or until top starts to brown.

It's a very easy, healthy and delicious dish!

We love lasagna in my family, and I keep looking for new ways to make it. Here's a recipe that I found on a website called 'Taste-Williams and Sonoma' (http://blog.williams-sonoma.com). It's a white lasagna, which means it uses a white sauce. At first I kind of thought that maybe it might end up bland (it doesn't have a lot of ingredients) but I think it will be quite rich... I didn't have fontina cheese, so I used provolone. I didn't have marsala either, so I used white wine. As usual, I have made this gluten free. On a side note, do you know what bugs me about making a gf lasagna? When you cut it to serve it, it just kind of falls apart into a big mess. Rant over. :)

Apparently, you can make this a day ahead, or even freeze it for up to a month, uncooked, just make sure you wrap it up very well.

Ingredients:
125g unsalted butter
1/2 a cup of plain gf flour
1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg
4 cups of whole milk
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 a cup of marsala (or white wine)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
About 250g of fontina cheese (or I had a whopper 500g piece of provolone)
Sea salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 small leek, or 4 spring onion sprigs, sliced
375g of white mushrooms (I used a mix of white and Swiss Brown)
250g of thin sliced prosciutto (I could only get 200g)
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
12 sheets of gf lasagna
1/2 a cup of parmesan cheese

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a medium-low heat. Stir in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for about 3 minutes. Add nutmeg, raise the temp to medium high and gradually whisk in milk and stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue whisking for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly, then add 1 cup of shredded provolone cheese, egg and wine, stirring. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

In another large frypan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium high heat. Add the spring onions and saute until softened slightly. Remove and put in a bowl for later. Add a bit more oil, then add your mushrooms to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add prosciutto and basil, plus I added some garlic here too, about a teaspoon of minced garlic. Cook for about a minute or two. Add your spring onion back to the mixture and take off the heat.

Spread about a cup of white sauce onto your lasagna dish base. Spoon a third of the mushroom mix over the top. Place 4 lasagna sheets over the mushroom mix and press down. Then start again. Do this 3 times. Then, add a final layer of just sauce, and top with the remaining provolone and 1/2 a cup of parmesan.

Cover with foil. Bake in the oven for about 45-55 minutes (depends on how well done you like it). Take the foil off for the last 10 minutes, to brown your cheese, if you like.

This serves about 6-8 people. :)

It's my boyfriend's birthday in a few weeks and I'm going to be having a party for him (expect lots of recipes added then!). Because I'm converting recipes from non-gluten free to gluten free, I want to test them out first, because sometimes they can go very, very wrong. I decided to test out this recipe for a birthday cake. As I write this, we have all tasted this cake, and while it was nice (especially the frosting), it was quite dry (maybe because of the gluten free flour, I don't know). But I think it could be tweaked to make it a bit more moist. Here's the recipe....Judge it for yourself. The original recipe is attributed to Rose Levy Birnbaum.

Ingredients:
Cake-
4 egg whites, room temp
1 cup of milk, room temp
2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 cups of sifted, gf flour
1 and a half cups of sugar
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of baking powder
12 tablespoons of butter, room temp
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Frosting-
2 cups of light brown sugar
250g butter
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
3 cups of icing sugar

Method:
Cake-
In a mixer, combine all dry ingredients and mix for about 30 seconds with a mixer. Add butter and mix until the batter is crumbly. Stir in 1/4 cup of the milk and beat on medium high for 30 seconds.

In a separate bowl, mix egg whites, remaining milk and vanilla. Slowly add to the dry mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating for about a minute, until combined. Pour into 2 medium sized cake tins (greased and lined), smooth the tops of the cakes and bake for 35 minutes at 180 degrees. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before turning onto a cooling rack. You may slice each cake in two at this stage, to get four layers, but I didn't think I could do this with a gluten free cake (it would crumble).

Icing-
Bring brown sugar, butter, milk, maple syrup and salt to a simmer, until the sugar is not grainy. Do not boil.

Remove from heat and add vanilla, stirring constantly. Allow to cool slightly and whisk in icing sugar. Add icing to the centre of one of your cakes and spread it out, place another cake on top, and frost entire cake. This icing thickens and sets while you're doing this, so you may have to be quick.

I don't think I'll be making this as a birthday cake-so back to the drawing board! :)

For those of you who need to rush out to work in the morning, here's a quick, but filling breakfast you can eat on the way (like my boyfriend does).

Ingredients (which you can adapt to suit you, add vegies, whatever you like):
6-7 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of milk
Salt and pepper
1 250g packet of bacon, rind removed and diced
Any cheese you like, ie. cheddar, gouda, etc. (I used about 10 slices of gouda and shredded them, other times I've grated cheddar)

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees celcius. Line a muffin tin with muffin cups, or, if you want smaller muffins, you can use cupcake size tins and patty pans.

Cook up your bacon and leave it to cool.

Add milk, salt and pepper and cheese to your beaten eggs and mix. When your bacon has cooled slightly, add to the mixture. Pour into muffin cups.
Bake for about 15 minutes.

Too easy! And like I said, you could always add more filling if you like, such as mushrooms, spinach, tomato, etc.

For tonight's dinner, I've used a recipe from the latest Better Homes and Gardens magazine (November 2013 ed.). Sorry the picture isn't great, it's the best one I took, the rest were blurred.

I can't wait to make this recipe again, it's so good! And healthy too! You could also adapt this and use chicken, or even tofu if you wanted to make it vegetarian. I have doubled the sauce recipe, because I like a lot of marinade. Also, I added broccoli. You could probably add whatever vegetables you wanted to.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pure/soft icing sugar
1/2 cup gluten free soy sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese five spice
Vegetable Oil
500g beef stir-fry strips
1 teaspoon of minced ginger
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 cup of sliced spring onion (they used brown onion, it's up to you)
200g sliced Swiss Brown mushrooms
150g sugar snap peas
2 cups of frozen broccoli/fresh
1/2 cup of chopped coriander leaves
2 packets of wok-ready rice noodles

Combine icing sugar, soy sauce and five spice in a bowl and stir until the icing sugar is dissolved.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on high heat.
Cook the meat in 2 batches, for about 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate.
Add ginger, garlic, onion, mushrooms and broccoli and stir fry for about 2 minutes. Then add sugar snaps and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Return beef to pan and add sauce. Cook for 2 minutes, then serve on noodles, sprinkled with coriander leaves.

Here is a fantastic, gluten free banana cake recipe. Especially use this if you have a few bananas that are getting a little bit too ripe! I found this recipe at theansweriscake.com (hehe it really is!) and I haven't modified it, because I didn't need to. It's really good!

Gluten-free Browned Butter Banana Streusel Cake
I used a round cake tin instead of a square one.


For the banana cake:
1 stick butter (250g)
280 grams gluten-free flour mix (or an equal amount of regular flour, about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
4 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 whole lemon, zested (use more if you want a more pronounced lemon undertone)
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream or yoghurt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the streusel:
70 grams gluten-free flour mix (or an equal amount of regular flour, about 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, cold
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the caramel sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly butter or spray a round cake tin.


In a small stainless steel saucepan or skillet, start melting the butter over medium heat.


Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.

In a large bowl, measure out the brown sugar. Break up any lumps.

In another medium bowl, mash the bananas. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Mix well. Add the lemon zest and mix well.

When the butter starts smelling like toffee, watch it closely. Swirl it around to help it cook evenly. When the butter has browned and the milk solids have turned dark brown but not black, take it off heat and pour into the bowl with the brown sugar. Mix with a whisk (the sugar will still look grainy) to combine and to cool. When the butter has cooled down a bit, add the eggs one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Add the sour cream or yogurt and combine well.

Pour the banana mixture into the bowl with the butter, again whisking to combine well. Then add the dry ingredients and gently stir with a spatula until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes.

While the batter is baking, prepare the streusel. Mix the flour, cinnamon, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a box grater, grate in the cold butter. Mix the butter and the flour until you have pea-sized crumbs. Stir in the nuts. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use, so the butter doesn’t melt.

After the cake has baked for 25 minutes, take the dish out and sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top. Return to the oven and continue baking for another 30 to 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a simple caramel sauce by heating the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir continuously to keep it from burning. When it turns into a dark amber syrup, add the butter and stir vigorously to melt the butter and incorporate it into the sugar. Take the pan off heat and carefully stir in the heavy cream. When the sauce has come together, stir in the vanilla. (Tip: if you want to make a salted caramel sauce, add a teaspoon of kosher salt now.)

Cake is done when an inserted knife comes out with clean with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes before slicing.


Serve with caramel sauce and ice-cream!
 

New recipe to try today! Raspberry Lemonade Bars-sounds good? I got the recipe from http://lickthatspoon.blogspot.com.au/ and adapted it to suit me. :)

Ingredients:
Base:
250g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla essence
pinch of salt

Filling:
2 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed (microwave for 1 minute if you like)
3/4 cup caster sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice (about 3-4 medium lemons)
zest of 3 lemons
3 egg whites
1 egg
2/3 cup flour
pinch of salt, extra

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celcius. Line and grease a 8x8 inch square baking dish.
To make the base, cream together butter and sugar until light. Add the flour, vanilla and salt and mix until combined well. Do not over mix as this can make the base tough. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just golden brown. Remove from oven and cool.

To make the filling, place raspberries in a bowl and use a stick blender to puree them. You can strain out the seeds if you don't like them. Add the sugar, juice, zest, whites, egg, flour and salt and combine, until well incorporated. I just gave the mixture a whiz with the stick blender again, to make it smooth.
Pour the raspberry mixture onto the base and place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool, before placing in the refrigerator to set completely (about 3-4 hours).

What do you think? I just tasted it, and it is beautiful! What a lovely recipe! Will definitely be making it again and again!

Tip: Chill as long as you can, to make the slice easier to cut, it can get a bit sloppy!

Fresh out of the oven...

I have tried many different eggplant bakes and parmigiana recipes. I'm not a huge fan of the crumbed eggplant types. Here's one I've been experimenting with...

Ingredients (for about 4-6 serves):
a dash of olive oil
1 tray of baby roma tomatoes, with each tomato halved
2 400g cans of diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
a bunch of basil
dried oregano
rock salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of mild, minced red chilli paste
3-4 medium sized eggplants, 'top and tailed' and sliced into 1cm thick slices
cooking salt
1 packet of shredded mozzarella (size depends on how cheesy you like it)
1 packet of gruyere, grated

First, lay your eggplant slices on a cooling rack (I put mine over the sink). Sprinkle cooking salt on each slice, to draw out the bitterness. Leave the salt on the slices for about 30 minutes. You will see liquid begin to pool on each slice.

Next, make your tomato sauce. You could just buy bottled passata, or a napolitana sauce, but I like to make my own. Heat olive oil (on medium high) in a large pan, and add minced garlic and chilli. Stir and let garlic brown, SLIGHTLY (otherwise the garlic becomes bitter).
Toss the roma tomatoes through the garlic and chilli mixture. Add your canned tomatoes and stir. Shred basil leaves (use as much or as little as you like, I love basil) and add to mixture, with 2-3 teaspoons of oregano (again, to your taste), as well as sugar. Stir. The sugar will balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Add the salt and pepper to your taste.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes.

Rinse the salt from each of your eggplant slice, and pat them dry with paper towel. Brush each slice, on both sides, with olive oil (but not too much). Fry each slice on both sides, until browned. Place on a plate to cool.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Next, begin to layer your bake in the following order: eggplant slices, sauce, mozzarella and gruyere. Shred some more basil leaves and place on top of the cheese layers. If you can't fit some slices in your dish, cut them in pieces to make them fit. You should get at least 2 layers of eggplant, maybe 3. Bake in the oven until bubbling, for about 30-35 minutes.

This is a really delicious and filling dish. I could probably just eat it by itself, but you could serve it with a salad, or some vegies (or homemade roasted potatoes, like I did).

Lovely homemade sauce (the picture is a bit steamy, sorry!).

Salted eggplant slices...

Frying the slices.

Chicken Brodo

Tonight I tried two different soups for dinner. I made a Chicken Brodo (an Italian broth) for my Dad (Mum doesn't like chicken), and I made a Mushroom Gouda Soup for Mum (Dad doesn't like mushroom).

The Brodo recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens' Pinterest. The recipe is by Karen Martini. It makes a very big batch, and is freezable, so you can save some for later.


CHICKEN BRODO
Ingredients:
1kg chicken wings (I couldn't get just wings, so I got a pack of wings and drumsticks)
4 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2L chicken stock
1L water
1 cup of chopped spring onion
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
3 carrots, sliced
½ bunch celery, chopped (leaves removed)
thyme leaves, to taste (I like thyme very much)
2 bay leafs
3/4 cup arborio rice
1 cup of gluten free macaroni
3 zucchini, sliced
½ cup frozen peas
½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Grated parmesan, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Toss chicken wings in 1 Tbsp of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Put, in a single layer, in an ovenproof dish and roast for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

2. Transfer chicken to a large saucepan. Add stock and water, then bring to the boil over a medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.

3. Strain chicken and reserve stock. Set aside to cool, then remove chicken from bone, leaving on a little of the skin. Discard bones.

4. Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil in a second large saucepan over a medium heat. Add spring onion, garlic, carrot and celery. Cook for 10 minutes.

5. Add thyme, bay leaves, chicken, reserved stock, rice and pasta. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Stir in zucchini, peas and parsley and simmer for a further 5 minutes or until rice and pasta are cooked. Serve topped with parmesan.

Note: I found that, by letting the soup cool (to be reheated later), a lot of the moisture was absorbed by the vegetables, pasta and rice. You might need to add some boiling water to the mixture when reheating.

Karen Martini says that this soup improves in flavour over the week, so I will be interested so see how it tastes in a few days!

MUSHROOM GOUDA SOUP (adapted from tasteofhome.com)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup gluten free plain flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon pepper (plus more to taste, if you like)
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 litre of chicken stock
1/2 cup sherry or additional chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
500g sliced fresh mushrooms (I used a mix of different mushrooms)
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 cups shredded smoked Gouda cheese
2 teaspoons of finely chopped chives

In a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in the flour, pepper and allspice until smooth; gradually add the broth, sherry and cream. Bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and garlic. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5-6 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.

Add cheese; cook and stir until melted. Add chives. Blend partially with a stick blender. Serve!

This was a really delicious, rich soup. I'm not sure which of these I like best!

Chicken Brodo

          Mushroom Gouda Soup

I haven't blogged for a week or so, I've been sick, and THEN I had a teaching job! Which was very exciting!

I thought I'd make Red Velvet Brownies today, because I had some buttermilk in the fridge, and it's a change from cupcakes. I am obsessed with finding the perfect red velvet recipe. Some are better than others...I also had a tub of the Cadbury Philadelphia Cream Cheese in the fridge, so I thought I'd use that instead of the vanilla cream cheese frosting.

I found this recipe amongst my printouts, and I don't know where it came from. So if you recognise it, sorry! Let me know and I'll refer to you...

Ingredients:
1 and 1/4 cups of plain gluten free flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 cups of caster sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 a cup of melted butter
1/2 a cup of buttermilk
3 eggs, preferably at room temp
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
100g milk chocolate, melted (use a double boiler, or a bowl over a simmering pot)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon of vinegar
red food colouring gel or liquid (use as much as you want to get your preferred shade of red-I used about a quarter of a teaspoon of gel)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.  Spray a non-stick, rectangular baking dish (9 x 13).

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cocoa. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, eggs and buttermilk. Add the melted chocolate, vanilla, vinegar and food colouring. Add the dry ingredients and beat until well-combined.

Spread the mixture into your baking dish, and bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool before frosting. Again, I used the Cadbury Philadelphia Cream Cheese, but you could use any cream cheese frosting recipe, or you could leave the brownies without frosting (WHAT?).