25 minute Ice Cream Layer Cake

In an attempt to save space, money and trees I have cancelled my food magazine subscriptions and gone through my 5 (!!) years of magazine - tearing out recipes I liked. As a result, I have nothing lightweight to flick through on our endless hot summer nights. Giving into temptation, I bought my first ever Taste magazine. Full of quick, easy hot weather meals this may become a regular purchase.

This isn't an advert for Taste, so I won't wax lyrical, except to give them credit for this recipe. It's so simple and it only takes 25 minutes. Although not the cheapest option, if you ever need a quick, cooling dessert that can be instantly made larger or smaller this is the one for you. As always I have a few changes and tips that are strongly recommended. 

• Assume 1/2 ice cream sandwich per person for a normal sized slice
• Swap the cream for ice cream to avoid that icy texture if you over freeze it
• Make room in your freeze before starting this!
• Swap the chocolate sauce for a pre-made one or even just melted chocolate
• If the cream is too frozen, use the chocolate sauce to stick the toppings on
• For extra minty-ness, add some peppermint essence to the cream once whipped

Mint Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

Cake:

• 2x 4 pack of Cadbury Ice Cream Sandwiches 
• 300ml cream, whipped to soft peaks
• 1 pack Aero Baubles, sliced thinly length ways (into shards)
• 2 pack Mint Crisp, cut in half

A version of Nigella's Chocolate Sauce:

• 75g dark chocolate
• 125ml double cream
• 2tsp of instant espresso powder dissolved in 2tbsp water
• 1 tbsp golden syrup

Method

1. On a flat serving plate arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches
2. Cover the top with a layer of cream about 0.5cm thick
3. Sprinkle half the mint crisp shards on top
4. Place the remaining ice cream sandwiches on top
5. Top with cream and freeze for 20mins
6. Scatter with the top with Aeros and mint crisp
7. Drizzle the hot chocolate sauce over the top, slice and serve 

Enjoy!

Glutton

Meringue Layer Cake

We're almost one month in to 2014 and Lush and I really should have a resolution to make this a dedicated blogging year. Working in our favour is that I now have access to my own kitchen. Not that I didn't have a kitchen before, but now there is no one else to get annoyed by the mess I leave behind. Working against us is our natural ability to be consumed by the cooking and the eating and forget about the photographing and writing! Wish us luck; we will need it!

Using this kitchen freedom, I have been making an effort to cook regularly and have started hosting dinner parties again! A dinner party with friends usually involves a rich, chocolate brownie or a pudding that smells good enough to overpower the lack of any attempt (or success) at decoration and presentation. But no more!

This is my attempt a meringue layer cake that to be honest was more of a learning experience than a success. Things to remember with meringue:

• Don't make it on a humid day (you'll notice mine is quite flat)
• Make sure to beat your eggs well to get as much air as possible
• Assemble the cake no more than 30 minutes before you eat it. The creme patisserie will make the meringue soft and you don't want to lose the crunchy chewiness
• Most of all, even when it fails, it's still delicious and good friends will lie and agree with you

Ingredients

Meringue

• 6 egg whites (save the yolks for the creme patisserie!)
• 300g cater sugar
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 1 cup pecans, finely processed
• Seasonal Berries (preferably not frozen as they will be too wet)
• Icing sugar to dust

Creme Patisserie

• 300ml full fat milk
• 30g unsalted good quality butter
• pinch of salt
• 60g unrefined caster sugar
• 30g plain flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Meringue

1. Preheat the oven to 140ºC. Line 3 baking sheets with baking paper and trace the bottom of a loaf tin onto each
2. Beat the egg whites until there are stiff peaks. Then slowly add the sugar a spoonful at a time, make sure to beat well after each addition. 
3. Gently fold through the vinegar, vanilla and pecans. Making sure not to knock the air out of the eggs as you go.
4. Divide the mix between the 3 baking trays. Stack each meringue thick to get it as chewy as possible
5. Bake for 1 hour, then turn the oven off and leave the meringues in it to cool.

Creme Patisserie

1. Beat the egg yolks and caster sugar until pale and thick ribbons form when the beaters are lifted
2. Seive the flour over the top and mix until smooth
3. Put the milk, butter, salt and vanilla in a medium sized, non-stick saucepan.
4. Bring the milk to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and pour a ladle full over the eggs. Stir quickly until smooth. Repeat until about half of the milk has been incorporated
5. Pur the egg and milk mix into the saucepan with the remaining milk.
6. Bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat for 3 minutes
7. Cover the surface with gladwrap or baking paper so that a skin doesn't form

Assembly

1. To assemble, place one of the meringues on a flat plate and spread with a third of the creme patissiere. 
2. Scatter a layer of berries, top with another of the meringues and repeat

Enjoy!

Glutton

Pumpkin Tart with Parmesan Crust

It has been far too long since my last post; as always my thanks to Lush for holding down the fort in my absence.

Since I last wrote, I have returned to Melbourne and my indulgent / non-gymming / expensive (!!) ways. This recipe epitomises that sentiment using more butter than anything else I've made this year. Having said that, this is probably my most successful batch of pastry ever (pastry is a nemesis of mine). Partly because I actually followed the recipe, but mostly because I used this fantastic rolling pin. This isn't a plug, but a big thank you for this great gift that makes sure my pastry is an even thickness and the right size for the first time ever!

I have taken this recipe from the Australian Gourmet Traveller with a few little tweaks. It does have a long prep time as there are multiple restings of the pastry required, but the crumbly texture is worth it. My suggestion is to pick a rainy day, buy a nice bottle of red (3/4 for you, 1/4 for caramelising the onions) and potter away.

Pumpkin & Goat's Cheese Tart with Parmesan Crust

Serves 8

Ingredients

Tart Filling

• 750g pumpkin cut into bite size pieces
• 50ml olive oil
• 6 thyme sprigs, plus extra to serve
• 150g goat's cheese (e.g. chevre), coarsely crumbled
• 40g butter, coarsely chopped
• 3 onions thinly sliced
• 150ml red wine (you can use white but I preferred the colour contrast)
• 1 egg lightly beaten

Parmesan rough puff pastry

• 225g plain flour
• 40g finely grated parmesan
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 2 tsp fennel seeds crushed
• 225g cold butter coarsely chopped

Method

Parmesan Puff Pastry

Sift flour and a pinch of salt into a food processor. 

Add parmesan, thyme and fennel seeds and pulse to combine. 

Add butter pulsing until mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. 

Tip onto a bench, make a well in the centre and add 100ml iced water. Mix together until dough just comes together. 

Form into a disc, wrap in glad wrap and refrigerate to rest for 20 minutes.

Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 1.5cm thick rectangle. 

Then fold the shortest ends together to meet in the centre and fold in half again to form a book fold. 

Wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate to rest for another 20 minutes You will need to repeat this twice more. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until required.

Preheat oven to 180C. 

Scatter pumpkin in a single layer on trays lined with baking paper, drizzle with oil, scatter with thyme, season to taste and roast until just tender (approx. 30-35 minutes). Set aside to cool.
Heat butter in a large frying pan over medium heat, add onion stirring occasionally until tender.

Add wine, stir occasionally until evaporated and set aside to cool.
Roll pastry out onto a lightly floured surface to a 5mm thickness.

Cut out a 25cm-diameter circle, place on a lined baking tray and refrigerate to rest for 30 minutes

Score a border, 1cm from the edge, to halfway through pastry. 

Prick inside border with a fork, spread with onion, scatter pumpkin goat's cheese

Roll edge slightly to contain the filling. 

Brush edge with beaten egg and bake until golden and cooked through (approx. 25-30 minutes). 

Sprinkle remaining thyme over the top and serve either hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Glutton

Healthy Jacket Potato

It's been a while since I harped on about healthy eating, but after recently being called a gym-junkie (an exaggeration, I promise!) I realised that maybe my diet should start matching my exercise regime.

My gym spruiks the paleo diet which I think is a little too extreme, but I do think that it is worth avoiding high fat, high carb meals. Unfortunately that is what I was craving - a big jacket potato, topped with sour cream, bacon and spring onion. Delicious! Now (as you may have guessed from the picture below) I decided to get a little creative to give myself that creamy, salty potato topping but without the guilt.

Banana Bread

In Canberra, everyone believes that ANZAC day is the unofficial start of winter and the weather definitely agrees. It's time to start making soups and curries and casseroles - all those hearty, warming foods. Unfortunately most recipes are normally designed for 4 and I only cook for 1 which means a lot of leftovers and the need for a lot of freezer space!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I freeze bananas (and anything else that will survive) rather than wasting it. However bananas seem to take up most of my freezer space, so I am on a clearing out spree to make room for all my winter warmers. The latest banana using addition is this delicious banana bread from 101 Cookbooks.

Banana Pikelets

I'm not what you would call a morning person. If given the choice between 10 more minutes in bed or getting up eating a banana and coffee before heading to work; bed will win every time. What this does mean though, is that the end of each week I have several overripe bananas to do something with. A great tip I learnt is that you can freeze bananas whole in their own skin (low effort solution for the win!).

Recently while scrummaging through the freezer I discovered about a dozen bananas taking up precious space so decided to go on a banana baking spree (apologies in advance if you are looking for a banana free recipe!). 

This is the first of several banana recipes; a easy, quick breakfast that can be made in advance or while hovering in the kitchen with a mug of coffee.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

I know we're well past Christmas, but I didn't get a chance before I went on holidays to share one of my family's biggest traditions. In an attempt to cut down on the rampant Christmas spending that haunted us every year, we switched to Kris Kringle a few years ago - meaning that the adults only got one gift each (the kids still get a pile taller than themselves). But there is still that niggle, that little thing in all of our minds (by which I mean the female side of the family) saying that you still need to give everyone something even if you aren't allowed to buy anything. So, what to do you do? Make jam!

Chicken and Peach Summer Salad

Summer is the time of stone fruit and delicious berries. Growing up, stone fruit was not only expensive, but invariably had been flown from the US or Australia unripe and ended up tasting like squidgy, floury mush by the time we bought it in Singapore. When I first moved back to Australia I was amazed at the range and flavour of all the different summer fruits; who knew that peaches could be white or yellow, or that plums came in at least 3 different colours ! Biting into a ripe peach, with juice running down your chin and over your hand has to be one of my favourite summer moments. So when scanning through my collection of magazines and cookbooks for inspiration for a refreshing summer salad, peach sounded like the perfect accompaniment.

Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is a great meal to make when friends are stopping by as its easy to leave it bubbling on the stove, with the occasional stir, while socialising around the kitchen bench. 

Having recently watched most of Jamie Oliver's 15 and 30 minute meals, I have become a convert to his ways of reducing my preparation time. This recipe features a great trick of using the food processor for any fine chopping, it also includes the flavouring (porcini mushrooms) in the sofrito rather than soaking them to make a stock. My extra little cheat is to use al Funghi Porcini stock instead of the standard chicken. Not only is it vegetarian, like all stocks cubes it is instant and adds an extra robustness to the flavour of the rice. I'm not sure where it is available, but I get it in my local Melbourne supermarket.

3 Bean Salad

I don't know about the rest of the world, but Australia is currently experiencing some pretty dramatic weather. After having a few easy years, the long hot days seem to be back with a vengeance and there is little you feel like doing expect sitting underneath an air-con vent. It's at times like these where I really love summer salads; you don't have to cook them so the kitchen stays cool and if you refrigerate them before eating, you get this fantastically cold, but filling, meal.

Now, I will say in advance that this is not a glamorous recipe; in fact, it is probably one of the laziest meals I make. Ignoring that, this is a quick (10 minutes) meal that will keep for days and travels very well.

Change and Travel

First off my apologies for leaving all the blog efforts to Lush for the last few months. I came back from travelling for work to head-off overseas again for a wedding before moving interstate and jetting off on a back-to-basics Christmas 'cruise'. I am now back and cooking, so expect plenty of new recipes - hopefully without too many failures...

But where is back you may ask? For the next 6 months I will be calling Canberra home (for those who don't know it is actually Australia's capital city), but with regular (food) visits back to Melbourne. As I have been told by many people, I am here at the best time; the sun is shining, the temperatures are rising and I’ll be moving back to Melbourne before winter really sets in.

Although Lush and I always talk about Melbourne, I am beginning to get into the food scene in Canberra (as small as it is) so expect a few places to crop up over the next few weeks.

Upside-down Blood Orange Cake

I am not a huge fan of oranges; all that pith in a glass of juice or if eating it whole I invariably buy that one sour orange on offer. However, blood oranges are a completely different story. I find they are usually quite tart which makes them perfect for cooking as you can add a bit of sugar for balance.

Having some friends over for a weeknight dinner, and as always, my best laid plans of preparing everything the day before had not been realised so I was scouring my cookbooks for a stunning, yet straightforward recipe. I came across Donna Hay's sticky orange and vanilla upside-down cake in her Seasons book. Having made a variant of the cake before, I knew it would work, but without Donna's fantastic team of food stylists there was no chance of my vanilla bean looking that artful. Instead I decided to distract my guests with the novelty of a deep rosy, blood orange topping.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Although it is the end of winter here in Melbourne, having just returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur I am struggling to view 18 degrees as warm and so have been feasting on all types of winter warmers.

The hardest thing I found whilst being away was that as it was a work trip I had to stay in a hotel. Oh yes, I know what a struggle! In my defence, it meant that I couldn't cook which was a struggle. I am so used to being able to control what goes into my meals (and how big they are!) that I found it quite difficult. With another trip (but this time a holiday) coming up soon, I am glad I have booked in an apartment for a few days so that I can at least make myself the occasional light meal.

Now that I am well and truly back at home, I realised I have missed out on weeks of new restaurant openings and of course catch ups with friends so am still eating out quite a bit, but alternating with the occasional light winter warmer at home. This recipe is the classic example of a quick meal that is filling, nourishing and warming; perfect for a night on the couch catching up on The Farmer Wants a Wife!

Ingredients

• 1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock (cubes will do in a hurry)
• 1 tbs fish sauce
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (the extras freeze very well in a ziplock)
• 1.5kg pumpkin, cubed (I prefer butternut for its easy chopping qualities)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 bunch coriander
• 1 birds eye chilli (you can substitute a dried chilli or even chilli flakes)
• 1/2 lime, juiced

Method

1. Into a large pot, add the stock, fish sauce, pumpkin and 3 lime leaves (bruised).
2. If using dried chilli add it to the pot now.
3. Bring liquid to the boil and simmer for 10 mins for until pumpkin is soft.
4. Remove from the heat and remove lime leaves.
5. Using either a blender or bamix/stick blender, purée liquid and pumpkin until smooth.
6. Add coconut milk. Although I have said 1 cup above, it really depends on how creamy you want your soup so make sure to taste as you add and mix.
7. On a low heat, warm the soup without boiling (boiling will cause your coconut milk to split)
8. Finely slice your birds eye chilli and remaining lime leaf (you can roll it up into a long tube to make slicing easier).
9. Once your soup is hot, pour into bowls and top with some chilli and kaffir lime slices, coriander leaves and a drizzle of coconut milk and lime juice.
10. This recipe makes at least 6 servings and freezes very well for those times you need an instant meal.

Glutton

Healthy Nut Bars

After a couple of Birthday dinner celebrations and a long weekend of eating (and drinking) I have decided that I need to try to eat a bit healthier for a while. My biggest challenge is snacking on chocolate and chips, so I went on the hunt for a homemade muesli bar recipe (minus the sugar). I found a fantastic blog by a couple in Sweden who write about their healthy vegetarian diet. Although I am not vegetarian (as you would have guessed from the Lamb Blog), I don’t eat meat regularly and am glad to have found a site with plenty of salads and soups!

On Green Kitchen Stories these are called Sticky Nut Bars, but as mine didn’t turn out sticky I am just going to call them Healthy Nut Bars. I have changed the recipe from the original, based on what I had in the pantry. Let me know what flavours you try!

Ingredients
10 fresh dates (try substituting 15 dried dates soaked in water for an hour)
2 tbsp water
2/3 cup organic peanut butter
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 tsp salt

Method
1. Line a lamington pan with baking paper
2. In a saucepan, combine dates, water and peanut butter over a low heat
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. The mixture should be quite tacky. Add more nuts if the mixture is too moist or some more water if it is too dry
4. Pour the mixture in the pan, pressing down to an even height
5. Refrigerate for half an hour, before cutting into squares before serving.
6. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge

Glutton

Hot Apple Juice

It's winter and it's cold; the season for mulled wine, hot cider and whisky by a warm fire. But what about those times when a non-alcoholic choice is required?
On a recent weekend away to Hobart, Lush and I discovered that a mug of hot apple juice is a great morning tea drink for wandering Salamanca Market. We had ours with a touch of cinnamon, but you could add ginger for a healthy boost.

My version is below, I added some sugar as my juice was a bit sour. This is really a recipe of personal taste, so feel free to tweak away!

Ingredients
1 cup apple juice
1 cinnamon quill
1 tsp brown sugar

Method
1. Put all ingredients in a saucepan and cover with a lid
2. Over a low heat, bring the mixture slowly to a boil
3. Pour into a mug and enjoy

The longer you let it infuse the stronger the spice flavour will come through.

Glutton

Fried Chicken & Coleslaw

I have so many horrid memories of coleslaw; mainly due to my childhood dislike of mayonnaise (oh, how times have changed!). From the overly dressed, flaccid lump of cabbage and carrot in Singapore's faux-American restaurants (looking at you Denny's) to making bucket loads with my mum for a BBQ we were having. In her defense, there were over a hundred people expected, but I hope to never again serve anything from a yellow, plastic bucket.

In spite of the scars from my younger years, I have been caught up by the current Melbourne obsession with Mexican and American food. And although Lush did actually grow up living (and eating) the American
dream I have decided to be the first to bring Team-USA to our blog.

This is a great weeknight meal when you're having friends over. Messy food and eating with your hands is always great way to ensure the night stays casual and relaxed. The chicken wasn't as KFC tasting as I
would have liked so I have upped the spices in the recipe below. If you would like some further inspiration, I am a big fan of Homesick Texan.

Ingredients:

For the Chicken
150g plain flour
4tsp paprika
125ml buttermilk
1kg chicken pieces (your choice of which cut)
Vegetable oil for deep frying

For the Coleslaw
200g sour cream
150g mayonnaise
2tsp apple cider
2tsp white sugar
1tsp dijon mustard
1/4 white cabbage, shredded
1/4 red cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
1 apple, grated (if you like a bit of sweetness)

Method:

• Whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar & mustard (I use a jar to shake & combine)
• Toss all coleslaw ingredients together and season.
• Combine flour & spices on a plate and pour buttermilk into a bowl. Coat flour in buttermilk followed by flour and shake off excess.
• Heat oil for deep frying (170 or when bread dropped in turns golden after 15 seconds).
• Working in batches, drop chicken into oil (don't let it splash!) and fry on each side for 10mins or until golden. Drain before serving.

Glutton

Chocolate Flourless Torte

I am always on the look out for recipes of delicious, quick and easy desserts.

When preparing a dinner party for friends I usually end up underestimating the preparation time for my first two courses. Something to do with guests arriving and my desire to gossip rather than chop. Having a big open-plan kitchen only encourages this! Luckily, I know that the day will be saved by some deliciousness that I already have baking in the oven.

This recipe is pulled from one of my multitudes of Delicious magazines spread over the coffee table (although as I have now swapped to an SBS Feast Magazine subscription there is a bit more variety around the house). Valli Little calls this a torte, but to me it is more of a flourless chocolate cake.

NOTE: this is not something to leave on the bench unattended. My housemates managed to polish this off in less than a day!

Ingredients

• 210g roasted pecans (cooled if you roast them)
• 180g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 220g butter, melted
• 1 1/2tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat the over to 170 Celsius and line a medium sized spring form tin. If you want a perfect edge to your cake then grease the pan and dust with flour.
2. Use a food processor to grind pecans and chocolate until finely ground.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar until thick and pale. Slowly add in butter and vanilla.
4. Stir in pecan-chocolate mixture.
5. Beat egg whites until firm peaks.
6. Whisk a quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture then gently fold-in remaining until combined.
7. Pour into pan and gently shake so that it settles. Make sure not to knock it too hard or you will lose all the air from the egg whites!
8. Bake for 50mins; until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
9. Cool in the pan. Don't be worried when it collapses - its meant to be quite a dense cake.
10. Dust with cocoa or icing sugar to serve warm with cream.

Glutton

Crumpets

There is nothing better than waking up to a fresh cup of coffee (long black thanks) and enjoying a fresh, warm crumpet slathered with homemade jam. Now, you might not be aware of this, but you can actually make crumpets - scandalous I know - especially on a food blog. However they do take at least an hour to make so if you're planning on breakfast in bed, I'd suggest making these in advance and stocking the freezer.

I was first inspired to make crumpets by my favourite blog Trotski & Ash, but was put off by the 3 hour preparation time. Luckily, last weekend Lush & I had the offer of a holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula that came with it's own Thermomix (TM). For those of you who haven't heard of this ridiculously expensive wonder machine (AU$2000!); it is a kitchen in itself. I won't go on a sales pitch now, but suffice to say that once I have my own house, with more than one powerpoint in the kitchen, I will be investing in a TM - possibly adding it into a sizable mortgage.


Back to the crumpets: TM ready to go I followed the instructions of Thermomixer and closer to 2 hours later had my (and 3 other peoples) breakfasts on the table. A TM isn't necessary for this recipe other than to save you some muscle work so I've put the instructions for both below.

Ingredients:

• 375g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp dried yeast
• 300ml warm milk
• 200ml warm water
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp bicarb soda

Method:

Mix 1 tbsp of the flour, all the sugar and yeast with 100ml of the milk until combined. It should become frothy. If using a TM, mix for 3 minutes at 37°C on speed 2.

Add remaining flour (roughly 350g), 200ml milk, water, egg and salt and combine [10 seconds on speed 7].

You should have quite a thick batter, add more warm water if needed and mix the mixture again. Or for 8 minutes at 37°C on speed 1.

Leave the mixture to prove (rise) for at least 1 hour; the surface should be covered in bubbles.

Dissolve the the bicarb soda in a few tsps of warm water and add to the mixture. Beat vigorously for a few minutes to whip as much air in as possible. For the TM gradually increase the speed to beat the mixture for 2 minutes at speed 5. Leave for another 30mins or so.

If like my mixture yours is a bit gluey and without bubbles, add another glug of warm water and beat just before using.

I prefer my crumpets free-form, but if you like uniformity then oil some egg rings and place in a hot oiled frypan.

On a medium to low heat, cook batter for 5 -10 mins, or until the surface is dry and is full of holes. Remember that the mixture will rise so don't fill your rings too much! We ended up cutting ours in half.

For a bit of crunch briefly cook the top as well.

Serve warm with butter and your favourite topping (homemade apricot jam is mine!)

Freeze any leftover and toast when you want to enjoy them.


Glutton

Paco's Tacos

What: Paco's Tacos
Where: NAB building cnr of Willams & Little Bourke

Located in a great foodie square with Earls Canteen and Movida Aqui; this end of town is now spoilt for choice of gourmet, affordable lunches.

Paco's Tacos is the reincarnation of Movida Terrazo. With all tacos at $6 and quick service it is a great place for a workday lunchtime catch-up. It's also open for dinner and has a decent cocktail menu that empahsises Mexican flavours and evokes memories of warm, sunny evenings. And helps those of us struggling to get through the coming afternoon in the office! 

We had: 

• Carne Asada Taco
• Veduras Taco
• Crispy Pork Crackling

2 tacos are enough for a light lunch, but it is would be worth getting a third taco or something to share if you are feeling like a decent sized meal. The beef had a little heat to it, but I found the delicious green sauce (name unknown) added the necessary extra bit of spice that I look for.

The pork crackling was too rich for a weekday lunch. Basically deep fried pork crackling with salsa and guacamole; it was crispy and light, but I ended up equating each mouthful to an extra block I should be adding to my walk back to the office.

Highly recommend going here before the 1pm rush. It's not as busy as places like Tripy Taco, but the queue to order grows pretty quickly. A bit on the pricey side for the size of the meals, but all around an easy place to enjoy a Melbourne-Mexican lunch.

Glutton

Fig-tastic

I am always sad to see summer start to fade away, but it also marks the start of fig season. Figs are an amazingly delicious fruit, but unfortunately they can be incredibly expensive. A few years back I discovered that a friend has a giant fig tree that, at this time of year, is laden with more fruit than he (and his family) can consume. Enter food-obsessed-friend desperate to take as many figs off his hands as possible. Saturday afternoon was spent braving the constant rain, clambering under the tree looking for ripe figs that the rosellas were yet to get to. Figs don’t ripen off the tree so you need to make sure that you only pick those with a bit of give. These ones also stay green when they ripen, rather than those that turn purple. Also watch out for the sap it can be quite itchy!

This week I have two recipes to try out; the first is a very simple starter and the second is inspired by the fantastic sounding galette on the delicious days blog.

Goats Cheese Stuffed Figs

Ingredients

• Figs (bigger are easier to stuff)
• Soft goats cheese (we used a chèvre, but a curd would be easier to stuff)
• Proscuitto (thinly sliced)
• Few sprigs fresh oregano or rosemary
• 3 tbsp Honey

This is not really a recipe with quantities, it really depends on how many figs you have. For each fig you need approximately ½ tbsp of goats cheese, and 1 slice of prosciutto.

Heat the grill section of your oven.

Slice the top of each fig into quarters, and push the goats cheese into the cavity.

Wrap each fig in prosciutto; we used a skewer to make the figs easier to handle, but this isn’t really necessary.

Place the figs on a baking tray, sprinkle with the fresh oregano leaves and drizzle honey over the top.

Grill the figs for 5-10mins until the top of the prosciutto is crispy.

Fig Galette

Ingredients

• Galette Dough:
• 175g plain flour
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• 100g cold butter diced
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• 50ml ice-cold water
• Pinch of salt

Fruit Filling:

• 400g figs (or any other fruit) thickly sliced (we did sixth’s)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp butter

Method

If you have a food processor, simply add your flour, caster sugar, butter and salt to the bowl and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.

If you don’t have a food processor, grate the cold butter into a bowl and then quickly rub it using your finger tips until it reaches the coarse breadcrumbs stage.

Add the sour cream and water slowly until the mixture comes together. You may not require all the liquid – if it gets too sticky just add a bit more flour. Roll into a ball, cover in glad wrap and cool in the fridge for an hour.

After an hour, pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees, roll-out the dough into a circle that is 3mm thick.

Scatter your sliced fruit leaving a 5cm gap around the edges. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the top and dollop the butter on top.

Bake for 30mins or until the pasty starts to turn golden and the fruit is soft.

Serve with cream or you can try King Island vanilla bean yoghurt to cut through the sweetness.

Happy Eating!

Glutton