by Helen McLean | Jun 16, 2014 | Food & Drinks
If you’re ever going to make a super simple yet impressive dessert, that satisfies both kids and adults alike – make a spider (also known as ice-cream soda and soda float). The only noise we hear at the table when spiders have been served (after the initial ooo’s and ahhh’s) is the tinking sound of spoons hitting the glass and slurping through straws.
I learned the craft of making spiders when I worked at Johnny Rockets (now called Soda Rock) in South Yarra. There was a particular method in making these, to make sure they were well presented. Sure it’s easy to plop a ball of ice-cream into a glass of soda, watch it fizz over and mix up into a creamy mess – but it’s just that, a mess to look at.
There’s an art to the layering of a spider, and you can create any flavour/colour combination you can think of (or be brave to try!)
Now, I’m not sure if I made up the addition of adding flavoured syrups to the spider, or if it was something that only us staff members were experimenting with – but it’s an addition worth keeping, both for extra flavour and colour.
Spider / Ice-cream Soda Recipe
Ingredients:
Vanilla ice-cream
Flavoured soda of choice
Flavoured syrup of choice
Classic milkshake style glass
Paper straw
Long spoon
Method:
1. Pour about 2cm of soda into the glass.
2. Scoop a large ball of ice-cream into the glass, big enough so it sits on the edges and doesn’t slip down into the base layer of soda. Ideally, you will have a 1-2cm layer of air in between the soda and the ice-cream.
3. Pour the syrup around the edges, just enough so you can see the syrup as a thin layer.
4. Top with more soda, but be careful not to fill to the top too quickly, otherwise it will overflow like a volcano!
Flavour combination ideas:
1. Jaffa – Orange soda and chocolate syrup
2. Candy Candy – Pink lemonade & blue heaven syrup
3. Citrus Tingle – Lemon squash & lime syrup
4. Strawberry & Cream – Lemonade & strawberry syrup
5. Tropicana – Passionfruit soda & lime syrup
6. Jingle Bells – Lime soda & raspberry syrup
7. Red, White & Blue – Raspberry soda & blue heaven syrup
As you can see, anything goes! Have some fun making your own combinations, and if you have a super delicious combination you have tried, make sure you share it below.
Soon I will share some grown-up only versions, once I finish experimenting with Kahlua, Creme de Cacao, Butterscotch Schnapps and Malibu, just to name a few.
Note: I think only Australian’s call them spiders. So be aware when you Google image search for inspiration, especially if you are arachnophobic. Try searching for ice-cream soda instead!
Styling notes:
Long spoon – Daiso
Glassware – Kitchenware Direct
Paper straws – Mozi
by Helen McLean | Jun 2, 2014 | Food & Drinks
Over the past 4 years or so, since a friend passed on this granola recipe to me – I have adapted and changed the recipe in various ways. The most recent experiment I have tried, is adding coconut oil & coconut syrup to substitute the sunflower oil & brown sugar. The end product still tastes amazing, and I’m limiting (or removing) sugar from breakfast. I have nothing against sugar, if it stays in my desserts!
With this granola recipe, I’d suggest starting with the original recipe to get a feel for it first, then experiment with various portions of the substitutions I have listed for you. Depending on the type and amount of binding products you use (rice malt, honey, coconut syrup, brown sugar), will depend on how clustered and chunky your granola will be. Just remember, you can’t go wrong with making granola – it’ll taste delicious every time. It’s so good, you could snack on it without adding any milk or yogurt!
Left to Right: Oats, Linseeds, Sunflower Seeds, Almonds (LSA)
Why would you bother?
If you’re as mad for granola as I am (and the rest of the family), you’ll also know that it’s one of the most expensive cereal types on the supermarket shelves, and the small box it comes in doesn’t last very long. By making your own, depending on which ingredients you choose to use, you can save a whopping 50% off the supermarket price (75% if you use no-name-brand oats).
When you consider that breakfast is one those regular things you do throughout your life, you can save a lot of money. For those who are interested in some quick calculations – here are some figures for you: If one person ate homemade granola cereal everyday for a year (which you wouldn’t), you’d save about $260pa. Just on cereal. Now multiply that by all your family members. For us, it’d be a saving of $780, if we ate it everyday (which we wouldn’t, but you get the idea).
Saving money isn’t the only benefit. You’d be in control of the various granola combinations, you can control the amount of sugars that you use, and you can control the amount of good stuff (nuts, seeds & fruits) you add. And if you need one more little reason, it feels soooo good to have made your own cereal.
Topped with dried cranberries & apricots.
Crunchy Breakfast Granola Recipe
Ingredients:
450g oats
250g sunflower seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
120g rice malt syrup
4 tbsp honey
100g brown sugar (sub. coconut syrup or more rice malt)
250g chopped almonds
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sunflower oil (sub. coconut oil)
Additional options:
250g Linseed (blended).
By adding linseed, you have all 3 ingredients of the nutritious LSA – Linseed, Sunflower seeds & Almonds
Method:
1. Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven and turn oven on at 170 degrees C.
2. Place the sunflower oil (coconut oil), rice malt, honey and brown sugar (coconut syrup) in a small pot over the stove to melt and combine.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Pour combined oil and sweeteners over the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Spread out the granola in an oven tray and place in oven for 30 minutes, taking out at 15 minute mark to turn and mix granola for an even browning.
6. Leave in the tray to cool. Once cooled, break it up and store into tall glass jars.
Serve with:
Milk or yogurt. Your choice of extras – diced dried apricots, cranberries, coconut chunks or fresh raspberries & blueberries.
Ingredients notes:
Oats – Traditional Uncle Toby’s (not Quick oats), or no-name-brand oats
Coconut products – Banaban Organic
Rice Malt Syrup – Pure Harvest
If you have made your own granola before and have any other suggestions to add, please share it in the comments below, I’d love to hear it!
Styling notes:
Pink bowl and flower condiment bowl – Daiso
Small wooden board – Daiso
by Helen McLean | May 20, 2014 | Food & Drinks
This visual culinary surprise, comes from a recipe book titled “The Art & Soul of Baking”, a hefty 500 page recipe book. There was no accompanying photo with this recipe, I was drawn to it simply because it had “Mexican” in the title. So you can imagine my surprise when I took a peek in the oven and saw the spectacular form taking place!
The actual title of the American recipe is “Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies”, however to save confusion for our family and other Australian readers, I refer to them as “cracked chocolate cookies”, as they are far from the children’s party treat we all know so well.
Although the recipe itself is not too advanced, you will need to plan ahead with this one. Once the yummy chocolate mass has been put together (butter, brewed coffee, chopped chocolate, eggs, sugar, flour, toasted almonds, cinnamon, baking powder & chili powder), it will need to be refrigerated for 1-2 hours, before making them into chocolately balls of goodness, ready to coat in sugar (granulated), and then more sugar (icing).
Why the reference to Mexico?
As far as I can tell, it’s only due to the addition of the chili powder in the list of ingredients. While this can be omitted, the spiciness from the chili is only slight and adds a nice warming aftertaste. It’s nothing to shy away from, and worth trying out.
If you wanted to make these cookies more Mexican, you could use traditional Mexican chocolate instead. You can buy Mexican chocolate (and other Mexican foods) from El Cielo.
These are so good looking, you’ll want to invite friends and family over for morning tea to show them off. You could even package a few of these up in clear cellophane bags sealed with a mix of green, white and red ribbons, and a hand written tag that says “Muchas Gracias“, for perfect little ‘thank you’ gifts.
Storage
The recipe states that they are best eaten same day and that any left overs can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. They are very more-ish so they probably won’t last the next day, however we have successfully kept these for a few days, uncovered.
Being the hostess with the mostess
This little tip in the book is fantastic, although I have never tried it myself. If you wish to create some for now and some for another time for almost “spur-of-the-moment cookies”, place the uncoated balls of chocolate on a tray in the freezer for 30-60 mins, then transfer them to a plastic freezer bag! You can freeze them for up to 3 months and when required, coat them in sugar and pop them in the oven and bake for about 16 minutes.
Full recipe ingredients and method can be found in:
Title: The Art & Soul of Baking, © 2008
By: Sur La Table with Cindy Mushet
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Crackle Cookies
Page: 286
Styling notes:
Saucer with grapevine, from Daiso
by Helen McLean | May 13, 2014 | Food & Drinks
When I dine out, I love to explore the menu to find something I either haven’t tried before or would never be bothered cooking at home. I like to experience new tastes, combinations and be inspired by presentation. And from this, I can add these new ideas to my home menu. A recent outing had me ordering a dish with Chorizo and prawn. A combination I definitely wouldn’t have thought of putting together plus, I love both those ingredients immensely.
I never take notes nor do I poke around in my dish when I receive it. I take mental notes while enjoying my dish, so it’s never obvious and I can remain in the social moment of dining out. But I will announce whether a dish going on the home menu – and the Chorizo and prawn dish was a definite keeper!
Chorizo is a Spanish sausage, pronounced Chor-ee-tho. Yes, it feels weird saying it with a ‘th’ when you are used to saying it with a ‘z’! This meal can be made with either tagliatelle, the wider pappardelle or thinner pastas such as fettuccine or linguine. Tagliatelle is a nice in-between width to use.
Chorizo & Prawn Tagliatelle Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
2 Chorizo sausages, sliced
300g King prawns, tails left on
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
100g rocket leaves
1 large red onion, sliced
salt & pepper
olive oil
300g tagliatelle egg pasta
Method:
1. Put water to boil for the pasta and cook for recommended tome on packet once boiled.
2. In a wok, caramelise the red onion slices in olive oil. Set aside in a medium sized bowl.
3. Wok fry the sliced Chorizo for 2-3 min, then add the king prawns and fry for an extra 1-2 min.
4. Toss the Chorizo & prawn mixture in with the caramelised red onions.
5. Split the Kalamata olives in half and toss into the same bowl.
6. Once the pasta has cooked, drain and add to the same bowl with the Chorizo & prawn mixture.
7. Add the rocket leaves, drizzle extra olive oil and then mix until coated well.
Serve with freshly grated Parmesan (optional).
Enjoy!
Have you ever eaten out somewhere and enjoyed it so much you had to make the same dish at home? If so, share what this special dish was in the comments below!
Styling notes:
Bowl with yellow design – Mozi
by Helen McLean | Apr 17, 2014 | Food & Drinks
There’s something quite indulgent about the thick hot chocolates you can get at Max Brenner. There’s also something a little amusing about ordering a Dark Italian from the menu!
I discovered a more indulgent European style hot chocolate at The Polish Place in Mt Tamborine, Queensland. The food, the service, the picturesque view, the inquisitive and insatiable rosella’s, were all amazing. But the hot chocolates were something out of this world. And I wanted to find out how I could create this at home, so I could have it anytime without the travel.
Max Brenner’s retail shop does sell it in powdered form, however it contains all manner of ingredients. There must be a better and more simplistic way of making this, and pre-packaged powder is not the way for me.
So after a bit of research online, I found that it was simply three ingredients – with cornflour used as the thickener. Perfect!
The amount of milk, chocolate and cornflour ratio will depend on your personal preference. I love a lot of dark chocolate and quite a bit of cornflour to make for a very rich and very thick drink.
European Hot Chocolate Recipe
Ingredients (per person):
1 cup (250ml) cold milk
30-50g chocolate blocks, chopped
1/2tsp cornflour (thick) or 1tsp cornflour (very thick)
Method:
1. Heat up most of the milk in a saucepan over medium heat (about 200ml).
2. Prepare the cornflour mixture by stirring in the cornflour to the remaining cold milk (about 50ml). The cornflour will dissolve into the milk. Put aside.
2. Once the milk is warm, add the chopped chocolate pieces to the milk and keep stirring.
3. Once the chocolate has melted, add your cornflour mixture to the saucepan and keep stirring until the mixture thickens.
Important! If you stop stirring during the thickening process, you’ll get clumps. You need to keep the mixture moving.
Alternatives: (yum!!)
1. Try adding 1 drop of orange essence for a Jaffa flavoured hot chocolate, and top with candied or grated orange rind.
2. For an extra warming sensation, add a sprinkling of chili powder to your mixture. Ay, caramba!
Have you ever tried thick European style hot chocolate? If you have, tell me where you’ve had yours – it’d be great to build up a little location list below in the comments! And if you’ve made this before, feel free to share your recipe alternatives.
Styling notes:
Orange plate & Green cup, both from Daiso
