Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wednesdays with Donna Hay - Roasted Pistachio and Honey Yoghurt and Smoked Ham and Cheese Toasties


Hooray!  I am so excited, because my blogging buddy, Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table, and I are going to be making Donna Hay recipes together this year, and posting the results on Wednesdays.  Kayte is from Indiana in the US, so it will be double the fun to watch her post exactly the same thing as me all those miles away and approximately 16 hours or so apart!  (As I write this on a Tuesday evening, it is currently an obscenely early hour on Tuesday morning in Kayte's part of the world - hopefully she is still asleep.)

Kayte first suggested last year that if I had the same Donna Hay book as she did, we could both make things together out of it.  I didn't have the book, so time ticked by, but the end of Tuesdays with Dorie gave me the kick I needed to raise it again with Kayte.  In time, we may go to one of Donna's fabulous books, but for now, we have decided (Kayte's suggestion) to cook recipes from Donna Hay's website.  For the uninitiated, Donna Hay is a phenomenal Aussie foodwriter, food stylist and cook; you can read more about her here.

On to the recipes!

Week 1 is breakfast, and was actually last week, but I was away from my own kitchen, so I am catching up this week.  Kayte chose Roasted Pistachio and Honey Yoghurt - you can see Kayte's post, which includes the recipe, here.

My version is pictured at the top of this post, served in a martini glass a la Mad Men (I would love to look like Joan Holloway in another life!).  I used roasted pistachios and passionfruit yoghurt.  I may have been a little heavy on the honey, as my nuts sank right into it.  (See Kayte's version for nice layers.) 

My Christmas present to me was a DSLR camera - you can see from the yoghurt shot that although my photos should get better, I have a way to go.  (Gotta love the auto-focus though - makes life so much easier.)

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay (it rhymes!) is lunch - and I chose Smoked Ham and Cheese Toasties:



You can't see it that well in the photo, but these decadent toasties have Dijon mustard, smoked ham and grated cheese on one side, and cheese sauce on the other side - oh so good!  I had to flood the pan with the leftover cheese sauce, because I kept dipping my finger in to eat it as is! I used light Coon cheese instead of Swiss cheese, but otherwise made the recipe as suggested. 

The only catch with these toasties is that you need to make my nemesis, the roux, to make the cheese sauce.  I tried to use an ordinary saucepan first up to make the sauce instead of a heavy bottomed pan (because I didn't have a small one).  This was a disaster - the roux burned.  Luckily, I was making this recipe for one and didn't get past the first step, so there wasn't any harm done, and I ended up making the tiniest amount of cheese sauce in a whopping great pan.

Go visit Kayte in a few hours time to see what she thought of these toasties - and check out her fab nutty honey yoghurt.

Next week: Dinner - Sticky chicken parcels

13 comments:

Finla said...

Happy New year and the dessert i am in love just checked the recipe i am sure gonna try this easy beautiful dessert soon.
Yaeah i love Donna Hay too.

Elaine said...

I really love Donna Hay and now that I have an iPad I am so enjoying getting her magazine. What a great idea for you and your friend to cook/bake along together! The yogurt looks so good and so doesn't your grilled cheese and ham sandwich. Such comfort food! I have not heard of coon cheese - sounds delicious. What a super way to treat yourself with a DSLR! Your photos are great and it will be so much fun for you as you learn you new camera.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I've got so much ham in the freezer that I should really make this! :D And congratulations on your new gift! :)

The Blonde Duck said...

Those toasties sound awesome!

Anonymous said...

Both the yogurt parfait and the sandwiches look very tasty!

tricia s. said...

How fun ! I came looking for your brioche rolls (which look amazing) and enjoyed this other post as well. Nana and I are considering adding to our blogging arsenal this year too with that new Dorie Baking blog on Tuesdays. Great fun.

Kayte said...

Love the glass that you put the yogurt into, so pretty and fancy. Believe me, the nuts sank to the bottom of mine as well, I shot that photo fast and then they sank right down. Your toasties look wonderful...happy to hear you had leftover cheese sauce as well, I would make half the cheese sauce recipe next time, it made a lot! Roux is easy, just don't walk away from it as it comes together faster than you think, that's my rule on roux. Love the new camera, definite difference in the photos you are taking. I'm not very good at figuring it all out, just point and shoot and pray usually. See you next week...these two recipes were delicious and fun! I figure you should be getting up soon so I wanted to have this here waiting for you...this time thing between us is a hoot!

Johanna GGG said...

Love that glass! and I love your new camera! I got a new DSLR too and am amazed at how much better the photos are without any effort - but it is so big compared to my last camera - I am doing a free 2 hour course on the weekend so will be interested to see if I pick up any tricks

Cakelaw said...

Johanna, let me know how the course goes! I am paying for a one dayer in early Feb.

Cindy said...

I saw this yummy sandwich on Kayte's blog, it looks so good. I can't wait to make it.
Have fun with your new camera. Got to love a new toy.

Anonymous said...

They both look fabulous! I downloaded a couple of Donna Hay magazines on my iPad; I haven't tried anything yet, but she's got some great looking recipes.

Unknown said...

These look great and I love Donna Hay. I only have one of her cookbooks but I've tried several of the recipes and love them!

TeaLady said...

BOTH of these look so simple and delicious. ANd the yogurt looks so refreshing.

Hoping I have time to join in with y'all!!