Caramel Sticky Date Muffins

 

I am a self-confessed caramel addict.  Caramel Koalas, Caramello Chocolate, Curley Wurleys, jersey caramels, Snickers Bars, toffees and the like make me swoon.  In keeping with my love of caramel, I was stoked to find Nestle now makes caramel flavoured choc bits for baking (if you don't eat them out of the bag first).

Because I like to be different, I didn't just want to make caramel choc chip cookies, so I hunted around for an alternative recipe using caramel bits.  I was handsomely rewarded when I found this recipe for caramel sticky date muffins. 

 

 

Seriously, what's not to like?  Moreishly sweet dates, caramel bits and a lovely caramel flavour.  These went pretty fast at work, so I think I'm not the only one who liked these.

 

If you are looking for a lunchbox treat that is just a little different, these muffins could be for you. 

WWDH - Chilli Chicken Wraps

It's officially hump day - hope everyone has been having a good week.

Being Wednesday, it is Wednesday with Donna Hay time at my place, and this week, it's my pick of chilli chicken wraps from p142 of Off the Shelf. 

This one is exactly what it says on the tin - cooked shredded chicken is heated briefly with chilli paste, then placed in a wrap (flatbread) with grated carrot and salad of your choice.  I used tomato and baby spinach.

I enjoyed these wraps - the chilli chicken is what lifts it from drab to fab, and I enjoyed the chilli flavour.  I'd definitely make this one again.

To see what my fellow Donna Hay devotees, Margaret, Chaya and Sarah, thought of this dish, visit their websites.  And of course, you can join us at any time - just contact any one of us.

Guhng Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant - Valentines Day Menu

 

For Valentines Day, Tim and I went to Guhng (meaning "The Palace"), a Korean barbecue restaurant in McKillop Street, Melbourne.  We have been there a couple of times before, but the menu has changed since then, and on this occasion, they also had a special 3-course Valentines Day menu for $39 a head.  We naturally went with the special menu.

 

After ordering a couple of Asahi beers, we were served entree, being kimchi roll with beef, carrot, cucumber, green chilli and cucumber gazpacho, and  and slow cooked pork belly: 

 

 
The kimchi roll was very refreshing, but my favourite was the slow-cooked pork belly with soy bean paste and apple salad,  which had a melt-in-the-mouth, caramelised flavour.

We ordered a kimchi hotpot for an additional $7 to share: 

 
You should definitely try this spicy soup, which is one of the highlights of the menu for me, with its subtle heat and vegetable packed goodness.

Our next course was the business part of the menu - the barbecue.  We each received a set of sauces (sweet, salty and chilli), together with shared condiments (pickled radish, pickled onion and kimchi):

 
The first meat to hit out barbecue was the Wagyu cube rolled fillet:

 
 that was cooked to perfection on the barbecue then sliced by our hostess:
 

 
Our second meat was the premium beef rib fillet, cooked in an identical fashion.  My favourite was the Wagyu, which is very soft and tender and just melts in the mouth. 

The idea is to put the meat, lettuce and condiments in your serving bowl, and I assume that you could wrap the meat and condiments in lettuce to convey them to your mouth - we just opted for picking everything up with chopsticks.

For dessert, we were able to pick anything off the dessert menu, so Tim chose the tiramisu:

 
and I chose the licorice pannacotta with mint, stem ginger and pomegranate seeds: 

 
I was worried that the licorice would be overpowering, but it was quite subtle - after the first couple of mouthfuls I didn't really notice it.  The stem ginger on top really made this dessert. 

No Valentines Day would be complete without a red rose; mine came to me courtesy of Smooth FM 915, who were handing them out in the streets of the CBD:

Unfortunately I managed to snap the head off on the way home, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.

Guhng

19 McKillop Street

Melbourne, Vic 3000

Ph: +61 3 9041 2192

Mango Breakfast Pudding

For brekky over the past week, I have been enjoying an amazing Mango Breakfast Pudding.  My Mum received the recipe by email from a work colleague, and sent it on to me.  I do not know the original source of the recipe.  Luckily, I had all of the ingredients, and was able to try it straight away.

This pudding contains rolled oats, Greek yoghurt, skim milk, flax seeds (the recipe actually calls for chia seeds but I don't have any), honey and cubed mango.  You mix it all up, and it thickens and sets up in the fridge overnight.  The next day, you have a lovely breakfast pudding that is nutritious (I think!).

To make a single serve of this pudding, you will need: 

1/4 cup rolled oats (uncooked)
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup low fat Greek yoghurt
1 1/2 teaspoons chia seeds (I used flax seeds)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 cup diced mango

In a half pint jar or container, add oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds, almond extract and honey. Put the lid on the jar and shake until well combined. Add the mangoes and stir with a fork until mixed throughout. Put the lid back on the jar and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. Eat chilled.

Owl Cupcakes for Valentines Day

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

                                                                   The Beatles

Happy Valentines Day!  I hope you are spending it with the ones you love.

I realise that not everyone celebrates or approves of Valentines Day, but I have always liked it, even as a mere bystander (which I have been mostly).  A day to celebrate love is a wonderful idea to me.

To celebrate this year, I have once again amalgamated the Valentine theme with my fascination for owls, and made Owl Cupcakes with a Valentine twist.  Again turning to Google, I found these cupcakes, which are a twist on these ones that have been made dozens of times by various bloggers.

I put my own spin on them by giving the owls heart-shaped pupils made out of strawberry sour straps. The eyes and ears are, of course, Oreos. To separate the Oreos, I used the tip to twist them apart, and smoothed over the icing following separation.   It was a bit of a nightmare cutting the Oreos in half for the ears, and in the end, I had just enough and no more.  The beaks are raspberry flavoured M&Ms, which are new to me and so delicious that quite a few went to the chef.
 

For the base cupcakes, I used the white chocolate mud cupcake recipe from the Australian Womens Weekly Cupcake book, which is online here, and coloured light pink.  The frosting is the Primrose Bakery Vanilla Buttercream, dyed pink.

I didn't have enough Oreos in a box to make all 11 cupcakes as owls, so I just decorated the 4 of them with sugar hearts:

Awww!

Happy Valentines Day!

FFwD - Helene's All-White Salad

 

This week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe is a study in monochrome - Helene's All-White Salad. Not being huge on salad, I was not sure how I'd like this, and I especially wasn't sure about the dressing, a yoghurt vinaigrette which is mayo-like in consistency.

Be warned that this recipe makes an enormous amount of salad - I made the mistake of making a whole quantity and being stuck with this salad for days.  In the end, I stir-fried the leftovers just to break the monotony.

I was happy with how the dressing came together - I have never made mayonnaise, but read enough food sites to know that it can all go dreadfully wrong with the oil splitting from the fat.  However, got lucky this time, and it worked a treat, resulting in a creamy, thick mayo-like dressing.

That said, this was quite a meaty, yummy salad.  The mushrooms and the apple were the highlights for me.  I ate this salad the first time round by itself because I was to full from the rest of the day to eat anything else, and enjoyed it.  I then ate it as a side a few times with work lunches, before finally giving up on it and stir-frying it.

 

 

To see what the other Doristas thought of this "white" salad, visit the LYL section of the website.

Adriano Zumbo Patissier, South Yarra

My former Pilates instructor, Emilia, is back intermittently from maternity leave.  Being a genius, she suggested that we have a Zumbo cake party at one of our classes with treats from the newish Adriano Zumbo store in South Yarra.  I decided to seize the day on Monday, and even though Emilia was not in, I went for a Zumbo splurge for our Pilates class, and asked Loz, our instructor, to save a couple of pieces for Emilia.

I was pleased when I visited the store after 5.30pm on a Monday afternoon that they hadn't sold out of everything.  In fact, there was way too much choice.  In the end, I plumped for The Annoying Orange ($9), based on its extraordinary appearance:

 
The layers of The Annoying Orange are flourless chocolate cake, orange caramel, olive sable, chocolate & clove mousse, orange & white chocolate jam. And yes, the stalk is edible (it's chocolate). Doesn't it look fabulous inside:

 
The clove layer had a real kick in the tail and takes over from the initial orange hit.

I also purchased the Apple Fields ($9) because it sounded delicious:

 
The Apple Fields comprises malt shortbread, sunflower praline crunch, honey cremeaux, sunflower chiffon cake, roasted apple jelly compote and apple mousse.  Here's a peek inside:

 
I thought that there was pop rocks in there because of the distinct crunch - perhaps it was the sunflower seeds.

Of course, we had to have a Zonut (Adriano's take on the Cronut) ($5), and that day's flavour was chocolate banana: 

 
There was loads of oozing chocolate and mashed banana inside:

 
It was actually tastier than I thought it would be - not at all greasy and heavy.

For later, I purchased two Zumbarons ($2.50 each) - a fingerbun and a pandan sticky rice:

 
They look so good, I can't wait to try them.

There is nowhere to sit in the store, which is just a narrow hole in the wall; however, outside, there are two marshmallow goo chairs around a table on which to enjoy your treat, if you so desire.  The marshmallow stuff is rubbery in consistency - I had to know.

My trip to Zumbo was a romp through fairyland, as it always is, and it was fun to share the treats with my Pilates class.

Adriano Zumbo Patissier

14 Claremont St

South Yarra VIC 3141