tea + wool

It's only mid March, but I'm so excited to snuggle up in the new apartment, start a new crochet project and sip endless cups of tea!

New colours to choose, new flavours to discover.

  

There's also the chunky scarves, warm long socks, ugg boots, beanies & flannelette pj's to look forward to. 

A million soup recipes to be cooked. 

Endless warm cuddles to be shared. 

Winter adventures to be had.  

greek semolina cake

simple, sweet, sticky & delicious!

ingredients for the cake mix.
5 large eggs
225ml greek yoghurt
225g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
200g semolina level teaspoons baking powder
200ml mild olive oil

ingredients for the sweet & sticky topping.
150g shelled pistachios, slightly toasted
150ml good quality runny honey
big dollops of greek yoghurt

method.
preheat the oven to 180 degrees . mix all of your sponge ingredients in a large bowl . EASY! grease a 22x29cm cake tin with a little olive oil, then dust over a sprinkling of flour, and shake the tin about . spoon in the sponge mixture, and use a spatula to spread it all evenly . put the cake into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and cooked through . stick a skewer in the centre to check . put aside to cool for about half an hour . when you just about ready to serve, add the honey and pistashios to a saucepan and give everything a good stir . squeeze all the juice from the orange and lemon you zested earlier into the pan. boil for 1-2 minutes, or until nice and syrupy . stab the cake all over with a small knife to create holes for the syrup to sink into, then pour the syrup all over the top . spread it out . you want it to be fairly even so the honey gets sucked right into the cake . slice and serve with a dollop of the greek yoghurt .

this cake looks & tastes so homemade - & is even better the next day once all the lovely honey has soaked in further!

recipe from Jamie.

ALSO : check out Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Day - saturday 19 may 2012!

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paella

If you love a good risotto to warm up your tastebuds then this spanish paella is definitely worth a try! One pot, stacks of spanish flavour. Serves 6.

ingredients.

1.5 litres chicken stock
2 cups aborio rice
2 onions
3 cloves garlic
2 small red chillis
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 cup dry white wine
3 chorizos, sliced
15 raw green prawns
4 chicken tenderloins, chopped into bite size pieces
pinch of saffron threads (expensive but really makes a difference!)
bunch of roughly chopped parsley
squeeze of lemon juice
lemon wedges to serve

method.
heat stock in a saucepan over a low heat . add the chorizo into a hot paella pan or cast iron pot and cook until crispy . remove chorizo from pot but leave oil (this has amazing flavour). add onion, garlic, chilli and chicken and cook until brown . add chorizo back into pot and stir in tomatoes, white wine, tomato paste and saffron . cook for 3 minutes . add 1 cup of stock and reduce and repeat as per a risotto . stir continuously . once all stock has been added and rice is cooked through, the consistency should be more soupy than a risotto . add more stock if necessary . turn off heat . stir in prawns, parsley and a good squeeze of lemon juice . let sit for 2 minutes or until prawns are cooked through . serve with lemon wedges .

Will have to make this again with a big jug of sangria!

lamb tagine

this is my absolute favourite tagine recipe! i love the way the apricots and raisins add sweetness to the spice :) super easy, smells amazing and don't expect any leftovers!

ingredients.
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
1.2kg diced lamb (i buy a leg and cut it up myself)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3/4 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
4 carrots
4 potatoes
1 cup thick, Greek-style yoghurt
1/2 cup pistachio kernels, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cup couscous (soaked in 1 1/2 cups water for 5 mins)
bunch of corriander

method.
combine spices and salt in a large bowl . add oil, lemon rind and half the lemon juice and stir to form a paste . add lamb and stir until well-coated . cover and refrigerate for 3 hours . cut carrots and potatoes into chuncks and line bottom of tagine or casserole dish . place lamb mixture ontop of veges . add  1 cup stock and remaining lemon juice . stir until well-combined . cover and cook for 1 hour on stovetop over medium heat . stir in dried apricots and raisins. cook, covered for a further 40 minutes or until lamb is tender . serve immediately with couscous, a dollop of greek yoghurt, sprinkling of pistachio kernels and corriander.

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angela's greek lamb

I love sunday night cooking! This simple authentic greek feast is definitely worth the 3 hour wait, and is the perfect way to top off a weekend.

No measurements with this one - you just have to feel it :)

20 mins prep time
3 hours cooking time

leg of lamb
olive oil
fresh lemon juice
garlic bulbs
dried oregano
salt & pepper

carrots
potatoes
zucchini

trim any excess fat off the leg of lamb & rub it with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt & pepper . make slits & insert garlic bulbs . leave to marinate for as long as possible - overnight at best . place into baking tray, cover with foil and pop into oven at 250°C . after one hour cooking, reduce heat to 200°C and add more olive oil and lemon juice . cut veges into big chunks and marinate in olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt & pepper . cover with foil and add to oven once the lamb has been cooking for one and a half hours . remove foil from lamb and veges after a further hour . everything will really crisp up in the last 30 minutes of cooking . remove from oven and let lamb rest for 10 minutes . serve with lemon .


απολαύσετε | enjoy!

feast magazine

It is impossible for me to cook from a recipe without a picture.

Food styling is ever so popular at the moment and it is no longer impressive to have food presented immaculately on a large white plate. Wooden chopping boards, mis-matched dinnerware, jars, tins or even straight onto the table! Jamie Oliver is the true mastermind behind imperfect food styling and his food always looks rustic, home cooked and real. Piled onto the plate and left to fall naturally out of place. Well, there might be a slight arrangement of a crumb or two!

SBS's Feast Magazine is my favourite foodie read; taking me on a worldwide journey each month through creative food styling, beautiful photography and captivating stories; not only about the food but the cutlure and traditionas behind it's creation. You'll find recipes for lebanese baklava, vietnamese pho, spanish paella, singapore chilli crab, japanese sukiyaki, italian tiramisu, american hot dogs, moroccan tagine, thai tom yum, chinese dumplings, indian dhal, mexican enchiladas and greek easter bread. A story about a traditional indian wedding next to an interview with a famous brittish chef. Photographs of families at dinner tables, ecclectic kitchens and exotic ingredients. A multicultural cocktail of flavours, colours and traditional delights; it's a feast for the eyes and I can't get enough of it.

Subscribe here and travel through food.   

moroccan beef keftas

Moroccan flavours are always welcomed by my tastebuds.

Similar to the Middle Eastern kofta, these keftas are meatballs bursting with flavour and the flatbread is a must for wiping the sauce clean from the plate!

TOMATO SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tins diced tomatoes

salt & pepper

2 tablespoons roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

KEFTA

600 grams beef mince

1 onion finely chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped flat leaf parsley

2 tablespoons finely chopped corriander

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/4 teasppon fresh ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over low-medium heat . Add the onion, garlic, sugar & spices and cook until golden and fragrant . Add the tinned tomatoes and bring to the boil . Reduce heat and let simmer . Add salt & pepper . Meanwhile to make the keftas, combine mince, onion, herbs, spices, salt & pepper in a bowl and form into compact balls . Cook the keftas in a medium-high heat fry pan until brown . Spoon half of the tomato sauce over the bottom of a cast iron pot or large frypan . Arrange the keftas on top and spoon over remaining sauce . Sprinkle with parsely, cover and cook over low-medium heat for 10 minutes until the keftas are cooked through .

Serve with cous cous (my favourite is Ainsley Harriot's Lemon Mint & Parsely Cous Cous) and charred flatbread (I used Lite Mission Wraps toasted in a hot frypan with a little oil).

rainbow surprise cake

The best thing about birthdays is cake!

My girlfriend Fi & I used this recipe from whisk kid for a joint birthday surprise ...

2 sticks (226 g) butter, room temp
2 1/3 cups(426 g) sugar
5 egg whites, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups(426 g) flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/2 c (355 ml) milk, warmed for 30 sec in microwave
Red, blue and yellow gel food colouring (mix together to make purple, green & orange) - liquid will not be vibrant enough

Preheat the oven to 180C . Oil and line how ever many 9 inch cake pans you have (we re-used two). Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt . Set aside . Cream the sugar and butter, then slowly add the egg whites . Add the vanilla and mix until fully incorporated . Then, alternating between wet and dry, add the milk and flour mixture in two parts . Divide the batter amongst 6 bowls - about 1 cup each . Whisk a fair amount of the appropriate food color into each bowl . Keep in mind that the color of the unbaked batter will be the color of the baked batter. Pour into the pans and bake for 15 minutes each . When you remove them from the oven, let them rest on the cooling rack, in the pan, for ten minutes . Then flip, cover, and stash them in the fridge to cool quickly .

Assembling the cake is a little tricky as the layers are quite thin . Make sure you have plenty of icing to go in between the layers and over the whole cake a few times so that it is prefectly white with no coloured crumb clues! Any icing would work - we used a buttercream icing for the layers and a royal icing for the outside.

The looks on their faces say it all!

>>> I have also read about people using cheap packet cake mixes and adding the gel colour. Check out this 30-layer masterpiece!

lamb, feta + lentil fattoush

Fattoush is one of my favourite salads & the lamb, feta + lentils in this variation = perfectness! 


1 cup french-style green lentils
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, + extra to drizzle
2 juiced lemons + extra to serve
2 teaspoons sumac
3 lamb backstraps
2 lebanese pita breads
2 lebanese cucumbers, seeds removed + sliced
handfull of grape tomatoes
bunch red radishes, cut into wedges
bunch torn flat leaf parsley
bunch torn mint leaves
bunch torn coriander leaves
3 spring onions
lots of crumbled greek feta


Cook lentils in boiling water for 30 minutes . To make dressing whisk oil, lemon juice, sumac, salt + pepper in a bowl . Pour half of dressing over lamb to marinade and the other half over the cooked lentils . Chargrill lam for 3 minutes each side for medium rare . Rest for 5 minutes before slicing . Drizzle lebanese bread with olive oil and season . Cook on grill until toasted . Add all ingredients together in a big bowl and toss with hands . Serve with lemon .