Pink Grapefruit Sorbet

You know when you wing it with a recipe and you think, this is either going to be good or a soaring failure.  This sorbet was one of those for me!  I got 2 pink grapefruit in my fruit box and left them in the fruit bowl thinking to myself, "why on earth would you put this in a fruit box I don't know what to do with this!"

Last weekend was use it or loose it Saturday and I had the grapefruit in my sights.  Google is my friend as usual and I found some sorbet recipes.

This recipe was a fantastic success and no one else in the house is allowed to eat it,  this is mine all mine!

You can make this more family friendly by swapping out the grapefruit for orange juice and the sugar syrup for lemonade/7up to give it a bit of fizz.

1 cup fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice
zest of one grapefruit
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Combine the sugar, water and zest in a saucepan and heat until the sugar is dissolved.  Place the sugar syrup in a plastic container or jug and place in the fridge to chill.  I prefer to make mine the night ahead and use it the next day so that its very cold.

Juice your pink grapefruit and refrigerate the juice until cold.  Combine the sugar syrup and juice, this should make up to 2 cups of liquid.

Place your grapefruit mix in your ice cream maker and churn to the manufacturers instructions.  Or if you don't have an ice cream maker you can place in a shallow plastic container in the freezer and every  2 hours remove and whisk.  Continue to repeat this for 12 hours.

Serve in chilled glass or bowl.

 

Avocado Dressing

It feels like summer has arrived here in Newcastle.  I know its weeks away but with the weather the way it is we have gone into summer mode in our house, lots of salads, cold meats etc.

In Canada Scott discovered he loved Caesar Salads and especially Croutons!  So I make homemade croutons but that is for another post in the future. 

I have been trying to find some salad dressings that are tasty and lower in fat, other than the oily ones or the creamy ones.  I have a couple of avocados in the fridge that are very ripe and need to be used however there is only  soooo much avocado you can eat at every meal.

 

I found with this dressing that you could dip crudité, a nice slice of crusty French stick or you can use as a salad dressing.

1 whole Avocado
1/2 clove Fresh Garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
Water

In a food processor add the peeled clove of garlic, avocado, lime or lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides a few times.  Thin the salad dressing out with a little bit of water 1/4 cup or until it reaches a desired consistency.

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week.

Chocolate crackle caramel Slice

This slice is a gooey caramel, chocolate slice of YUM!

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
5 cups rice bubbles
150g copha, melted (Crisco)
2 x 380g cans of caramel top n fill
150g milk chocolate melted

Line a 20cm x 30cm lamington pan with baking paper and allow the long sides to overhang.

 

 

Sift the cocoa powder and icing sugar together into a bowl with the rice bubbles.

Toss to combine.

 

Add the melted copha and stir to combine.

Spoon the mixture into the pan and using the back of your spoon press down evenly.  Place in the fridge for 1 hour.

 

Place caramel filling in a saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens.  Pour over the prepared base.  Place in fridge for 2 hours to set.

 

Place chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.  Stir with a metal spoon until the chocolate melts.  Pour over the caramel mixture and spread to coat.  Place in the fridge for 1 hour to set.

Cut into squares and snag one for yourself or you may miss out!

 

Pepper Steak Tagliatelle

Scott loves Pepper Steak or Pepper sauce on anything just about ... well second only to Smokey BBQ Sauce!

Many years ago when we first started living together I found this recipe in a cooking mag I then subscribed to that he loved, since then I make it when the teenager is not here. 

It is a fantastic recipe if you know, friends drop over and stay for dinner, you have 2 pieces of steak and need to stretch it to 4 adults, or shock horror you have one nice juicy steak and cannot be bothered to go to the shops for another, yes that is me.

I keep one of these nifty little cans of green peppercorns in the pantry for use when I need to throw this together.  You can get these cans in the spice aisle of the supermarket with the salt and pepper.

The following recipe is for 4 however it is easy to half for 2 or double for a dinner party!

2 steaks (porterhouse or such)
1 tin green peppercorns (see above picture)
2 cups beef stock
300 ml cream
250g tagliatelle
parley to garnish

Put on your water to boil for the pasta.  When water comes to the boil, salt the water and cook the pasta to the instructions.

While this is happening you can season your steak and fry in pre heated fry pan for approx. 3 minutes per side,  you just need to seal the meat and colour slightly,  remove to a plate to rest.   The steak will not be cooked through but this is good.

 

In the same fry pan add the stock and allow to come to a rapid simmer.  Add 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of  drained peppercorns or to taste to the stock and allow to reduce by a third.

While the stock is reducing slice the steak on an angle to desired thickness.

Add the cream to the stock, stir to combine and allow to simmer on low for 3 minutes.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce, add the chopped parsley to taste,  approx. 1 tablespoon, to the pasta and sauce.  Toss together then add the slices of steak. 

Toss together for 2 minutes and serve.

Milo Cake

I have a friend who immigrated to America to live with the love of her life, she is a bit of a Milo fanatic!  On Facebook you can literally see her go into withdrawals during the freezing winters without a cup of Milo.  And we shall not mention Vegemite!

Milo is an Aussie kids drink, snack, breakfast cereal, sneaky midnight feed of choice in a tin.  I like to leave the lid off the tin when you get down to the last say half an inch of Milo and let it harden into a disk in the bottom of the tin,  you then take it out cut it into chunks and eat it.  It's nice and chewy by that stage.

So when I saw this recipe on the Raspberri Cupcakes website I felt it my duty to help an expat with her Milo addiction.

125g butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 1/4 cups of Milo
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 20 cm springform tin.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.

While this is happening sift flour, baking powder and milo together.  You may need to push the larger bits of milo through the sieve. 

Add the milk and milo/flour mix to the mixer in batches on low speed until just combined.

Pour into baking tin and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or a skewer inserted comes out clean.  Remove from the oven allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then remove to a cooling rack until cold.

I filled mine with whipped cream and strawberries and did not ice it however a nice chocolate buttercream or a chocolate ganache would work well.