Caramel Walnut and Chocolate Slice

Have you heard of the paleo diet or lifestyle? I only discovered it recently, as some of my friends have joined in this way of eating. I had my first paleo muffin yesterday and it was indeed a healthy snack. It's a far cry from the sweets I'm used to creating in my kitchen, and it made me think of how boney I would be if I followed the trend. I say trend, although my friends are certain it's not, and call it a lifestyle rather than anything. I suppose it has become popular recently though, as several paleo cafes have popped up in the area in the last year out of the blue. It's one diet that seems to be a sustainable way of eating, unlike so many diets that people use to lose weight, like the shake diet, which for me, is a recipe for fluctuation. It also seems to be a good thing to stick to if you're lactose or gluten intolerant. It cuts out many processed and refined foods, and steers clear of legumes, starchy vege, dairy and grains. It's a sort of cave man style of food--fresh vegies, meat, fish, nuts and fruit.
For myself however, I am sticking to "balance is key" and just eating a little bit of all the good and tasty stuff, even if it is processed. Life is too short to deny yourself one piece of slice--especially when it comes with a layer or chocolate, a gooey golden filling of caramel dotted with walnuts, and a buttery, shortbread base. Walnuts are healthy, right?

CARAMEL WALNUT SLICE  (Better Homes and Gardens)

350g butter
225g caster sugar
275g plain flour
395g sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup honey or golden syrup
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
200g dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 180C. Put 225g butter and 100g of the sugar into a bowl and beat until light and creamy.
Add flour and stir to form a soft dough.
Spread the dough in a lined slice or lamington tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.
Put remaining butter and sugar in a medium-sized pan and stir over low heat until the better melts. Add condensed milk and honey, stirring continuously until the mixture is combined and very thick.
Remove from heat. Stir walnuts through, before pouring over the slice base.
Leave to cool, and then spread melted chocolate over the caramel to the edges.
Refrigerate for 3 hours before cutting into 24 squares.

NOTE: You may want to use a hot knife to cut through the chocolate as it tends to crack a little when cutting.

Mango Mania

As the "silly season" approaches, an even sillier one begins for me. Summer= mango mania.
One of the wonderful things about living in a more tropical climate is the amazing exotic fruits you can get for a pittance. Well...the comparison astounds me. In  Melbourne you can get a single mango for $3.00 AU whereas  here in Brisbane  we recently bought two mangoes for 0.99c--it just blows the mind! (okay I admit that was a total find, even up here) So I go a little crazy when they come into season.
Mangoes can be messy to use though, and I have seen many a good mango go to waste due to not knowing the best way to take the fruit from the peel and seed. If mangoes are expensive where you are, you want to make sure you get the most you can out of your mango.
The best method is to find the direction of the seed and cut down the flat side, sheer with the seed. You can make a few slices in the flesh down to the peel and then a few more in the opposite direction so you have a diced effect. This way, you can "pop" the fruit towards you. You can also use a knife to scrape along the peel to cut the squares off. Alternately, you can cut the peel off before slashing the flesh and get mango cheeks, as they call them. I like to freeze these mango pieces, all ready for use in smoothies and desserts.

This recipe was actually made by accident--as lots of  great inventions are. It was initially meant to be a smoothy and it would have been if I had thinned it out with more liquid. But on tasting it, I decided to keep it as is. Too delicious to change!! It has the thickness of custard, and is ever so refreshing! I can also imagine this dolloped onto a baked cheesecake in summer....mmmmh!

MANGO MANIA

1/2 cup vanilla yoghurt
1 cup milk
1-2 mangoes, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 cup ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and add milk until desired thickness is achieved. Serve immediately. Serves 2.

Melting Tastebuds while Dreaming of Italian...

The thought of Melbourne's Lygon street set my tastebuds "dreaming" of Italian food...and lasagne came to mind. I always wondered why my husband, on our first date, ordered lasagne in an Italian Restaurant when there was so much to choose from. It was something you could easily make at home, why not try something else? But the more I thought about it, the more I understood. If you know you're going to enjoy something in particular, why risk ordering the unknown dish with smoked anchovies, pickled gherkins and poached egg?
It's an absolute winner every time for him, and one of my favourite Italian meals also.
This being the fourth year to this month of that date, I have decided to include my lasagne recipe...celebrating  our anniversary with the meal he ate. So sentimental of me.
My mother actually gave me her amazing recipe a long time ago. When I moved out of home I made it often, and after some time, remembering it by heart made it without the recipe.
When I made this again the other day, my husband asked me what I had put in it, because it was more flavoursome than ever.
Nothing new, I told him.
But it made me go back to mum's recipe, and I saw that over time, I had completely changed it. So, I had to write down my recipe, just as I had made it last because I must have finally got the proportions right. I have to say, I think it was the best batch yet.
This recipe serves 8 and is well balanced with a fresh green salad and a glass of wine.

LASAGNE

250g minced meat

2 tbsp crushed garlic

1 large brown onion, finely chopped

2 chicken stock cubes

1 can diced tomato pieces

1 large zucchini, grated

1 large carrot, grated

1 ½ box lasagne pasta sheets

2 cups milk

1 cup grated tasty cheese

2 tbsp butter

3 tbsp plain flour

¼ cup fine parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 180C.

Heat some oil in a large saucepan. Brown the meat over medium heat, separating with a spoon the mince so as not to clump. Add garlic and onion. When the onion has softened, add crumbled stock cubes, tomato and grated carrot and zucchini. Combine well and set over a low heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan, place milk, flour and butter together over low heat. Stir until butter has melted and the flour has smoothly combined with the milk. Add the grated cheese and stir continuously until thick and cheesy. Remove from heat.

In a large baking dish, lay down enough pasta sheets to cover the base. Cover with sauce and continue to layer pasta sheets and sauce. The top should be covered with pasta sheets. Pour the white sauce over this last layer and smooth. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and cook for 30-45 minutes, or until pasta softens and the top of the lasagna is golden.

Serves 8

A Clean Kitchen is a Sign of a Wasted Life...

...or so they say. I like to think its true, (or hope it is!) as my kitchen almost always looks like a bomb has hit it when I'm cooking. Needless to say, I am happier when my kitchen is clean, unless I'm in the middle of baking.
One of my pet peeves however, is the recipe that requires the use of all bowls, pots and pans that you possess, and makes an even bigger mess than need be. Often if the recipe is re-ordered, you can save a lot of time cleaning extra aftermath at the sink. Honestly, I don't have that many spare bowls for each individual ingredient to sit in and look pretty. Sometimes you have to re-order the recipe, or improvise when it comes to cooking gear. In fact, in this recipe, I used a wine bottle as a rolling-pin and a small asian-style tea cup as a cookie cutter.
A note of warning though: this recipe is a bit messy and fiddly, but well worth the trouble! (and requires a lot of cleaning afterwards)
But...there is little so satisfying as replicating a childhood crave, oh the nostalgia! Little did I know when I made these delicious Wagon-Wheels, that they are one of my father-in-laws favourites. When my husband came home and saw what I had made, there soon after was a call to his father, and before you knew it,  there was a knock on the door!

HOME MADE WAGON-WHEELS

250g butter
200g caster sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
375g plain flour
1/2 cup strawberry jam
2 cups marshmallows
2 tbsp. lemonade
400g dark chocolate

Preheat oven to 170C, and line oven trays with baking paper.
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl for 5 minutes until light and creamy. Beat in the egg and the yolk, then gently fold in the flour until a soft dough forms.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, approximately 6mm thick. Using an 8cm round biscuit cutter, make 24 discs. Arrange discs on the trays and freeze for 5 minutes. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Put marshmallows and lemonade in a pan on the stove to melt, whisking continuously until liquidised for approximately 5 minutes.Remove from heat.
Put jam in microwave on high for 30 seconds or until boiling.
Brush undersides of the cooked biscuits with hot jam, and wedge together with a spoon of marshmallow. Set aside to cool. Dip biscuits in melted chocolate  to cover completely. Cool thoroughly before serving.

Notes: alternately, for marshmallow filling, slice marshmallows into thirds and melt between hot jam-spread biscuits. This creates less mess, plus minimises the stickiness and cleanup time in the kitchen. If you do go with the marshmallow melting, don't worry about sticky overflow, the chocolate covers any mess nicely.