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See you in our new and improved home and happy cooking!

Coffee Choc Chip Biscuits

If you love having biscuits to nibble with a cuppa then you will love these. Don't skimp on the quality of the chocolate. The choc chips you buy in your supermarket baking section are full of fillers and additives and are not that nice. I always buy quality 70% cocoa chocolate blocks and just chop it up when chips are required. The final outcome is far more superior.

Ingredients:
115g Butter
150g Brown Sugar
1 Egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
200g chocolate chips


Method:
1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees c
2. Beat butter and sugar together until well mixed
3. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix well
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Roll teaspoon fulls into a ball, place on baking sheet and press flat with fingers
6. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes

Store in an air tight container.

The Best Seafood Chowder - very fast dinner

When it comes to the end of the day I love nothing more than shutting the world out and just relaxing. In the Winter it is really time to snuggle up on the lounge with a good book or a good movie.

Top it off with a bowl of Seafood Chowder and it is complete. This recipe has evolved over the last 15 years to what I am giving you today. This is extremely fast to make. We once had a bowl of Seafood Chowder at Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco and it was lacking in the essential ingredients (seafood) and had no flavour. Not a good plug is is?

Enjoy my recipe it is warming and filling. Oh, and please experiment with the seafood ingredients.

Ingredients:
30g Butter
3 Rashes bacon rind removed and diced
1 Onion sliced
1 Clove garlic crushed
2 large potatos peeled and cubed
3 tbspn plain flour
2 cups milk
2 cups water
300g smoked fish (I use haddock or cod)
170g crab meat (use canned, fresh or frozen)
200g raw prawn meat (I use raw frozen prawns defrosted slightly)
1 x 310g can creamed corn
1 tbspn lemon juice
Black Pepper & Salt

Method:
1. On a medium heat melt butter in large saucepan and saute' bacon and onion until onion is opaque and tender
2. Add potatos and cook for 1 minute
3. Stir in flour ensuring it is mixed in well
4. Slowly add the milk stirring constantly to avoid lumps. When you have got past the really thick consistancy add the remainder of the milk and the water and mix well.
5. Bring to boil stirring to avoid lumps. Mixture will begin to thicken. Reduce heat.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is tender.
7. Stir in seafood, creamed corn and lemon juice.
8. Season with black pepper & salt to taste.
9. Heat through ensuring the seafood is cooked. Do not boil!

Yummo - now serve with warm crusty rolls

Here I am again - up and running

My life is settling down again what with loads of work on and renovations happening it has been very hectic. I never stopped cooking though just stopped blogging.

It is Winter here and whilst our Winter's are quite mild in Sydney it is still chilly and it is lovely to snuggle in at night with comfort food. So, I suspect that is what I will be cooking and posting for the next couple of months.

Last night we had my hearty Seafood Chowder with crusty fresh home made Bread Rolls. Such contentment on a Winters Night.

Off the Air

I am going off the air for a bit.... So much work and I am having some work done on my house. But will get back to posting very soon.

No I am not going to stop cooking. I am just having a computer time management problem.

Pasta with chilli & proscuitto

If you have nothing organised for dinner, or you you are late home this is a magical dinner direct from your cupboard. Mega fast and easy. I make this without the cheese so it can be grated over after serving.

Ingredients:
50g finely sliced prosciutto & roughly chopped
1 chilli cut in half seeds in
1 large clove garlic finely chopped
5 tbsp virgin olive oil
1 egg lightly beaten and a dash of cream or milk added
250g dried spaghetti

Method:
1. In a hot frypan fry the prosciutto until just crisp, remove from pan
2. Turn the heat down to low and add the olive oil, garlic and the chilli seed side down
3. Heat the oil without sizzling - you are only infusing the chillie heat into the oil and exploding the garlic aroma
4. Heat a pot of salted water and cook spaghetti
5. Drain cooked spaghetti leaving a couple of tablespoons of water in the pot
6. Remove the chilli from the oil and discard
7. Add oil mixture to the spaghetti then the egg mixture taking care not to scramble the egg
8. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

In a flurry

Will this madness end. I really have been a little crazy with doing other stuff. Dinner really went on the back burner last night so it ended up that I had to make something from nothing. Good ole Pasta with Prosciutto and Chilli. Fast and easy.

Also another loaf of bread was put in the bread maker on timer for my hubbies lunch today. That is how slack I have been.

The Best Banana Bread

I searched high and low for the best banana bread recipe and found it. Unfortunately I don't know who/where/what/how I found it so I cannot acknowledge the creater even though I have modified the recipe somewhat.

Now some tips before I share the recipe buy bananas from the fruit market that are on special - you know the ones that they can no longer sell for full price but are still good enough to eat. Buy as many as you dare and put them in the freezer if room permits. Take them out a couple of hours before using - they will be black, mushy and watery but, you will not have to mash them before putting into the mix and they will give you a really lovely finish.

This bread has nuts in it. I use walnuts but you can use pecans if you desire or if you don't care for nuts or are allergic omit them.

Finally, this recipe makes 2 loaves of banana bread. It freezes really well. Depending on your situation you can freeze them whole, slice and wrap each slice separately to take out as you need or cut in half and freeze the 4 halves. Don't be tempted to halve the recipe - it is so yummy you will want to make 2 at a time.

Don't use margarine, it is not a natural product and you will get an inferior result.

If you can use silicone bake ware. It makes it quick and easy as you don't have to grease the pans. Otherwise you may have to line your loaf pans before using.

Ingredients
250g Butter
1 cup sugar
4 large free range or organic eggs
2 tsp bicarb soda
4 cups plain flour
6 large over ripe bananas (see notes above)
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Method
Heat oven to 160 degrees c
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition
Add flour and bicarb soda
Add bananas and mix well
Add walnuts and mix lightly
Spoon into 2 loaf pans

Cook for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. Using a skewer check to see if they are cooked at the 1 hour mark. If you skewer comes out clean they are cooked. The time will vary each time you cook these as it depends on the size of the bananas used.