A New Year

So for the past few years I've talked about properly using this. And I've never really done so.

With a move to a new place, no housemates and lots of study to do, I have a new plan. At least once a month, I will post something. Mostly recipes. Sometimes experiments.

There might be an abundance of CSIRO Well Being Diet, as I'm also about to start it (once Internet gets connected on my little house).

So let's see how this goes.
Tonight's meal is Salmon Fishcakes with Basil, Tomato and Capsicum salad. Only its not Basil so much as baby spinach, and not salmon so much as tuna.

Because the other thing this year. I'm living in a small town in the middle of nowhere so supplies are different and limited and somewhat more expensive (damn freighting and refrigerating)

Mum's Never Fail Scones Recipe

So mum used to be a housewife. Well, I suppose technically she still is, but she used to be one who did the baked foods for people coming over, and morning tea for the kiddliwinks (or so I'm told, this was before my time)

But she has this awesome scones recipe. Easy. Delicious. Fast. And actually done with quantities!

Base Recipe

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups self-raising flour*
• 2 tablespoons margarine/butter

Rub margarine through flour until consistency of breadcrumbs - what that means is it should clump together and be evenly distributed
*I'm going to assume you all know how to make SR flour from plain plus baking powder - if not, read the baking powder bottle!


Wet ingredients (In measuring jug)

• 1 egg
• Milk to make up to 3/4 cup

Making it up

Now the important part (more important the closer you get to the equator) - Dry ingredients go in the fridge to cool down (bonus points for using a metal bowl), wet ingredients come to room temperature (cover and leave on bench).
I like to make the mixes up teh night before and can mix and pop into oven in the morning while I'm doing other stuff, only takes a little bit longer to get myself ready and there's delicious fresh scones for morning tea.

Making up scones
Prepare your baking tin - preferably a scone tray (doesn't have sides) but can use any baking tray - round cake tins make for pullapart type scones. To prepare baking tin, rub marg/butter over the cooking surface (inside surface) using piece of paper towel until all metal is covered, then standing over the sink (trust me, easier to clean up), put 1-2 tablespoons flour into tray and tap tray so flour spreads evenly and all the metal is covered with a thin layer of flour. Doesn't have to be done in a non-stick tray. Can use baking paper instead.

Make well in middle of dry mix, using a cooled metal knife (just the usual ones from spreading vegemite on bread) mix the wet ingredients through. Something about the cold and warm is supposed to make them rise better and a metal knife stays colder than a wooden spoon.

Break off dessert spoon sized globs, make into cubes while coating in flour (pick up sphere of dough, sequentially tap into plate of flour to make cube like you would with play dough) then place onto tray, each one touching the last.
Bake at 190 degrees for about 10-14 min, or until appear cooked (darker, less dough like). When you think they're done, pull from oven, pull off one scone and test for doughiness left in the middle
I find this makes 13 scones, which is brilliant - one to try and see whether they're cooked, rest to take wherever I'm going.

Variations

1. Cheesy scones
• Add 1/2 cup grated cheese and 1/2-1 tablespoon mustard powder to dry mix
2. Coffee and date scones
• Add 1/2 cup roughly cut dates to dry mix
• Add strong coffee (I use 2 shots espresso, or 1/4 cup instant coffee disolved in as little water as possible) to the wet ingredients, again for a TOTAL of 3/4 cup ~ egg + coffee + enough milk to make 3/4 cup (thus the use of measuring jug!)
3. Apricot scones
• Add 1/4-1/2 cup of roughly cut dried apricots to dry ingredients
• Add sugar to taste to dry mix (yes, you literally taste the mix and see if you want to add more sugar)
4. Pumpkin scones
• Omit milk from wet ingredients and use pumpkin puree instead

B Rating - Undetermined
CE Rating - Undetermined

An update (of sorts)

Yes I'm still here. Yes I'm still keen. Yes, I'm finally going to use this. Upcoming posts

1. Scones POSTED for first time in .. 2 years
2. Pumpkin soup - just have to add CE and B ratings, and photos
3. Breakfast burgery things in exchange for mowing
4. Risotto - basic plus 2 variations
5. FODMAP feast
1. Risotto
2. Brownies
3. Eggplant dip (insert official name here)
4. Semi-dried tomato dip
5. Peanut butter cookiesbiscuits
6. Taco mix
7. Cheesecake cupcakes - No baking involved

Feel free to pester me in RL

Pizza anyone?

So I'm in a lecture and getting distracted... since I'm now supposed to not be using Stalkbook games, we shall have a recipe of sorts.

I had pizza for dinner last night, just because it tastes awesome.

How to make awesome pizza:
What you need:
A base
A sauce
Some topping
Cooking device

Base:

• Pizza base, either frozen or fresh. The frozen ones I bought last night were from the freezer section, $5 for three empty bases. Fresh ones are also awesome, but tend to be a bit more spensive, however you can get more choices - smaller, squarer, already with sauce etc
• Pita bread - that Lebanese double layered thin bread you can put stuff in the middle of (my favourite being thick margarine and vegemite). Tis cheap, you get 8 "bases" for under $5
• Make your own - I have yet to do this, but it involves yeast and flour and stuff. Maybe at a later date we'll explore that more
• Frozen/fresh pizza to which you add extra toppings. I wouldn't recommend this as a cheap option but thank you Gilmore Girls

Sauce

• I usually use tomato paste (<$2 for a jar), but can also use tomato sauce, or special "pizza sauce" (read:expensive).
• If I'm using fresh greens I use Hoummous
• Pesto has been suggested but I have yet to try.

Topping
Generally whatever's in the fridge but some suggestions, or just steal a few pizza shop menus for ideas:

• sweet corn - I LOVEEEEE canned sweetcorn on pizza. They keep their sweetness once you cook it
• mushroom
• small goods (meat)- if you just want a small amount of salami or kabana or devon or whatever, try it from the Deli section, it tends to be MUCH cheaper than in the packages. This also includes bacon bits
  
• onion - fresh, or try pickled (obviously sliced)
• BBQ chicken
• olives
• anchovies
• capers
• pineapple
  
• fresh tomato
• herbs - better on the tomato layer but works just under cheese. Try italian mixed, oregano, garlic etc
• hoummous, spinich, pumpkin and feta (without cheese) is delicious and slightly exotic
• grated cheese - either at the bottom of the pile or the top. Buy an Ikea grater...
  

Cooking:

• Oven good - 220 (200) degree C for thick base, 160 for thin. Read the packaging. Cook until cheese melted.
  
• Can also do under griller of stove, much easier to burn this way
• Use a china/ceramic (not plastic, and not the "Royal Doulton" good china) dinner plate if you don't have a pizza tray
  

Don't forget, like I did the other night, that the plate, although now no longer in teh oven, is probably still hot.

There were meant to be photos....

An Introduction of Sorts

So, I haven't totally figured out how I'm going to do this, how often, how publicly and with what sort of layout. But there shall be delicious foods and there shall be stories of my stupidity. There shall be photos of happy people eating food and sometimes blatant plagerism of my favourite cook books (with credits where remembered and modifications to increase awesomeness).

Veal Marsala

So it turns out, lactose free thickened cream? Doesn't boil as well as real. Well, that and I had issues measuring the marsala-substitute (yes I googled it first) so guess-ti-mated. The rest of it worked out well.