Fried Brie

Photo taken by John Paul Urizar

Ok, let me start by saying - if you on a diet, dont even look at this!

I have seen many fried brie recipes but never dared to go there... however Valli Little inspired me to give it a shot. I used one of her recipes but over time it has evolved into my own no-fuss version!

Remember with this recipe - a little goes a loooong way! I usually serve a couple small wedges next to a lightly dressed salad. And for the record - its the sweet chilli sauce that makes it, so please please please use it!

Ingredients:

2 cups breadcrumbs
2 tbs of either finely chopped fresh parsley or basil (or none if your not a herb person)
3 tbs plain flour
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs milk or cream (whichever you have on hand)
350g (aproximately) of brie or camambert cut into 8 small or 4 large wedges
Oil for frying - I use sunflower or vegetable buti've tried with olive and still tastes as good
Sweet chilli sauce - my favourite brand is Trident.

Method:

1. Mix breadcrumbs & parsley together. Place breadcrumbs and flour in seperate bowls (or plates). Whisk the egg & milk/cream in another bowl.

2. Toss wedges first in flour, then egg mixture, then in the breadcrumbs.

3. Place on a plate & chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (or up to four hours ahead).

4. Pour enough oil in a pan so that it reaces a few milimetres up the side. The oil should be hot enough that it turns a cube of bread golden in 30 seconds.

5. Fry the cheese on each side until golden. Drain briefly on paper towel. Serve immediently with sweet chilli sauce.

I tend to flip back and forth between brie and camambert (which ever is on sale) and it comes out perfect every time! This recipe makes enough for four people.

Valli recommends using Panko breadcrums, a coarse & light japanese breadcrumb variety. Personllay, i like the regular stuff :)

Enjoy!

Sunny xxx

Tim Tam Cheesecake - For K's 23rd!

Wednesday the 11th of June was my gorgeous, wonderful, lovable partners birthday so we spent the week sick with chest infections in Melbourne - isn't that what everyone does? hahaha.

Luckily i freighted his birthday cheesecake all the way down before we were sick so it wasn't contaminated with my evil sick germs.

Either way, the cheesecake turned out great! I can thank Kel from Sweet Treats for the pic and the recipe as i was in no condition to take photos :) Although it looked almost exactly the same so that shows what a great recipe it is!

For all those Tim Tam lovers and cheesecake lovers find below Kel's recipe from her blog. it was delicious!

Base Ingredients:
1 250g packet Chocolate Ripple biscuits (these are a plain chocolate cookie, for those international visitors!) - I couldn't find these elusive chocolate ripple biscuits so i used half scallywags (my fave) and half butterscotch snaps. worked really well!
130g butter,melted
50g milk or dark chocolate,melted

Filling:
3 tsp gelatin powder
1/4 cup of water
2 x 250g packets Philly cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 x pkt Tim Tam biscuits ,chopped (OK, so maybe you international people may have trouble finding Tim Tams...but seriously, these are the best bickies EVER)
1 x 300ml carton thickened cream, whipped

Method:
Process chocolate biscuits until finely crushed. Add butter and process until just combined. Press biscuit mixture evenly over base of a 20 cm spring-form tin. Cover and refrigerate while preparing filling.
Sprinkle gelatin over the water in a small heatproof jug.Stand jug in a small pan of simmering water and stir until gelatin is dissolved. Leave aside to cool slightly. Beat cream cheese & sugar with electric mixer until smooth. Stir in gelatin mixture, then chopped Tim Tams. Fold in whipped cream. Pour filling into prepared tin. Drizzle choc in parallel lines (about 1cm apart) across cheesecake. Pull a skewer backwards & forwards through choc to create a lovely pattern on the top of the cheesecake. Refrigerate cheesecake for about three hours or until set.

Love and kisses on both cheeks,

Sunny xxx

I heart CIA Network

I really like thi slady and i think she's onto something with those flowers.... my nanna will love them for her b'day.

Hmmm cookies. I love anything i can just shove in the freezer and forget about! hahaha Now - lets jump to some savoury...

This recipe was first given to me by my friend Scott from work who is the typical aussie bloke. This was the only recipe he could always guarentee would work :)

And of course, everyone loves soem tempura :) especially tempura broccolli... yummers!

Love and kisses on both cheeks,

Sunny xxx

Sunny's version of Chocolate Truffle Snowballs

Ingredients

2 Packets of Milk Arrowroot Biscuits
2 Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 Tablespoons of Cocoa
2 Cups Dessicated Coconut or chopped white chocolate

Method

1. Smash up the milk arrowroot biscuits. By smash, i mean really hack into them. I prefer to put them in a freezer bag and have at them with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Picture your boss's face in the bag and that will get you going! You can also alternatively put them in a blender and blend until there are small chunks about the size of a fly. You can completely process if desired but i prefer a bit of texture in them.

2. Combine condensed milk, smashed arrowroot biscuits and cocoa powder in a bowl. Make sure your hands are clean and then get in there and get dirty mixing it all up. You can try and do it with a spoon or utensil of some variety but I'm telling you, its futile. Hands are the only way to go!

3. When the mixture is well combined and nice and sticky (and your hands are completely covered in it!) roll them into balls and then roll the balls into the dessicated coconut or chopped white chocolate until evenly coated.

4. Chill for about half an hour and them eat until your heart is content or your chocolate craving is gone :)

Makes about 30-50 truffles depending on the size of the balls.

I made these today for my work friend who is giving me driving lessons in exchange for food. I'm sure she will love them and the rest of the office will love the leftovers!

Love and kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx

Mud Cake for Morons

Ingredients (serves 8)

200g butter, chopped
300g good-quality dark chocolate
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup self-raising flour
pure icing sugar, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 6cm deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line with baking paper.

2. Place butter, 200g chopped chocolate and hot water in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH (100%) for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until smooth.

3. Add cocoa to warm chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla, caster sugar and egg. Sift flour over chocolate mixture. Stir gently to combine.

4. Pour half the batter into cake pan. Chop remaining chocolate and sprinkle half over batter. Top with remaining batter and chopped chocolate. Bake cake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging.

5. Allow cake to cool completely in pan. Remove and dust with icing sugar. Serve.This cake keeps well for up to 1 week stored in an airtight container lined with baking paper.

I hope you enjoy it as much as i did! i like to heat my slice in the microwave for 40 seconds and then top with cream or ice cream and suddenly nothing else in the world matters!

Love and kisses on both cheeks,

Sunny xxx

Parmesan Chicken Tenders - Aka. better-than-sex-food

Ingredients
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup or about 250g), melted
1 cup dried bread crumbs
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or chicken salt (which ever you have on hand)
A large pinch of dried Italian herb mix
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
600g (approx) Chicken Tenderloins

Method

1 Preheat oven to about 210/220 Celsius in a fan forced oven.

2 In a bowl, combine the minced garlic with the melted butter. In another bowl mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Dip chicken pieces into garlic butter, then into crumb mixture to coat. Double crumb if you want a crunchier finish.

3 Place coated chicken pieces on to a baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. Drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Note that the chicken will get much more browned on the bottom side than on the top.

Serves 4-6 - or two very hungry people :)
Try it for yourselves and you'll see what I'm talking about! The original recipe (which i have altered a little) came from http://www.elise.com/recipes/.

Love and kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx

The Easiest Scones Ever

Nearly everyone loves scones. I know i love to have some scones with jam and cream for a weekend brunch. They are so yummy that one is never enough. So for all you scone scoffers here is my favourite recipe:

Ingredients

4 cups Self Raising flour

300 ml Thickened Cream

350ml Lemonade

Method

1. Sift flour into bowl and make a well in the middle.

2. Pour cream and lemonade into the well of flour.

3. Mix until it makes a firm dough

4. Roll out and cut into rounds with a scone or cookie cutter.

5. Bake at 180C in a fan forced oven (200C if not fan forced) for about 10 - 20 minutes depending on the size of the scones. When they are golden on the top and fully puffed up take them out of the oven and cool on a wire rack.

6. Serve with strawberry jam and whipped cream when they are still warm.

7. Stuff face.

Love and kisses on both cheeks,

Sunny xxx

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

I got this recipe of the back of a packet somewhere. However its still yummers! And everything i love in a cookie! Here is the recipe...

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oat Cookies

125g Butter
1/4 cup Peanut Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
3/4 cup S.R. flour
3/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup choc bits

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with baking paper.

2. Combine butter and peanut butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes or until melted and well combined. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool for 5-10 minutes.

3. Add brown sugar and egg. Mix well. Add combined sifted flours, oats and choc bits. Mix well to combine.

4. Roll tablespoons of mixture into a ball. Place onto prepared trays and flatten slightly with a fork. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes or until golden and firm to touch. Stand 5 minutes on tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Then take them to work/share with family/hide and keep to yourself.... and enjoy!

love and kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx

The Best and Easiest White Sauce Ever

My dad always told me you should never trust anyone who says "trust me" (unless of course it is my dad that is saying it... odd rule i know). But when i say trust me, i really mean trust me.

I learnt this white sauce from my Nanna and i assume its as popular in other homes as it is in mine! I like to pride myself on simplicity in recipes and this one is the simplest cheapest way to make vegetables more yummers. I love this recipe on a weekend/Friday night when you don't want to cook all day but you want a meal everyone will love. If that's what your yearning for then trust me ;)

Nanna's White sauce (over broccoli)

1-2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon Flour (i used self raising because i very rarely have plain flour in my house!)
1 cup milk
small handful of grated cheese (or just break up some of your favourite cheese into small-ish pieces)

1. Melt butter in a pot over a medium heat.

2. Add flour and whisk until all flour is absorbed by the butter.

3. slowly pour in milk. you can do this in two ways. a) pour the milk into butter & flour mixture in a steady thin stream whisking the entire time. or b) pour in the milk slowly in a risotto fashion. Wait for the sauce to thicken before adding the next small batch.

4. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens. Any lumps will disappear with the whisking so don't stress.

5. pour over some cooked broccoli and top with cheese. Then pop the whole thing in a medium heat oven and let it brown and melt. Hmmm white gooey goodness!!!

Love and kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx

To Quiche, Or Not To Quiche?

Well, I'm a bit late in writing to you all, but i did reach another of my weekly recipe resolutions!! Wooohooo!

I made Mini Impossible Quiche's... Impossible you say?

Let me inform you- impossible quiche is a quiche where you don't use a pastry. It has self raising flour in the egg mixture which sinks to the bottom and creates a sort of pretend pastry. Great for us lazy girls who don't feel like coming home and making a big batch of pastry shells!!!

Anyway my quiche's were Bacon & Broccoli because i love broccoli and because what is a quiche without bacon???

Here is the recipe I used and it made 12 Large Mini Impossible Quiches (yes i get that that sentence is an oxymoron!)

Mini Impossible Quiches - Makes 12

3 large eggs

1 cup of Milk (I used full cream)

1/2 cup of thickened cream (optional - you can just add half a cup extra milk instead if you like)

6 large broccoli florets chopped roughly

1 hand full of bacon pieces (or about a cup)

1 cup of cheese (I used tasty)

1 cup self raising flour

Oil spray (yes my lovely Woolies home brand again!)

1. preheat oven to 200C

2. Cook bacon for a couple minutes to your liking - i like mine well cooked. I used frozen broccoli so i cooked mine in the microwave until tender. Whisk together milk, flour, eggs and cream.

3. spray a cup cake tin with oil. Evenly portion the cheese, broccoli and bacon between cup cake moulds. Pour over egg/milk mixture.

4. Cook in oven for about ten minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Please please please don't over cook this as like any eggs, its horrible when its not light and fluffy.

Tada!! Mini Impossible Quiche! You can also do this in one dish and bake for about 20 - 30 minutes. I was quite surprised how easily these slipped out of the pan. I also like to sprinkle cheese over the top of the quiches because I'm a cheese-oholic.

Love and kisses on both cheeks,

Sunny xxx

Saturday Surprise - yes thats food

Saturday Surprise - wow that sound unappealing! sounds like when i lived in Sevilla, Spain and my host mum served up 'surprise' patties for dinner which made everyone in the house sick for a week! My surprise is better don't worry!
Saturday surprise is the name i give to those "whats in my fridge/pantry" recipes! Sometimes its Sunday Surprise and sometimes weekday surprise. It all depends on when i have those "oh crap i haven't been shopping in a while" moments.

Today's surprise is one of my best so far... its really yummy, and i say that with my mouth full of it. Here is a big of a dodgy pic -




and here is the recipe! Please note that this is a Ad-Hoc recipe so there are no set measurements.

Saturday Surprise - Bacon/Tomato Pasta


Ingredients:

Egg Noodles

Diced Bacon Pieces

about 6 vine ripened mini Roma tomato's (chopped to preffered size)

1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic

a decent splash of red wine - i used Shiraz

Approx 2 tablespoons of tomato paste

1/2 Cup of cream

sprinkling of 'Italian Herbs' (from a bottle)

1 heaped teaspoon of sugar

Parmesan cheese for serving (i like loads)

Nob of butter

Method:

1. Cook the egg noodles (any noodles will do but i prefer the texture of egg noodles) in salty water. Drain and put to the side.

2. In the same pan (at low-medium heat), pour in a good helping of oil and throw in minced garlic (i have jar of the stuff lying around just in case and used this).

3. Once the oil and garlic have had a minute to meld together add the chopped tomato's and let them fry for a little while. Pour in the red wine and let the tomato's soak it up.

4. Once the liquid has reduced a bit add in the diced bacon, Italian herbs, sugar and about two tablespoons of tomato paste. let this all fry and mix up together.

5. After a couple of minutes (when the bacon is cooked) add in cream and stir in. Add a nob of butter and an extra dash of salt then toss through the noodles.

Feel free to add whatever you like. It was so yum and I'm so full! I'm glad this surprise was a good one :) I've had a few dodgy ones!!! hahaha

Love and kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx