Sticky Date Pudding (another old favourite recipe to share)


Serves 4
400g pitted dates
600ml cup water
2 tsp bi-carb soda
125g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
250g sugar
4 eggs
400g S.R. flour

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE
2 Tbs cornflour
1.5 cups milk (1 1/2 litres)
1.5 cups cream
600g brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup golden syrup

METHOD
Cook the dates in water and bi-carb until soft - bring to the boil and simmer very slowly, covered, for about 10 minutes (the mixture should form a jam consistency). Cool slightly and puree until smooth.

Cream the butter, vanilla and sugar until creamy; add eggs one at time until incorporated. Add the flour and date puree to the cream mixture, and mix well.

Butter and flour individual moulds or a large roasting dish and pour in the mixture.

Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 35 - 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the pudding comes out clean.

Serve with butterscotch sauce and whipped cream.

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE
Make a paste with the cornflour and a little of the milk. Bring the remaining milk and cream to the boil and whisk in the cornflour mixture to thicken. Simmer for 1 minute, then stir in the brown sugar and golden syrup. Serve.

Flake with tomato chilli relish




I cooked this last year and didn't post up the recipe....so here it is. Its actually really yummy...so do try it out k? Maybe over the Easter long weekend...dun eat too much Hot Cross Buns.

Serves 4
20g butter
1 Tbs olive oil
700g flake fillets
1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 dill sprigs, roughly chopped ( i didn't use this )
1 lemon, cut to wedges, to serve

Tomato chilli relish
1 Tbs olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 large tomatoes, diced (vine ripened ones if you feel gourmeish)
2 long red chillies, deseeded, finely chopped (leave the seeds if u want extra HOT)
2 Tbs tomato paste (not sauce)
1/4 cup white wine

Method:
1) Make tomato chili relish
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat
Add onion and garlic
Cook for 2 to 3 mins or until soft
Add tomato, chilli and tomato paste
Cook, stirring, for 3 mins or until tomato is soft
Add wine and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low
Simmer, uncovered, 10-15 mins or until thick
Season with salt and pepper

2) Meanwhile...
Heat butter and oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over medium heat until hot
Cook fish, in batches, for 2 mins each side until cooked through.
Transfer to a plate. Cover with foil to keep it warm

3)
Combine mint, coriander and dill in a bowl
Spoon tomato chilli relish onto plates
Top with fish and sprinkle herb mixture
Serve with lemon wedges.

Note: I rubbed some salt and pepper onto the fish before cooking it....just to make sure I don't get too much fishy taste. I think any sort of white meat fish can be used in this recipe.

Enjoy!!!!

Special Delivery

Someone called around 12 pm to say that there was a courier for me and that I'll have to pick it up later in the day when I was free. So after class, I went home, took the dog and started walking to the courier place....I had no idea what the shop was called. All I knew was it was on 130-136 Stanley St, West Melbourne. Ok....thank goodness it was somewhere close to my place. So I walked....the dog walked....then FINALLY we got there. It was Roses Only!! I knew immediately that Joe must have sent me flowers for our anniversary. How sweet.....

So I lugged the box and the dog and headed home. Opened the box and was so excited like a little girl when I saw not just the long stemmed roses, chocolates, pot pourri....but a cute cuddly bear lying on the bed of roses!! I can't remember when was the last time I got excited over a bear. Hehhee.... I love it.

As Easy as A B C

How can anyone go wrong with Lee Kum Kee marinades? Saw this new product last week on the shelf while grocery shopping "Cantonese Barbeque Marinade"...just had to try it. Too easy to create succulent pork ribs for dinner.......

Ingredients: 1) Pork Ribs (or whatever your little tummy desires)
2) Minced garlic (my own secret recipe)
3) Spoonfuls of cantonese BBQ marinade

Method:
1) Preheat Oven at 200 degrees celcius
2) Cut away the bad ugly fat from the ribs
3) Put ribs in a bowl and mix well with the marinade and garlic ~ 30 mins
4) Place ribs into oven ~ 30 - 40 mins or until cooked. Turning it once.


Serve with rice and some vegies for a well balanced meal. Yummmmmm

You should wash your clothes at night

Did you know that Electricity is cheaper at different times of the day?

Rates from Origin Energy (Melbourne CBD)

Peak
7 am-11 pm @ 16.29 c/kWh

Off Peak
All other times @ 7.07 c/kWh

That is double the charge for using electricity during peak hours! Therefore, we should only use electrical goods that require more energy after 11 pm. e.g. Washing machine, dryer, maybe we should bake at night too? Surely we will save a few more dollars in our pockets!

I do my laundry only at night and dry them on the rack the next morning. The clothes do not smell as long as you do not fiddle them after they're done. However, if you've got delicate items or clothes that might change shape, it is best not to leave them overnight.

Easter is every CHOCOHOLIC's Fantasy Dream Come True

Its that time of the year again...where everyone deserves chocolate...don't care whether you've been good or not. Every year the Lindt Rabbit is the cutest chocolate around but consumers should be aware of the vast differences in price around. I only checked two shops and it was a whopping $2.50 difference.

The Most Overpriced Shop Award goes to "CHOCOLATE BOX" - $6.95
The Reasonable Price Shop Award goes to "PRICELINE" - $4.50

Therefore, everyone should shop around for the best price. Be a smart consumer. Maybe you can get it at a cheaper price elsewhere (Big W, Safeway, Coles, K-Mart, Aldi) but I'm lazy. Two price checks is enough. Actually today I bought some more chocolates but this time from chocolatier Darrell Lea...got myself some solid egg chocolates. Didn't take pictures but will do so during Easter (if there are any left).

New Look

I decided to pick a new template for my blog. Is it too plain? Is there a way for me to use my own pictures as the background instead of the pre-selected ones?

Mr Engineer was the best!

Went to watch Miss Saigon the musical on Friday. It wasn't that great afterall. I didn't enjoy the musical that much...as the story was kinda silly because how can someone fall in love with a prostitute after one night? and then supposingly got married in some vietnamese ceremony in a nite club and bring her back to his home country to live the American dream? HmmMmm... maybe things like that do happen.

I'll have to say the Engineer was the best performer of the night. His cabaret-style dance routines were entertaining and definately not OTT cheezy like the main leads (i.e Kim and Chris). Too much lovey dovey stuff....

I'll be watching Phantom of the Opera in August. Hopefully it will be better...actually I'm sure it will be much better. The music score and backdrop will be breathtaking (i hope).