HOMECOOKING WITH TERESA

I really wanted to try it cake from Ottolenghi's Comfort cookbook. Even though Helen says it's such a popular recipe here in Australia, we had never seen it in any BBQ we had been to in the last 40 years.... The other reason for making it was because my grandmother used to make a recipe using biscuits in a similar way, and wanted to compare the two recipes. I must say that I love them both!! The traditional recipe is made with Arnott’s Choc Ripple biscuits, and I used them instead of making my own. However, here is the recipe to make your own if you fancy that. Ingredients 3 tbsp milk (or 105ml if not using the Grand Marnier) 60ml Grand Marnier (if using) 1 espresso shot, regular or decaf (30ml) 650ml double cream 325g crème fraîche 50g icing sugar 1½ tsp vanilla extract 1½ tsp ground cinnamon Biscuits 225g plain flour 50g cocoa powder ¾ tsp baking powder ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda ¼ tsp salt 100g unsalted butter, at room temperature 200g caster sugar 50ml vegetable oil 50g gol...

Today I had an interesting day in regards to my cooking. I had planned to make Nachos, but unfortunately the avocados were still rock hard, and I love to serve them with guacamole, so I decided to make some Buckwheat pancakes with smoked salmon instead, and was looking for a salad to go with them. I found this one and thought it would be perfect, and I really thought I had most of the ingredients. The first step was to make the dressing with yoghurt and harissa, and I knew I had some, but when I checked the due date, it was almost a year too old, so I couldn't use it and I checked if I could make the harissa myself. I found a recipe for Rose harissa that I could make in the Thermomix. Luckily I had ALL ingredients, so I proceeded to make it and it took me about 30 minutes. It turned out delicious! Then, I proceeded to prepare the salad and decided to change it a bit and add some mixed salad leaves and to pickle the onion. I didn't have any hearts of palm, but I had marinated ar...

Chimichurri ' is an uncooked sauce used as an ingredient in cooking and as a table condiment for grilled meat. Found originally in Argentina and used in Argentinian, Uruguayan, Paraguayan and Brazilian cuisines, it has become widely adopted in most of Latin America. The sauce comes in green and red varieties'. This recipe is delicious and I used it to serve duck, beef steak and also some beef skewers.  Ingredients (500ml Yield) Onions: 54g, very finely chopped (half onion) Garlic: 14g, minced (about 3–4 cloves) Fresh parsley: 21g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped fine (a small handful) Ripe tomatoes: 214g, deseeded and diced into small cubes (about 2 small tomatoes) Fresh chillies: About ⅓ of a small chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (adjust to taste) Dried thyme: 0.7g (roughly a generous pinch) Dried oregano: 3.6g (roughly 1.5 teaspoons) Ground cumin: 0.3g (a tiny pinch) Sweet paprika: 1.7g (roughly ½ teaspoon) Coarse salt: 5g (about 1 teaspoon) Lemon: Zest of abo...

I'm not sure this salad is very traditional but I have now made it a few times and is on the list of favourites! It is very yummy! The different layers of vegetables make it a meal on its own.  But the star of the show is the zesty lime dressing! That's what makes this salad so delicious.  To make it even a more complete meal, yesterday we added some hot smoked salmon as one of the possible ingredients suggested.  A really top recipe! Ingredients 1 Tbsp olive oil 300g fresh corn kernels (about 2 corn cobs) 500g snow peas, trimmed and blanched (or raw and thinly sliced) 250g cherry tomatoes, quartered 1 red onion, thinly sliced 4 radishes, thinly sliced 2 large handfuls of coriander leaves, roughly chopped 1-2 jalapeños, thinly sliced 200ml Zesty lime dressing (see below) pinch of ground cumin pinch of ground allspice pinch of sea salt 3 large avocados, stoned Bacon 80ml / 1/3 cup vegetable oil 500g smoked bacon, cut into lardons 150g / 1 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 1 larg...