boiled chocolate cake

even though this is meant to be a cooking thing, not a baking thing- i am baking a cake tonight. the recipe was given to me the other day by a friend after i ate it at book club and LOVED it. i'm mostly baking it because it is something that we already have all the ingredients for in the house (and is therefore free to make) but also because i reeeeally feel like eating something sweet. mmmmmmmm. ONLY 1 MORE WEEK UNTIL PAYDAY!!! WEEEEE! looking forward to buying whatever i need for some recipes at the supermarket :)

Boiled Cake Recipe:
125grams butter
1 1/2 cups castor sugar
2 heaped teaspoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon bi-carb soda
1 cup water

BOIL above ingredients in large saucepan, stir, then simmer for 5 mins, then cool

add:

1 1/2 cups self raising flour and beat with wooden spoon.
then add 2 beaten eggs and mix well

cook in lined round tin at 170c for 50 mins

and it came out pretty good! my only complaint is that i think i left it in the oven for just a little teeny bit too long. it's just a little bit drier than it should be but DELICIOUS!

cooking challenge fail

so i may have set my sights a little high saying "i will cook one thing every day!". excuses: 1) thursday i was too tired after work to cook 2) friday i was too tired from a day of babysitting and visitors and being out all day to cook. 3) saturday realised we don't actually have any money with which to buy ingredients to cook the recipes i had in mind 4) we haven't had any internet so i couldn't find any alternate recipes.
BUT i have cooked a couple of things, though they were fails i did 'LEARN STUFF' AND i did coerce mum (she was my visitor) into buying me two of the women's weekly cook books i wanted: short & fast- 6 ingredients or less on the table fast (my kinda cooking!!) and back to basics so even though i can't cook anything from them at the moment i am looking forward to when we can get some groceries so i can YAY!

and now onto the fail 'cooking' attempts:

we have excessive potatoes at the moment so i thought i would try and make some chips. i baked them at 180c in some oil and all was going well until i didn't get them out of the tray quick enough and they soaked up all the oil! YUCK. squeezing each one in kitchen paper helped a bit but it was still definitely another fail.

this morning i tried to make bacon & eggs on toast- i didn't turn the bacon enough so it was too crispy on one part, not cooked enough on the other part AND i forgot to cut the rinds off!!! the smell of the fat coming out of the bacon was so gross i ended up not even wanting any bacon and i gave it all to dane ewwww. of the poached eggs one was perfect, one was under cooked and one was WWAAAAYYYY over cooked (i had that one). so hopefully i get it right next time. lots to remember!

unfortunately i just don't really find cooking fun at all. hmmmm. perhaps that will change? hope so!

"it's like if you cooked playdough"

but tastes better, luckily. tonight i attempted to make "spicy pumpkin bread". it wasn't a total failure but it hasn't come out perfect either. i have learned that i really should have read all the comments posted under the recipe http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2344/spicy+pumpkin+bread before cooking. that would have really helped. i think i put in a little too much pumpkin and therefore should have removed some liquid- so my pumpkin bread has come out very dense, very moist, very heavy. also i couldn't refer to it as "spicy" at any stretch.

6/10

master judge dane gave tonight's effort a generous 6/10. the frittata came out just fine, but i undercooked the lamb cutlets, some so severely they had to go back on OOPS. and the overall decision was that the peas could have done with a sauce. also this would have made sticking the peas to the cutlet and frittata on the fork a hell of a lot easier- a VERY important culinary factor. you need to have equal portions of each thing on your plate for each mouthful!!! i unfortunately forgot to take a photo until after we had dinner OOPS so i only have this pic of the leftovers. i really should have taken a photo of the dinner 'plated up' with the peas and the tidy square of frittata and the 'stacked' cutlets.

method:

firstly i marinated the cutlets in the fridge while i faffed about with the frittata and caught up on the dishes......
3 garlic cloves crushed
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tspn of a mixed italian seasoning herb mix..... ummm oregano n stuff (the recipe i was going off said oregano but i realised too late we had none)
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
lamb cutlets (they were on sale for $12 less!!! WOOOT!!)

next i chopped 5 rashers of bacon, two potatoes and trimmed, halved and thinly sliced a medium leek. my knife skills leave a lot to be desired, i started to get it toward the end, but my bacon looked a bit torn and an awful lot ended up on the floor (tessy (our dog) helped me out with that though, she didn't mind too much).

in a large measuring jug i "whisked" (mixed with a fork and tried not to spill): 6 eggs, 1/2 cup pure cream, 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese and 2 crushed garlic cloves.

i "browned" (and cooked a serious brown crust onto the pan) the bacon and leek first, then added the potato till it was floppy. i plopped this stuff in a shallow casserole dish and poured the egg mix on top, giving it three good stirs for good luck and putting it in a high oven.

i attempted to "char grill" (like the recipe said) the cutlets in a pan on medium- but i smoked out the house and they were under done. master chef dane suggested that next time i cook them on lower heat and for longer. not turning until the blood that rises had been there for a couple of minutes, and then turning once more before finishing.

put some peas on while the cutlets were going. everything was ready at the same time :)
there is plenty of frittata left over to eat tomorrow- it seems like it would also be a good breaky kind of thing. not too shabby! what's cooking for tomorrow? i have book club so it won't be dinner. hmmmmmm

i'm looking forward to the arrival of my donna hay cookbook! i wonder what page 1 is! (i'm planning on cooking my way from front to back)

donna hay classics 1

as recommended by my good friend mr. daniel, and also some other people too, i have purchased donna hay modern classics 1. i got it half price at borders online and i can't wait for it to arrive!

Life in Recipes: Shepherd's Pie from Modern Classics by Donna Hay

i found this blog and i can't wait to try this! also, i have a 40% off borders voucher that expires tomoro so i am thinking i may use it to get that cook book

Life in Recipes: Shepherd's Pie from Modern Classics by Donna Hay

well pretend husband, dane, decided that he was making dinner tonight, since i have aqua aerobics and therefore would be starting to cook too late. so instead i made a late lunch of bruschetta. i managed to forget to buy onion from the shop, and also forget to put the oil and balsamic vinegarette on until we were already half way through eating but the result turned out okay. i think next time i would try different bread, and perhaps mozarella instead of parmesan.

method:

half cook garlic bread loaf on high oven whilst chopping fresh basil, tomato and potato peeling parmesan. put toppings on the garlic bread, crack pepper and salt, drizzle with oil (oops i forgot this). cook until basil begins to look like it might be suffering, drizzle with balsamic vinegarette (oops again) and serve.

so tomorrow night will be lamb cutlets with frittata.

aha!

discovery!

you can search taste.com.au via ingredients. first i googled 'potato gratin', which led me to this recipe http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/11460/annekas+potato+gratin but then in a side bar there is a "more potato recipes" option which has now led me to:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1758/creamy+potato+bake
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/10115/baby+potato+bacon+frittatas+with+red+onion+marmalade
and this one i think i like best:
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/21026/bacon+leek+and+potato+frittata
http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/21023/basic+frittata+mix

i posted a link to this blog on facebook and a forum i use last night and this morning i woke up to lots of helpful answers:

places to start

nigella lawson "how to be a domestic goddess"
martha stewart
donna hay
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780060095246/Modern-Classics-Book-One-Us-Edition
rachel ray
taste.com.au
recipeczarr.com
The Australian Breastfeeding Association sells the nursing mothers cook book
Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and the Commonsense Cookery Book
Tagliatelle Bolognese Recipe - Taste.com.au
The Woolworths Good Taste and Super Food Ideas magazines
'Cookery the Australian Way'

and this
"my fav easy dinner:
put pan of water on to boil and add pasta

finely copped onion and garlic clove...fry in medium heat pan with oil
add tin of tuna, cherry tomatoes and snow peas...cook for 2-5 mins
add two large spoonfuls of sour cream and a splash of lemon juice
season with salt and pepper and add cooked pasta

just remember every time you cook you learn something...don't get discouraged."

i will try!

perhaps cooking one thing every day, no matter how small is a good goal to set until i find the right cookbook. today..... we have A LOT of potatoes so i guess i will make something with those. the only thing is they are looking a bit green. i understand that it's just something that happens when you don't keep them in a dark place like you're supposed to, and that this is one of the benefits of unwashed potatoes. i always thought green potatoes were poisonous but *googling*

"the problem with green potatoes is that exposure to light also produces a substance called solanine, a glycoalkaloid, which has been shown to be toxic when consumed in great quantities. Scientists have sought to determine exactly what quantity of green potatoes it would take to cause human toxicity, and it turns out that an adult would have to eat about 4.5 pounds of light-exposed potatoes (approximately 2 kg) to reach toxic blood levels of solanine.

There are some theories about whether regular consumption of green potatoes might reduce levels needed to produce poisoning. It is thought that it takes the body over a full day to clear solanine from the body, and so eating potatoes that are green on a daily basis could have some cumulative affect or accumulate toxic levels more quickly. Still, in the US, it has been over 50 years since any one has succumbed to potato poisoning, and it’s generally thought that people are at low risk for solanine toxicity from potato consumption.

This may leave cooks wondering whether they ought to eat green potatoes or discard them. For greatest safety, it is probably best to discard potatoes that are green, to avoid consuming solanine. Though a bite of green potatoes is unlikely to be fatal, consuming poisons on purpose isn’t a great plan for healthy living. "

jill- pretend hubby's mother/mother-sin-law, master cook, WWJD (no, not what would jesus do, but what would JILL do), highly revered expert at everything, (though she'll claim otherwise) said something about peeling their skin off and sure enough......

"One study in 2006 published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that improperly stored potatoes accumulate most solanine in the peel. This might suggest that peeling the potatoes is the best way to get rid of this toxin, no matter the color of the potato underneath." http://www.wisegeek.com/are-green-potatoes-poisonous.htm

so dilemma #1 solved. now. ahem. what to make with the potatoes??? we have lots. before peeling there is 1 & 1/2 kilos of the suckers. we also have bacon. and parsley. so perhaps a potato bakey thingy or a potato gratin thingy??

HELP

cannot cook :(

i am 26, i pretend to be this happy little homemaker, tidying, decorating cleaning etc etc but i CANNOT and do not cook. ever. pretend hubby does ALL the cooking. i try to pull my weight; i always to the dishes and clean the kitchen BUT of course there is inevitably a bit of tension because if he doesn't cook- well then there is no dinner. don't get me wrong i can B A K E. but alas, pretend hubby doesn't like bakery treats :( he's a savoury man. so, here i am- i need to learn to cook. but where the eff do i start!? i need some sort of awesomely basic cook book that i can work my way through. sort of like the project portrayed in julie & julia (where a woman works her way through julia child's cook book) but for toast burning, mid 20 kitchen retards rather than culinary explorers. HELP ME