That's Noice!

Fresh, delicious pineapple…MMMmmmm makes your mouth water just thinking about it! None of that that crap from a can stuff. Up until only a few years ago I didn’t realise there was THAT much of a difference in taste. If you have not tried fresh pineapple you are seriously missing out in life.

Pineapple is one of my fav fruits, love eating and drinking it. Hot or cold…I know there are a lot of people out there who can’t stand the thought of pineapple on pizza etc, I can’t think of anything better.

Food blogger I most certainly am not, but when the guys at King of Fruit Pineapples recently asked if I wanted to have a crack at cooking some stuff with their pineapples..I thought why not.

Anyway..on to my pineappley creations..something basic for those culinarily challenged folk like me.

First off was a super delicious fruit salad…can mess that up…and super yum!

Next was chicken and pineapple skewers on the BBQ, again, not rocket surgery but delish none the less.

And lastly, something a little more daring (but shhh I cheated and used crepes from a box) Ham, pineapple and cheese crepes. Think this was my fav, other than just nomming it fresh cut on it’s own.

So what is your fav Pineapple recipe? You could win yourself some cool prizes by entering the King of Fruit recipe challenge, check out their site for details..and all the other entrants recipes.

It’s Pancake Day….Shrove Tuesday or something.

All I know is, it’s an excuse to eat Pancakes for dinner!

This is my favourite Pancake recipe, for Buttermilk pancakes, they are THE best aren’t they.

Up until about 6mths ago we were making crap pancakes from a bottle..OMG so many years wasted!

Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 2 tbs sugar
• Butter or oil for cooking

• Sift all your dry bits. Make a well in the centre. Stir in all your wet bits until just combined.

Surely you all know how to make pancakes and don’t need any further instructions.

My FAV way to eat them is with caramel/dulche de leche.

You can make your own, if you are game by boiling cans of condensed milk in a big saucepan for about 3hrs. Make sure the cans always remain fully covered. Or you can by it already done, Top ‘n’ Fill, you’ll find in near the cake mixes.

So, how do you have your pancakes?

(Photo by steffanyszphotography)

A few years ago I had a Tim Tam milkshake in a cafe in Newtown, and I’ve never forgotten how fantastic it was. Ever since, I vowed to recreate it at home.

It’s taken me a long time, but I finally got around to it! The things I do in the name of research for That’s Noice ;)

Tim Tam milkshake (1 serve)

Ingredients:

1. 1 x packet of Original Tim Tams (on special at my supermarket this week, yay!)
2. Milk (probably about 250ml)
3. Optional: vanilla icecream if you want it really thick
4. Optional: Milo or similar if you want it really chocolate-y

Method:

1. Blend milk and about 3 Tim Tams (and ice cream and Milo if you want) until the Tim Tams are finely blended
2. Add 2 more Tim Tams, but don’t blend them quite so finely this time
3. Pour the mixture into your glass – chilled if it’s a hot day
4. Chop and crush 1 last Tim Tam to sprinkle on top of your creation

The biggest mistake I made was that I was too lazy to go up the street and buy full cream milk to make this, so just used the skim milk we had in the fridge – full cream milk would be TONNES better!

Here’s the gratuitous food porn shot:

So it’s not exactly something I’d make every week – maybe every year ;)

I am the packet mix queen…yes, I can hear you gasping and fanning yourself. Packet mixes..the outrage! Was once even told (by a loon on AFW who has since been deleted) that you aren’t a real parent if you use packet mixes..pfft what a load of shit!

First we make the cupcakes. So for this, I used a Greens Vanilla cake mix. Mix the room temp egg and butter together, then milk..now you add the packet in. It does make a difference, so don’t be lazy and bung it all in at once! Then baked till..well, they are cooked..duh! Or, if you aren’t into packets, you could try out Rah’s perfect basic cupcake recipe.

Once they’re cool, cut little holes in the top for the Lemon curd. I just used some stuff from a jar (not the cheap stuff eww) but you could make your own I guess..if you were so inclined.

Then comes the fun! I wanted some of that spiffy soft and fluffy meringue, not that boring regular stuff. So I found myself a recipe for Italian Meringue at Gourtment Traveller. Took awhile to track down a candy thermometer.

So you will need..

• 200g Caster Sugar
• 200ml water
• 5 egg whites
• Pinch of cream of tartar (which I didn’t have, asked google and it said i’d be still right without it. But I probably wouldn’t be taking my advice )

First, combine the sugar and 200ml water in a small pan and bring to the boil while continuously stirring until the sugar dissolves.

Then, Reduce heat to medium and brush down sides of pan with a clean, wet pastry brush to remove sugar crystals. And you’ve got your candy thermometer in there..right?

So you now cook until the syrup reaches 115c on your trusty thermometer, which takes about 15mins. Once you get there start whisking your egg whites with cream of tartar in a clean, grease-free bowl of an electric mixer until soft peaks form.

Still cooking your sugar while your whisking away ( so you will need a stand mixer or a helper monkey) till your sugar reaches 121c.

Increase the speed to high and while it’s running, gradually pour syrup into meringue. Beat at medium speed until cooled to room temperature and meringue is thick and glossy (15-20 minutes).

You can pipe it or just spoon it on, which I preferred the rough look and you could fit more on.

The meringue is already cooked, but a little browning is nice. I stuck them under the grill for a bit. A blow torch would be ideal for a nice even brown.

Super nom-a-licious they were much better than those I have had else where!

February 2009 saw many parts of Victoria suffer the worst bush fires our country has ever seen. Entire communities were wiped out, left devastated by the loss of 173 lives and 1000′s were left homeless.

During the aftermath, so many Australians wanted to reach out and do something to help those effected. A group of crafters and artists joined together with Handmade Help outs.

This fantastic recipe book evolved from these efforts.

The Homemade Recipe Book is collection of treasured family favourite recipes, donated by people from all over the world along with some well known chefs such as Margaret Fulton, Allan Campion and Michele Curtis.

You can purchase a paperback copy of the book for $15AUD. Or you can buy a PDF downloadable version of the book for $8.

All proceeds from sales of the recipe book will be donated to the Salvation Army.

The Homemade Recipe Book

Happy Easter, Noice people!

I remember when I was in year 9, buying a cream egg every morning on the way to school. The unwrapping of the foil, nomming on the creme egg at the bus stop and just LOVING it.

Nowadays I can’t seem to enjoy them the same way (must be getting old?) but the idea of CUPCAKES really has me excited – look at them!

There are lots more photos over at FoodProof. Are you salivating like I am?

So basically, make your fave choc cupcake recipe, fill the cupcake papers about halfway, pop in a Cadbury creme egg and top up with more choc cupcake mixture. Be warned: the egg drops to the bottom because of the weight.

NOM NOM NOM.