Lemon Friands

Lemon thrills your taste buds. What better to drink on a hot summer day than a glass of ice-cold lemonade? The tanginess lingers in your mouth and refreshes you; mind and body. It easily compliments your sweet or savoury dishes and takes the dishes to a different level.

Chicken Ratatouille

Ratatouille is a 2007 computer animated comedy film in which the antagonist, Remy the Rat, aspires to be a cook, being inspired by a famous chef, Auguste Gusteau. He starts by helping Linguini, a hopeful chef in the making, and ultimately wins over France's top restaurant critic, Anton Ego's heart and soul by preparing for him a simple 'Ratatouille'.

And there begins my journey; my journey to find a recipe for ratatouille that will find its way into the hearts of my family, just as the movie.

Ratatouille is a traditional French stewed vegetable dish with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, squash and bell pepper and is usually served as a side dish. There is much debate on how to make the traditional ratatouille; to sauté all the vegetables together in a pot (this is how Anto's mum cooks the dish in the cartoon) or to prepare the sauce with tomatoes, spices and herbs and later layer it with zucchini and eggplant in a baking dish and bake in the oven (this i guess is how Remy prepares the dish in the cartoon). This dish for the movie was designed by gourmet chef Thomas Keller and his dish later came to be known as confit byaldi.

Braised Beef in Wine with Potato and Celeriac Mash

Another inspiration from Masterchef 2012. Contestant Andy prepared braised beef cheeks with potato fondant and green beans for an elimination challenge two weeks back. I was so looking forward to Masterchef posting this recipe on their site; but they didn't. Guess it is a secret recipe and cannot be shared with the commoners. :(

So here I am, trying to make braised beef cheeks - only that neither my local supermarket nor my local butcher sells beef cheek. The next best option was boneless chuck beef which is commonly used for braising and I happily settled with it.

Bouquet Garni

The bouquet garni (French for 'garnished bouquet') is a bundle of herbs tied together with a string and mainly used to add flavour to soups, stocks, soups and casseroles. The bouquet is cooked with the other ingredients and removed before serving.

                                                          Bouquet Garni ready for cooking

There are differences in the variety of herbs used to make the bouquet garni. Our local supermarket sells this as a selection of Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme and Bay leaves.

Toffee Drops

I made these toffee drops to serve with cheesecakes. I boiled my first batch of sugar and water for too long that my toffees burnt and tasted bitter. I was more careful with my second batch. Happy with the result but there is definitely more room improvement.

                                                    Toffee drops served with cheesecake

If you are making toffees for the first time you may want to read through this.

Ingredients
110g caster sugar
60 ml water

Method
1. Stir sugar and water in a medium, heavy-based saucepan until sugar dissolves. Heat mixture over medium heat and bring to boil. Continue to boil, without stirring, until golden. Remove from heat. Drizzle tablespoons of toffee, length ways, onto tray and allow to set. Use as required.

Cinnamon Mini Cheesecake with Roasted Strawberry Coulis

I am not a fan for cheesecakes. It is just too cheesy (wouldn't expect more, would you?). Nevertheless, I had to try my hands at Cheesecake; simply because my husband and kids love it.

This recipe is adapted from The Cookbook - My Kitchen Rules, made by Kelly and Ash, who were my favourites and hopefuls on My Kitchen Rules show (Aus 2011). A husband and wife, who simply made food that they loved to prepare and serve. Unfortunately, they had to leave half way through the show since Ash's eyesight suddenly started to deteriorate. I wonder where and how she is now. Hope that she is back in the kitchen with her eyesight fully restored, cooking and serving her lovely food to her family and friends.

Light and Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes

Pancakes - reminds me of Pancake Parlour. The sweet and savoury assortment of pancakes and crepes they have in their menu is sure to convert anyone of us into a pancake lover. I refused to make pancakes from scratch at home for many years. I simply used the Pancake Parlour Pancake mix to make pancakes at home. And man! They were heavenly.