Cookie Monster Cupcakes

I couldn't resist making them! 

Aren't they the cutest?

Nyehehehehehe

Making these is easier than it looks.

First you need butter cakes (makes 12 to 13)

recipe:

200g butter

3/4 cup sugar

dash of vanilla

4 eggs

2 cups flour,sifted

2 tsp baking soda, sifted

4 or 5 tablespoons milk

Place everything in a food processor and blitz away! scrape the sides down once and blitz to a smooth batter.

Otherwise, mix everything in a bowl with a hand mixer.

Fill cupcake cups with batter (3/4 full) 

Bake in 180C for 20-25 mins.

now you need eyes

I used store-bought marzipan...roll it out and cut out small circles with a bottle cap

and to attach the chocolate chips to the marzipan, I used a simple icing.

No measurements. Just get about 2 cups of icing sugar and mix in the juice of 1/2 a lemon

The blue stuff is just coconut and blue colouring gel mixed together

Dip the tops of the muffins in the icing, Drip off the excess

Dip into coconut

Stuff half a cookie in the mouth

Dip the back side of the eyes in icing and place it on the cupcake.

PeanutButter Crunch Cookies

Those were so crunchy, yet tender..best PB cookies ever=)

Perfect anytime of the day=) nyehehe

These are a definite MUST for chinese new year next year.

recipe:

150g butter

100g white sugar

100g brown sugar

1 egg

120 g peanutbutter (crunchy/smooth it don't matter)

grated zest of an orange (optional)

a dash of Vanilla

200g flour

1 tsp baking soda

cream the butter and sugar

beat in the egg, vanilla, zest, peanutbutter

mix in the flour and baking soda (I wouldn't bother sifting it)

Drop teaspoonfulls of dough onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.

Be sure to drop them about 2cm apart

 Bake for 12-15 mins in 180C. 

Sweet Potato Teacake

This teacake/loaf (you decide) is a great, healthy snack

plus, its moist and quite filling

Best of all, its so easy to make..

recipe:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup flour,sifted

1 tsp baking soda

a dash of cinnamon

1/3 cup water

1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

a handful of roughly chopped nuts

combine the sugar, oil and eggs

sift in the flour, bakind soda and cinnamon

mix until just combined

mix in the water

fold in the sweet potato and nuts

Bake in a 180 C oven for 40-50 mins.

cover with a tea towel and cool.

Lamb Marinara

Braised in a rich tomato and red wine sauce

The flavours were deep and intense, just the way I like it.

There are no strict measurements to making this.

Celery, carrot, onion, 

lamb shanks,

Canned Whole tomatoes

red wine

water

Thyme

Use a cheap red wine for cooking ($5)

Simmer until the meat is -fall off the bone- tender. (about 3 hours)

and the results are just fantastic

Lemon Macarons

This is the start of a Macaron series.

It ain't bad for a start

Almond shells with lemon curd

The shells were hollow (as they should be) and the bottom had that slightly chewy texture

The tangy-ness of the lemon curd filling did balance out the sweetness

I managed to get about 40 macarons

 

37, minus the broken shells =(

quite good..nyehehehehe

They really do break like shells

 My Macarons..I'm like a proud momma..

Sweet Potato and bacon quiche

There's just something I love about Pies..

and this one is a complete meal on its own..

sweet potatoes, bacon and onions, eggs, baby peas and cheese, 

with herbed breadcrumbs on top for a good crunch

The -supposed to be- short-crust pastry, somehow turned out like a puff pastry

which was even better!

I had quite a lot of pastry dough and cheese left over

so the only thing I could think of was

Cheese Sticks

buttery, flakey goodness

My accidental puff pastry

nyehehehe

Spicy legs

Baking chicken drumsticks, you can never go wrong..

You can marinate it with just about anything in your kitchen cupboard..

This however, has

ground coriander, chilli, cumin, paprika, nutmeg, salt, garlic powder, rubbed all over 

and it was left to marinate overnight..

to make sure that all the flavours penetrate, separate the skin from the flesh and rub on the spices, then pull the skin back on..

yea mann these were da bomb..

we were trying to eat healthy..but the pasta was so bland =(

should have had fries or something..

Quail with Pomegranate Mollases

Mum's arriving tonight and it's been months since I've cooked her dinner

This is my first time cooking quail.

Deboning it was the most difficult part..you do Not wanna see the pictures xP

Here's the final result instead..

Roasted Cochon stuffed Quail with Pomegranate Mollases glaze

("cochon" is pork in french)

I did'nt really know how to tie the bird..so it looks a little bit retarded

served with a green lentil, leek and carrot salad

That's what it looks like inside..

The stuffing was fantastic by the way..

I call it..."Lemonmisu"

This is new..

& alcoholic.. 

nyehehehehe

& I Love it

The sponge fingers, soaked in a mixture of raspberry liquer and lemon syrup

with a creamy lemon mousse

and a lovely sweet meringue.

This is on my favourite list!

Shepherd's Pie

This pie is one of the things I love making, because it's easypeasy, and we love cheesay things

For this, I used pork and fresh tomatoes. Adding a little bit of cumin and nutmeg gives it a slightly spicy flavour too..

As you can see, I made a bit of a hollow in the meat and the reason is so that I can do 

This

nyehehehe

Then top it with lots of mash and more cheeeeeeese

bake it..and it only takes a few minutes=)