Basil Pesto Recipe

February 8, 2015 By

Brooke and I love basil pesto. We love how tasty and versatile it is – you can stir it through a pasta, use it as a pizza sauce, use it as an accompaniment to roast dishes – it’s a great all-rounder!  This simple basil pesto recipe is all those things and more.

While there is an abundance of different styles available in jars at the supermarket, basil pesto is simple to master at home. It requires no cooking, and has few ingredients. There are generally only five ingredients – basil, of course, pine nuts and garlic, plus olive oil and Parmesan cheese. This recipe uses a food processor to speed up the preparation time instead of the traditional method of pounding using a mortar and pestle.

Like everything in cooking it’s the quality of the ingredients is what makes a great pesto. We managed to get everything we needed from the Prahran Market.

If you are looking for some other savoury dips or spreads then check out our recipes for Sweet Potato Hummus or Simple Guacamole.

Basil Pesto Recipe IngredientsSimple basil pesto recipebasil pestoBasil Pesto Recipe

Healthy Simple Basil Pesto – Recipe Instructions

5.0 from 1 reviews
Basil Pesto Recipe
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Basil pesto recipe made with only five ingredients - basil, pine nuts and garlic, plus olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
Author:
Recipe type: sauce
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 cups basil leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ¼ cup (45g) toasted pine nuts
  • ⅓ cup (35g) finely grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup (125ml) olive oil
Instructions
  1. Place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and parmesan in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped.
  2. While food processor is running, gradually add the oil in a thin, steady stream until well combined and a smooth paste forms. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  3. Transfer to an airtight container and pour over a little extra oil to cover the pesto surface (this will prevent the basil from oxidising and turning black).

 

Filed Under: Preserves and Condiments Tagged With: , , ,

The American Doughnut Kitchen

January 26, 2015 By

2015 is here and we’re back with the first post for the year. After taking a few months off blogging while we relocated to Melbourne, we’ve decided to change things up a bit by writing about our culinary adventures as well as our favourite recipes. This leads us to write up on The American Doughnut Kitchen.

Moving to Melbourne, one of the things we are most excited about is being able to shop at the Queen Victoria Market also known affectionately as ‘Vic Market’ or ‘Queen Vic’. Established in 1878, the Queen Victoria Market has been the heart and soul of Melbourne for more than a century.

This Melbourne institution is spread over two city blocks. It’s a vibrant and bustling inner-city Market where you can shop for everything from Australian fruit and vegetables, local and imported gourmet foods, cosmetics, clothing and souvenirs… but most importantly it’s the home of the American Doughnut Kitchen – which we will get to in a minute.

The market is open five days a week, with Sunday taking on a carnival atmosphere as entertainers delight the crowds. Guided tours highlight the market’s food, heritage and culture, shopping and history. However exploring the market on your own is just as fun.

The American Doughnut Kitchen van is almost as big of a Melbourne icon as the market itself. Operating from the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne since 1950, the American Doughnut Kitchen serves hot jam doughnuts to thousands of customers every week from their 1950′s style bus.

The dough is made fresh the day before trade and transported to the market ready for production right before your eyes. Watch through the bus windows as the staff, roll out, cut out and cook these sugary beauties ready for your consumption.

As most of you would know I love jam doughnuts, Brooke and I have even made our own jam doughnuts. The American Doughnut Kitchen sells their jam filled parcels of doughy goodness along Queen St. My recommendation is to always eat them while they are hot as you wander through the Market shopping for goods. Although it doesn’t hurt to buy a second batch for the drive home either!

Looking for other Victorian food adventures then check out are posts on Cerberus Beach House and Timboon Railway Distillery.

Melbourne Tram near Queen Victoria Markets

Queen Victoria Markets Melbourne Jam Doughnuts

Queen Vic Markets Jam Doughnuts

Vic Market Jam Doughnuts

Jam Doughnuts

 

Filed Under: Food Adventures Tagged With:

Sweet Potato Hummus

August 18, 2014 By

I love snacking. It’s one of my favourite past times. If I am watching the footy, a movie, or if friends are coming over, there must be snacks. Chips and dips are always a crowd pleaser and so easy. Now I do love guacamole, but this recipe for healthy sweet potato hummus with its spicy flavour is definitely one of my new favourites.

Hummus is so easy to make and for some reason, it can be an expensive dip in the shops, even though it uses low-cost ingredients. To add a little sweetness and colour to our recipe we use roasted sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are great as they are full of beta-carotene, are low-gi and work great with spices like cumin and ground coriander.

To make this recipe we use a basic hummus recipe and spiced it up using cumin, coriander, and smoked paprika along with the roasted sweet potato. After roasting the sweet potato first, simply add this to the remaining ingredients, blitz in the food processor and voila! Homemade sweet potato hummus!

We usually serve the sweet potato hummus with crackers, some fresh vegetables or if we have some time, some of Brooke’s homemade green onion flat bread!

If you are looking for other dips and spreads then check out our Basil Pesto Recipe or Simple Guacamole Recipe.

Sweet Potato Hummus IngredientsRoasted Sweet Potato HummusSweet Potato Hummus RecipeSweet Potato Hummus RecipeSweet Potato Hummus Recipe

Healthy Sweet Potato Hummus – Recipe Instructions

Sweet Potato Hummus
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Sweet potato hummus made with cumin, coriander and smoked paprika along with the hero ingredient roasted sweet potato.
Author:
Recipe type: Snack
Cuisine: Greek
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 1 can of chickpeas, washed and drained
  • 400g sweet potato, roasted
  • 3 -4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lemon, zest and juice
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1½ tsp cumin
  • 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ground sea salt, to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 °C. Bake the sweet potato in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. Once the sweet potato is golden and soft in the middle it is ready. Allow to cool.
  2. In a food processor, combine remaining ingredients with cooled sweet potato and puree. Scrap down the sides of the food processor as you go. You can thin the hummus with a little water if necessary. If you are sensitive to spice, season gradually.
  3. Serve fresh, or refrigerate in an airtight container, up to 1 week. Serve with crudités or crackers.

 

Filed Under: Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies

August 11, 2014 By

I don’t know why, but this weekend I had a sudden urge for oatmeal and raisin cookies. I know these aren’t exactly the most exciting cookies, mainly because they don’t contain delicious chocolate bars like tasty snickers cookies. However, these thick and chewy old fashioned goodies are delicious and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.

Whilst writing this post I was trying to find the right words to describe these cookies, so I thought some extra taste testing would help – these cookies are thick and chewy from the traditional oats, spicy from the cinnamon, crunchy from the walnuts and sweet from the brown sugar and raisins.

To add an extra crunch to these cookies, Brooke added some chopped walnuts, which she quickly toasted before adding to the mixture. However, you could easily substitute the walnuts with some choc chips or dried apple for anyone who doesn’t like walnuts or has an allergy.

To ensure you have nice thick and chewy cookies you need to use traditional rolled oats, not quick oats and also leave your dough to chill for around one hour. Once your dough has chilled, you can bake your cookies for 13 to 15 minutes in a moderate oven till your house has filled with delicious cinnamon aromas! Be careful not to over bake your cookies as they will end up more crunchy then chewy!

Looking for other recipes for cookies and biscuits Easy Afghan Biscuit Recipe, Florentine Biscuits, Ginger Nut Biscuits, Melting Moments with Jam, Choc Chip Snickers Cookies.

Oatmeal and raisin cookie ingredientsOatmeal and Raisin CookiesOatmeal and Raisin Cookie IngredientsOatmeal and Raisin Cookies RecipesOatmeal and Raisin Cookies

Tasty Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies – Recipe Instructions

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
These oatmeal and raisin cookies are thick and chewy from the traditional oats, spicy from the cinnamon, crunchy from the walnuts and sweet from the brown sugar and raisins.
Author:
Recipe type: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Serves: 18
Ingredients
  • 115 g butter
  • 125 g brown sugar
  • 
1 egg
  • ½ tsp vanilla
  • 95 g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 
1/2 tsp salt
  • 120 g rolled oats
  • 120 g raisins
  • 65 g walnuts, chopped (toasted optional)
Instructions
  1. Cream butter and brown sugar. Mix in egg, and vanilla.
  2. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
  3. Stir butter mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts. Allow dough to chill for around an hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 180°C. Scoop large tablespoons of dough, and portion onto lined baking trays. Roll dough with your hand and flatten a little bit.
  5. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges are golden, but the centers look a bit underdone. Overbaking them will result in less chewy cookies.

 

Filed Under: Baked Goods Tagged With: , , , ,

Clementine Cake

August 3, 2014 By

Last week we went and visited some friends and were given a rather large bag of clementine’s from them in the hope we might turn it into something delicious for the blog. “Challenge accepted!” we said and proceeded to create this homemade clementine cake recipe.

Clementine’s are a great combination of mandarin and orange, and after doing some research they are also a popular citrus fruit used for making tasty treats in the UK. Courtesy of Nigella Lawson’s reputable recipe, Clementine Cake, Brooke used this recipe to use the tangy fruit.

Firstly you must allow some extra time to boil the fruit whole, for at last two hours. Luckily if there is someone already home you can kindly ask them to put them on a light boil ahead for you. Once the clementine’s have boiled for two hours you need to blitz them in the food processor – skin, pith, fruit and all! Just simply check the fruit for seeds first before giving them a blitz. From there it is simply just combining the remaining ingredients and stirring in the clementine puree. This cake does take up to an hour to bake and you may need to protect the top with a bit of foil to stop it from burning.

Once the cake is cooked and allowed to cool, you can sprinkle with a little icing sugar or make an easy icing with the juice of one clementine and 1 cup of icing sugar. For me this cake is dense, moist and flavorful on is own and perfect for these cool months with a cup of tea, coffee or warm drink!

Looking for some more dessert recipes then check out our recipe for Homemade No Bake Mars Bar Slice or Fruit and Custard Tart.

Clementine Cake IngredientsBoiled ClementinesClementine Cake MixtureClementine Cake RecipeClementine Cake Recipe

Homemade Clementine Cake – Recipe Instructions

Clementine Cake
 
Print
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Delicious Clementine Cake made with just 5 ingredients.
Author:
Recipe type: Baked Goods
Cuisine: British
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 400 g clementine’s (approx. 4 small-sized ones)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 225 g white sugar
  • 250 g ground almonds
  • 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
  1. Put the clementine’s in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for 2 hours. Drain and, when cool, cut each clementine in half and remove the pips. Dump the clementine’s - skins, pith, fruit and all - and give a quick blitz in a food processor.
  2. Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Butter and line a 21cm / 8 inch Springform tin.
  3. Add all the other ingredients to the food processor and mix. Or, you can beat the eggs by hand adding the sugar, almonds and baking powder, mixing well, then finally adding the fruit puree.
  4. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for an hour. Check the cake with a skewer that it comes out clean.
  5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

 

Filed Under: Baked Goods Tagged With: , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »