Steamed green tea cupcakes

I love green tea....And I mean LOVE.
I made these cakes for a friend who can't eat much sugar. The batter tastes amazing, slightly bitter from the green tea but a little sweet from the honey.

1 cup self raising flour
2 tbs green tea powder
2 tbs honey
2 eggs
6 tbs yogurt  ( I used vanilla)
2tbs oil
3 tbs sugar (caster)

Mix wet ingredients together, eggs first with oil then add honey and yogurt. Sift in dry ingredients. Mix well.
Place four ramekins in a pan of hot boiling water. Cover and steam for 15 mins or til cooked through.

Lazy feijoada

I first had feijoada in Brazil a few years ago and have loved it ever since. Thing is, it takes time to make it the traditional way so I've discovered a lazy version.

3 cans of black beans
2 chorizo sausages
300 grams bacon
ham hock (optional)
1 onion
3 teaspoons of garlic
feijoada seasoning  (from online Brazilian food shop...if not then use cumin, oregano and bay)

Fry chorizo and bacon til crispy then add onion and garlic. Add the beans and a cup of water and seasoning.
Simmer for at least 30 mins - the longer the better. Serve with rice and farofa ( dried cassava).

Lolo Fijian fish curry

I had this dish at an Indigenous yarn event. I fell deeply in love and went back for thirds! Lolo means coconut in Fijian, which is the basis of this recipe.  It's very simple but very tasty. I didn't get the recipe spot on...it doesn't taste EXACTLY the same, but I tried my best. The recipe was passed on to me by mouth as we were dashing out the door!

2 Basa fish fillets (or any white fish)
2 cans coconut cream
2 tbp of regular Keens curry
4 tbp flour
1 large onion
half wombok cabbage
 3 cloves of garlic

Coat fish in flour snd curry and fry lightly til.just cooked through.
Fry onion and gsrluc til translucent then add cabbage til wilted.
Add fish (cut in pieces for ease).
Add coconut cream.
Simmer for at least 20 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Okonomiyaki

I'm back...mostly.
This is an attempt to get me to cook more and think about food more.
And what better way to get the ball rolling again than to make okonomiyaki!  My absolute favourite Japanese dish, though I never had it in Japan (go figure)!
Recipe as follows:

2 cups flour (plain is fine)
1.5 cups water or stock
2 eggs
half tsp salt or dashi
quarter of a cabbage
ham
sausage
shallots
nori
wostershire sauce
ketchup
soy sauce

Mix flour, egg and salt and water til smooth. Pop in fridge for 30 minutes.
To make sauce, mix three equal amounts of ketchup and soy and wostershire sauce together.
Cut cabbage into small pieces and add whatever else you have around.
Fry for 10 mins on each side.

Top with sauce and kewpie mayo.

Xmas Menu

At Xmas time, I am the cook. I am the one who stands in the hot kitchen for 28383 hours making food that my family are always too drunk to remember eating. Alas, I love it and here is this year's menu in the making (pics to follow post-Xmas):

- Traditional prawn cocktails with homemade mayo

- Champagne sorbet

- Rosemary and paprika mixed nuts

- Coddled eggs with basil, roast tomato and bacon

- Baked plum and clove glazed ham

- White chocolate and nutmeg cheesecake

Can.not.wait.

Green tea and plum jam biscuits

Green tea is possibly my favourite thing in the world of food. I saw a recipe for jam drops and changed it by adding green tea and plum jam.

80g butter

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp of vanilla essence/paste

1 cup self-raising flour

1/4 cup custard powder

2 tsp green tea powder

2 tbs milk

Beat butter/sugar together. Add milk and vanilla.

Sift in flour, green tea powder and custard powder, mix to soft dough.

Roll into balls, press in to make a small well - add 1/4 tsp of jam.

Bake 15 mins at 180.

Pumpkin “whoopie” pies (USA)

I have been hearing a lot about whoopie pies lately, and thought I would give them a burl. Half biscuit/half cake, they are pretty damn good and very easy to make. I used a maple/butter icing for the middle. They are extremely light and pretty addictive...there are also a million different flavour combinations to try.

2 eggs

2 cups of pumpkin mashed

1 cup oil

2 cups brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

icing sugar

butter

maple syrup

Mix the eggs, pumpkin, oil, sugar and vanilla together. Add flour and spices slowly mixing.

Dollop onto tray in smallish rounds, cook for 12ish minutes til slightly browned.

Whack on some of the icing, and snadwich them together.