Blondie's Recipes | Finding Feasts

Golden Gaytime Ice Cream Log w/ Malteser Centre

Finding Feasts - Gaytime and Malteser Dessert — Click on image for recipe

Australia Day has been and gone for this year but I just couldn’t hold out for another year before putting this gem of a dessert up, Golden Gaytime Ice Cream Log w/ Malteser Centre! Who am I to decide when this should or should not be eaten!?

I have been meaning to make a dessert inspired by this true Australian icon for quite a while now but when I had both the Gaytime ice creams and Maltesers in my kitchen at the same time, then my all time Australia Day dessert just magically flowed from my fingers.

For those of you unaware of this delicious ice cream treat, it consists of a vanilla and caramel flavoured ice cream, dipped in a thin layer of chocolate and then covered in a honeycomb crumble. The only way to eat it is to let it ‘rest’ for about 5 minutes (obviously the time will alter depending on how hot it is that day) this lets the honeycomb crumble soften slightly making each mouthful a taste and textural sensation!

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, OI! Blondie

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Caesar Salad w/ Blondie’s Dill and Caper Dressing

Caesar Salad w/ Blondie’s Dill and Caper Dressing… It was a hot 42°c/107°f day in Sydney last week (I was very happy to be sitting by the water on The Hawkesbury River with my family that day!) and with such heat, the food you prepare needs to be quite simple… the last thing you want to be doing is slaving away in a kitchen.

This recipe uses cold leftover BBQ chicken, fresh salad leaves and my own home-grown tomatoes. The difference to a standard Caesar salad is my slightly spicy dill and caper dressing. This is a great tasting salad that you can casually graze on and fills you up without being heavy.

Continue reading “Caesar Salad w/ Blondie’s Dill and Caper Dressing” →

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Mini Spinach and Ricotta Tarts

Mini Spinach and Ricotta Tarts… These are a tasty mini tart that everyone will love at your next party… made even more special if you make your own ricotta cheese for it.

Light and fluffy, as finger food nothing beats cheese and spinach!

Eat up! Blondie

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Cherry and Lemon Ricotta Puffs aka Fritters

Cherry and Lemon Ricotta Puffs aka Fritters… These are an Italian-esk dessert, I would never go as far as to say these are a true Italian recipe.

I had a ‘test kitchen’ day about a month ago, lots of ricotta and lots of cherries to come up with recipes for. I eventually came up with 12 different cherry recipe ideas but really liked the idea of deep fried puffs (the other 11 are put aside for later)

This recipe is based on the Italian version of the Baci Di Ricotta; aside from adding fruit to the recipe, the consistency is much different. My version still has the ricotta as the feature whereas the Italian version can be almost a dough that comes out similar to a doughnut.

These are extremely moreish so don’t be afraid of making more than you think you will need!

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf

Enjoy, Blondie

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Homemade Ricotta Recipe

Homemade Ricotta Recipe… There are so many gorgeous recipes using ricotta that I have decided to make my own for the first time.

Here are a few tips when making your ricotta…

Tip 1: You can make ricotta using just milk but the more cream you add the creamier it will be. You can get it to a consistency of mascarpone cheese if you add enough cream.

Tip 2: There really isn’t a need to use a thermometer, you can go by sight. When it starts to foam at the top then it’s ready to add the vinegar.

Tip 3: The longer you let the whey drain from the curds the firmer and drier the ricotta will be.

Tip 4: If you are using this ricotta for a dessert then omit the salt

Tip 5: Enjoy the process… it’s such a joy to do something that has been done for an eternity – a very simple pleasure

Cheers, Blondie!

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How to make the perfect pork crackling

How to make the perfect pork crackling… Pork crackling is as important a part of my Christmas dinner as the ham or the pudding.

Every year my dad makes a delicious Christmas cocktail to greet all the family when we arrive, each year it’s different and sometimes quite experimental, but this is generally when the crackling gets eaten as no one can wait till dinner time – cocktails and crackling what better way to start a beautiful Christmas evening…

Since most of us in Australia will buy a Smoked Leg of Ham – and you can’t use the skin off this, you will need to buy the pork skin separately from your butcher. It is so cheap, if not free if you are lucky, so buy up big.

There are some vital elements to making this that will determine whether you succeed or fail…

Firstly, get pork skin that has quite a bit of fat still under the skin, at minimum there needs to be .5cm. It’s the the contrast of the juicy fat under the crispy skin that makes pork crackling perfect!

Secondly, get your butcher to score the skin. You may think you can do it yourself but trying to score skin that’s flat on a bench is really hard. They have super sharp knives and can do it seconds flat!

Finally, the pouring over of the boiling water is what will open up the scored skin, which will then let in the salt, which then forms the crispy skin. Without one process the others won’t work.

Happy crunching! Blondie.

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Coconut Beef w/ Thai Red Curry Paste… From Scratch

Coconut Beef w/ Thai Red Curry Paste…From Scratch. This is a stunning, slow cooked Thai dish using Martin Boetz’s Red Curry Paste recipe from his stunning book, Longrain: Modern Thai Food.

If you are going to make one from scratch you must try this one! Plus it makes 1 cup worth of paste, which is basically 5 meals so it’s well worth the effort. I explain my favourite way of storing pastes and the such in the recipe so you have it easily on hand.

I used a gravy beef for my recipe as I love big chunks of melt in your mouth meat, that along with the sauce and the rice to sop it up with and you have a meal you would pay a small fortune for quite happily. Serve it with a side of shredded greens.

Enjoy, Blondie

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