Banana Bread

On Sunday, my brother and I simply decided the situation was untenable. We hopped into the car, drove to the local fruit shop, purchased a kilo of Lady Finger Bananas for $6 and scoffed the lot for lunch. It had been months since we had seen a banana so we relished our banana bender but luckily enough had the foresight to purchase some overripe Cavendish Bananas. So after some research I decided to trial this popular Banana Bread recipe from Taste.com.

Start by preheating the oven to 180°C, lining and lightly greasing a standard loaf tin. Then take a large mixing bowl and add 1/4 cup sifted plain flour, 1 3/4 cups sifted self raising flour, 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Make a well in the center and 1/2 cup skim milk, two whisked eggs, 50g of cooled melted butter and combine.

Mash and add two medium bananas and a generous handful of walnuts to the mixture.

Your mixture should then look like this. Place this rather grotesque mixture, into your lined pan and bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Allow your Banana Bread to cool, before removing and enjoying it. Banana Bread is an amazing one bowl wonder that tastes even better the next day!

Pourboy Espresso

My phone's screen clearly stated 5:20am. Surely it was wrong? Maybe it was using a Daylight Savings Feature? No it was definitely 5:20am, my alarm was set to 4:15am by mistake and I was late! Luckily Adrenaline kicked it and I managed to get ready in 10 minutes, drove like a hoon, parked and arrived in the central business district by 6:10am to set up for Daffodil Day. Huzzah! After volunteer at the Central Plaza 1 stand for a couple of hours, the team were starving so we decided to venture to Pourboy Espresso for a hot breakfast.

The Pourboy Espresso team are friendly and responsive and we were quickly show to a table. Perhaps sensing the urgency they asked if they could take a drink order and the majority of the table asked for a hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is balanced, the milk is creamy and has the glossy appearance that only comes from a careful hand.

The table ordered a number of glorious dishes, but apart from being really tasty, the poached eggs were all perfect. Above is the Jamon Serrano, poached egg, slow roasted tomato on Pane.

The Croque Madame is a grilled sandwich that originated in France. Here is Pourboy Espresso's version with Gruyere, shaved bangalow ham, poached egg and djionaisse.

Here is my Mushroom Duxelle with buffalo ricotta served on Pane. Plenty of taste and the perfect breakfast to warm me up after a morning on standing outside.

Though we were comfortably full I couldn't leave without one of the house made chocolate brioche. Inside the beautiful seal, there were swirled of nut enriched chocolate. It was an extremely naughty morning tea and I enjoyed every morsel. Pourboy Espresso lived up to the hype and I enjoyed the experience so much that it made me wish I was back working in town.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
Address: 26 Wharf Street, Brisbane, QLD 4000.
Open: Monday - Friday. 6am - 4pm.
Phone: (07) 3172 1141
Price: Breakfast: $3.50 - $14. Lunch: $8 - 15. Coffee: $3.50 - $4.50

Cranberry and Pistachio Biscotti

I'm a harden biscotti addict so when I spotted this recipe on Taste.com.au I knew I had to try it, but I've made a few tweaks along the way which I thought I would share with you. First beat together two eggs, 1 cup of caster sugar and the finely grated rind from 1 lemon.

Then combine 1 2/3 cup of plain flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder until you have just formed a dough. Then mix through 1 cup of raw shelled pistachio and 1/2 a cup of chopped dried cranberries.

Divide the dough into two smooth even logs and rest on a greased lined baking tray. Place the tray into a preheated 160°C oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes before slicing them in 5mm pieces with a serrated knife. Reduce the oven to 120°C and place the slices in a single layer on 3 lined baking trays. Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp.

Cool on the tray and then store in an air tight container and hide from your family!

Beef Stroganoff

I've been making this Beef Stroganoff recipe for some time and it is amazing as it is flexible (you can easily increase the beef to 800g and double the quantities of swiss brown mushrooms), freezes and reheats well. So begin the process, mix two tablespoons sweet paprika, 100g plain flour and 1 teaspoon of salt in a large bowl and then coat 500g - 800g of sliced beef.

In a deep fry pan, brown the beef in batches and set aside. In the same pan, saute 200 - 400g swiss brown mushrooms, add three finely diced eschalots and cook until caramelised.

Add 1/2 cup of brandy, 2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 cup of beef stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in 1 cup creme fraiche and the beef.

Serve your delicious beef stroganoff on a bed of Parsley and Black Pepper Fettuccine or if you are lazy like me, steamed rice.

Tarte Fraise Mascarpone

It's a rare occasion when I make an impulse purchase. But the moment I spotted Laduree: Sucre the Recipes on the Black Pearl Epicure counter I knew I had to have it. There was something so attractive about its tactile mint green cover and gold edged pages so I enquired for more information. Well the book was sold quicker than the helpful staff member informing me that the book was 35% off. My cousin Jacqui was coming over for dinner so I decided to find a lighter style dessert to balance the robust main and I settled on the Tarte Fraise Mascarpone, which a fancy term for a strawberry tart with mascarpone cream.

I started by making the Sweet Almond Pastry the day before. I whipped 120g cold butter (chopped into small cubes) with a stand mixer before adding the following ingredients one by one: 1/2 cup of icing sugar, 1/4 cup ground almonds, 1 pinch of sea salt, a few drops of vanilla extract, 1 egg, 1 cup plain flour and 2/3 cup corn flour. I then cling wrapped the dough and rested it overnight. The next day I rolled out the dough to 2mm, pressed it gently into a 24cm tart pan, cling wrapped again and rested it in the fridge for another hour. When the tart was ready, I preheated the oven to 170°C, pricked the pastry with a fork, lined the case with baking paper and pie weights before baking for 20 minutes or until lightly coloured. Allow it to cool completely before lining the time with melted white chocolate (I got lazy and brushed the case with egg while and baked it again).

While the tart case is in the oven you can start on the mascarpone cream. Cut up 2 gold strength gelatin sheets and soak them in a bowl of cold water. Then take a saucepan and add 60ml double cream, 125g caster sugar and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, incorporate the drained gelatin and allow the mixture to cool completely.

Using a wooden spoon mix 500g mascarpone until smooth and slowly incorporate the cream mixture. Pop the glossy cream in the fridge until it begins to firm.

I then filled the tart case with the mascarpone cream, sliced two punnets of strawberries and arranged them in a floral formation. Though this tart needs plenty of resting time, it is extremely easy and results are well worth it. Serve with vanilla icecream.

Down To A Tea

After talking rubbish well into the small hours, it was extremely generous of Tim, Rachel and Evonne to awaken from their slumber to wander the Fernvale Markets. We arrived late so we were unable to secure to any Polish Chickens, but we did pick up some farm fresh strawberries before ambling through the mental fog to hunt down a coffee. We pulled up to an establishment named 'Down To A Tea' with dark polished wooden floors, gorgeous high ceilings and a landscape of antiques and gifts for visitors to explore and purchase. But priorities called and this meant coffee. Heck, I would have even taken a handful of beans at that stage!

Though we were the only table, the wait for coffees was longer than expected and I was handed a cappuccino rather than my skinny mocha. The staff are really friendly and accommodating so when I pointed out the error, they immediately offered to make me another. I don't believe in wasting food so accepted my drink and it pains me to inform you all the coffee was bitter and the milk lacking the body and fullness that comes from correct technique.

The Pastry of the Week was Spinach and Fetta. The pastry was feather light, all the ingredients in the salad were fresh and the dressing was zesty. This was a delightful light meal and I would have been happy to settle back and enjoy this meal on another trip. It's been more than six months since the Queensland Floods, but retailers in this area could do still do with your support. So if you are in the area, drop by and visit 'Down To A Tea.'

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.
Address: 10 Simpson Road, Fernvale, QLD 4306.
Open: Monday, Thursday - Sunday: 9am - 4pm.
Phone: (07) 5427 0830
Price: Lunch: $13. Dessert: $8 - $10.50. High Tea: $32.

S'mores

A couple of weeks ago, Tim, Rachel and I popped into a car and drove down the Warrego Highway to Evonne's Farm for a bonfire weekend. There is something marvellous about the experience of chasing cows, Polish Chickens and their green eggs, stumbling onto a medieval festival in Esk and well sitting by roaring fire and making S'mores.

S'mores are an American treat that involves sandwiching a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate a layer of chocolate between two Graham Crackers. We all wondered what a Graham Cracker was and after some research, learned the equivalent is a digestive biscuit, which suited us we didn't really want to go through the fuss and bother of melting chocolate and smoothing it over a biscuit with our rudimentary outdoor tools.

So after some trial and error, my essential list of S'more pantry items include one packet of McVitie's Original Digestive, one packet of McVitie's Dark Chocolate Digestive and one bag of Pascall Mega Mallows. It's as simple as roasting the marshmallow over a small fire or coals, then sandwich it between two biscuits (one each of the aforementioned) and taking a dainty bite. Your biggest challenge will containing the molten ooze, keeping a roaring fire and entertaining your friends with horror stories. The most terrifying story of the night was the nurture and subsequent release of Justin Bieber. Horrible horrible stuff.