Spinach and Mint Dip

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Don't you just love this time of year? Even if you're not into Christmas, or NYE fireworks, it's usually when the weather is balmy, you (hopefully) have some time off work to (theoretically) relax, the mood is jovial and I spend a great deal of time giving myself permission to keep reading instead of mopping the floor. It's holidays, I justify.

Something about this weather makes me just want to nibble on lots of different things, and if there's one thing I love it's a cheese plate. Add some interesting dips and a beverage with lots of ice, and there's a good chance you won't hear from me for a while. Sometimes I'm asked to bring a dip somewhere, or I want to bring one... whether Christmas or the beach, or a new year's eve party, and I like to make one with what I've already got. That's how this spinach and mint dip was born.

The first person tried it and pronounced it "to die for". Very kind, I thought... I quite like it too.

A latecomer took a bite and pronounced: "to die for!". So I believe it's now been independently verified! Either/or, it's easy and good.

Ingredients:

2 frozen packets spinach

1 large handful mint

1 small garlic clove, minced

1/4-1/2 cup greek yogurt

a squeeze of lemon

a generous pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Thaw spinach, and squeeze as much water as you can out of it.

2. Add to food processor with mint, garlic, yogurt, lemon and salt. Whiz to your liking.

Have a foolproof dip? Remember the french-onion-soup-and-sour-cream concoction from your youth? What do you always take?

Bitesize Treats iPhone app: a review

It's no secret that I'm into cute. Frills, flounces, buttons and bows, if it's pink and dainty, I find it irresistible.

Same goes for small versions of things - babies, kittens, miniature ornaments and cocktail food. Why have a slice of quiche when you can have a mini-quiche with a baby tomato on top? WHY?

When asked to review this adorable app, I said yes in about negative 2.3 seconds. For many reasons.

1. Bitesize Treats. Treats. Bitesize. Sold!

2. It is based on the Hardie Grant bestselling book Bitesize: 50 Macarons, Cakepops and Cute Things. (Cute Things... #winning)

3. I had just upgraded to an iPhone 4 and I was interested to see how this would work.

4. I am an iPhone app freak. I have pages and pages of them which I refuse to put into folders, because I love them all and want to look at them. They're organised in groups, but I won't hide them. The icons themselves are cute! 

5. I am a cooking app conoisseur. The flour stuck in my earpiece and random greasy butter smears all over my phone are testament to my new-found addiction to recipes on-the-go.

6. I love reading. It's a rare day indeed that I do a straight review, but I am happy to promote books, reading and cooking. To anyone. Anytime.

Macarons! Cake Pops! Cupcakes, oh my!

I have to say, I wanted to make just about everything as soon as I opened the app. That right there is a good sign.

The photography and food styling is gorgeous... everything looked so enticing.

Ok, back up - what? Blueberry mojito? In popsicle form? Genius. When the weather is warmer these will be the first on my to-do list. Mama needs a summer treat. Anyone wanna join me?

I've never made churros before - I suck at piping and I don't deep-fry anything, really. Except pickles. Everyone should make an exception for deep-fried pickles. And anyhow, I cheat and shallow-fry, which I'm fairly sure can't be done with churros. However - chili chocolate sauce should never be overlooked in such a manner. And I like that I can favourite this recipe and make the sauce for something else.

The ingredients tab of each recipe are helpfully accompanied by a plus sign, which when clicked, will add the ingredient to the shopping list section of the app. 

The method tab also has boxes for you to check when you have completed a step. When I was younger, I read a tip that if you put all your ingredients on the left side of your bench, when you're done with it you move it to the right side, so you always know where you're up to. Being able to check off as I go, even though the recipe is on my phone, is incredibly handy for me as I've now got to abandon recipes partway through to prop up a slumping Veggie Baby, or stop the cat trying to sit on her head, or collect her if she's woken early from her nap. I'm likely to forget my own name these days, so having this as an option is a winner.

The shopping list function is exceedingly useful, as I take my phone everywhere, including the supermarket. I love that its organised either by aisle (dried herbs and spices/packaged goods etc) or by recipe. Once you have put the item into your cart, you check the box and the item moves to the bottom of the list. No more confusion and getting home to find you missed the ginger because it was sandwiched in between the celery and vanilla extract on your list and once you collected them you stopped looking at that section.

 And if that wasn't enough, there is even an oven timer, which is great for busy and/or forgetful people like me. Who cook by instinct and only remember something in the oven because all of a sudden it kinda smells like chocolate brownies with a tinge of burning.

The app is available from iTunes, and is priced at $4.49. For more information, you can go here.

If you want a blueberry mojito popsicle, you can come to my house.

*I was given a free app to review. That's all, folks!

Cinco de Mayo - Veggie fajitas and homemade salsa

First of all, whenever anybody says salsa, in my head I'm repeating the above scene... where George and Jerry are discussing salsa being the number one condiment in America... and Jerry saying "It's because people like to say 'salsa'!"... and I can't say salsa properly again after that.

It's easy for me to see how it did become the most popular condiment - I like a sauce to be spicy and flavoursome. I'm not about plain old ketchup, I'm the one sneaking back to the kitchen to doctor it up somehow. Salsa fits my bill perfectly. And all you have to do is throw things into a blender and voila! spicy salsa.

Mexican food is one of the easiest and best cuisines to eat if you're vegetarian, going veg, or just wanting to eat less meat. It's so adaptable, and its big, bold flavours satisfy any kind of appetite. I usually go for a cheesy enchilada or bean burrito, or even a crispy taco on Mexican nights around here, but it's hard to go past a spicy veggie-filled soft wrap with a dollop of sour cream and some SALSA!! on the side. Yum!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Fajita ingredients:
2 capsicums, one red, one green, sliced
1 onion, sliced
7-8 portobello or field mushrooms, sliced
juice of 2 limes or 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 chillies, sliced
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
tortillas, coriander and sour cream to serve.

Method:

1. Put the capsicum, onion, mushrooms, garlic and chillies in a bowl. Add lemon, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper and marinate at least 1 hour.

2. Fry over medium-high heat until veggies are soft and browned, about 8-10 minutes.

3. Serve on tortillas with optional extras.

Salsa ingredients
1 400g can diced tomatoes
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1-2 red chillies or jalapenos, roughly chopped
juice of a lime
small handful chopped coriander
pinch of sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Method:

1. Pulse until desired consistency.

Crazy Vegas and the Deep Fried Pickle.

Two insanely amazing things happened to me when we were in Las Vegas last year.

I found out I was pregnant.

I ate my first fried pickle.

I blame/thank my dad for getting me started on the whole pickle train. He and I used to eat canned cucumber slices straight from the tin when I was a teeny little veggie, and I've been hooked on any kind ever since. I love the sweet-tartness of gherkins the best, but I'll eat any pickle I can find. I was never the one to remove it from burgers, instead I would eat everyone else's discarded goodness before they had a chance to throw them at the window or ceiling (what a waste!) or each other. I also remember once in high school my best friend and I went halves in a cheeseburger, and she very diligently also halved the lone pickle inside. Bestest friend ever!

Before I even made it to Vegas, we visited Disneyland for a day, where I found pickles in bags in among all the rest of the snack food one could purchase in the park. Just a pickle. In a bag. Ready to eat.

Veggie Dad was bordering on horrified, but I felt as though I was finally among my people.

The Pickle Fan in her natural habitat.

 If I thought that was amazing, I had no idea what was in store for me when I finally met the fried version. For an insatiable pickle fan, I was embarrassingly unaware it was even possible to fry them. And for them to taste so fricking good. While Veggie Dad played a slot machine in every casino, I gently nursed my little basket of fried goodness from one place to another. Bought from a random concession caravan at the last minute, and with a little pot of ranch dressing for dipping, I thought the pinnacle of my life had arrived. Nothing, surely, would top that moment when I first bit into a crazy-hot, crunchy-crumbed and golden fried spear into the sweet tang of soft pickle below.

Except the next day I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. The pickle was all but forgotten.

We took a bus through the desert. A bus. through the desert. And it was delayed due to a huge accident on the freeway. Desert. Height of Summer. Never Again.

Wasn't much cooler when we got here either. Fairly sure my shoes melted to the sidewalk.

So funny to see the small versions of tourist attractions.

The strip really was quite pretty, once you got around the Elvis impersonators, hammered frat boys with glowing yardglasses around their necks, families of 20 ambling along the sidewalk and ninety-five policemen.

Another highlight of the trip! I wanna be big!!

Sadly, the only way for me to indulge my fried pickle needs these days is to make them myself. Sometimes I just make a whole batch and sometimes I crumb and fry a few when I'm already doing a bunch of other stuff. I don't often eat fried things at home, so it's a bit of a treat.

Ingredients

1 jar dill pickles (or any pickles really, I find bread and butter pickle slices to be lovely and sweet)

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal/polenta/breadcrumbs/panko/whatever you like

1 cup milk/buttermilk or 1 egg

Any flavourings you like. I add a dash of paprika, garlic powder and onion powder. And black pepper.

Oil for frying.

Directions:

1. Slice the pickles quarterly lengthwise into spears. Dry on a paper towel.

2. Dip into the milk or egg - egg will create a thicker crumb that will stay together better.

3. Dip into mixed flour, cornmeal and flavourings to coat.

4. Fry (deep or shallow) in hot oil until golden brown.

5. Eat. Faint. Recover. Eat more.