Posts Tagged ‘donna hay’

I’d like to thank Donna Hay for creating a simple, easy cake that tastes fantastic.

Last weekend there were a couple of birthday celebrations (including a belated one for me). I love making cakes (although to be honest, I may be getting tired of cakes…I’ve made 3 in a week) and I was drawn to the cake that’s on the cover of Donna Hay’s 50th issue.

No mixer is required to make the cake (just the frosting) and it was put together in no time. I did add extra icing sugar to the frosting as the kiddies would be having a piece and I felt it would be too tangy (a.k.a. sour) for them.

Recipe here (printable).

If there was one cookbook where I’d want to try all the recipes out of, this is the cookbook I would choose. Donna Hay’s No Time to Cook is such a great book that it’s a shame it’s not being sold on amazon.com.

I’ve made about a dozen things out of this book and I like how all the recipes have pictures so you know what to expect. The recipes are no fuss and many of them can be done quickly. Those that have longer cooking times have minimal hands on time.

Some favourites have been the balsamic chicken stack, the curry-crusted chicken is in regular rotation, and her marinades and sauces are a breeze to make and so versatile.

I find that I have to do a bit of adjustments with her recipes because she’ll call for too much of something that completely overwhelms the dish. An example is the squashed tomatoes and spaghetti that called for way too many tomatoes. It was easy to see that it was too much and it’s hardly an issue to not make that dish again. The final dish was excellent.

I made the Crunchy Parmesan-Crumbed Chicken with good results. The ingredient list is 6 items (including pepper) and was really easy to throw together. In the recipe, you make a large batch of breadcrumbs that you can portion off and freeze for future use.

R doesn’t eat anything with what he calls “expressive eyes”. To be more specific, he doesn’t eat mammals. So it’s rare for me to indulge in anything other than chicken for meals. Summer is an exception and he’ll even make me burgers. Usually when he’s gone I’ll plan on having a steak or something equally delicious. What usually happens is I have a bowl of cereal instead for dinner or a sandwich.

This time I decided to go big. Beef tenderloin wrapped in prosciutto topped with really good blue cheese. This dish takes minutes to prepare and is so unbelievably amazing. It’s also on the pricey side. While my dinner would cost much more at a restaurant, it’s worth the occasional splurge for an at home dinner. I almost always get my beef from The Healthy Butcher and it’s well worth the price.

Prosciutto-wrapped steaks with blue cheese (from Donna Hay’s No Time to Cook)
2 x 200g beef tenderloin (or really any good quality grilling steak)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon mustard (I used dijon)
4 slices of prosciutto
70g soft blue cheese
Pepper

Mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar together and brush all over the steaks on both sides. Then put freshly cracked black pepper on it. Be generous. Brush mustard on and wrap with prosciutto. Prosciutto is very thin so don’t worry about any tearing. Throw on the grill (I used my panini press on high) and cook until the way you like it. For me, I’d rather have it slightly underdone than slightly overdone. Put small wedge of cheese on top and let it get all melty.

The last time I made this, it was too spicy for me but I still loved it. This time I was prepared for the spice.

This is from Donna Hay’s new book No Time to Cook. It came home with me after I spotted it at Costco and refused to put it down as I walked around the store. The book is gorgeous with pictures for every recipe and all of them are quick and easy. I also have the urge to make every recipe in this book. I’ve made several things in it already and the sauces and marinades are very good. I’ll write again when I’ve made more recipes.

The curry chicken to my surprise, was spicy but not insanely hot like last time. I figured out where I went wrong the first time. I forgot to baste the chicken beforehand so I did it afterwards and I forgot to mix it with oil. This meant the chicken was basted in thai curry paste. If you want to make this dish spicier, use less oil. I also omitted the green chili as I thought this dish would be spicy enough on its own, but I’ll add it in next time. The coconut noodles are delicious, but a bit messy with the coconut milk. If you don’t want it to be so messy, you can reduce it.

Even though R doesn’t remember most of the food I make, his eyes lit up and said “Oooh, is this that curry chicken thing again?”

Notes:
- This recipe calls for 4 green onions. I used the full amount and it was just way too much, I reduced it by half this time.
- To cook the noodles you place boiling hot water over them and let stand for 10 minutes. Last time, the noodles were still quite hard so this time around I covered the noodles and that did the trick.
- The next day, the noodles absorb more of the milk and become more creamier and less soupy.
- This recipe serves 2 and asks for 100 grams of noodles. My noodles came in a 400 gram pack and are split into 2. If you want to save some frustration of trying to get 1/4 of the noodle pack to come loose, just cook the 200g and double the recipe.