Updates

Hey y'all!

Sorry I've been absent again.  It's been one crazy busy year!

I just thought I'd drop in and let you all know that I've gone and added labels to most of my posts so that recipes are a bit easier to find now :) You're welcome!

I will try really hard to get a new recipe up for you this weekend.

Also, I wanted to share the news that Calamity Jayne Kindle ebook is going to be FREE on Amazon over the weekend!  (For all you New Zealanders reading this, it will be Sunday/Monday).  So make sure you jump on and grab yourself a copy if you haven't already, and please take a minute or two to write a quick review too please!  Even just one line will do :)

Thanks lovelies!

With the holiday season fast approaching, I have food on my mind, and I'm hoping to get a chance to rustle up some new holiday recipes and even get some pics of the actual Christmas Feast this year.  

If you have any requests of meals you'd like me to try, then please contact me on my FB page here!

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!  I'm off to get organised for my 1950's style book club/clothes swap!  Fun times ahead!

Dinner and Dessert

Hey hey!

As promised, I have that kickass burger recipe for you - a word of warning, it is in no way a healthy burger, it involves deep frying!
I also have the slow cooker golden dumplings recipe for you too.

Now, we are big fans of the show Man vs Food and happened to be watching an episode with burgers.  He had all manner of things added to his burger, but the one thing that we both sat there, mouths agape over, was the addition of deep fried bacon.  Oh My God!  It had never occurred to me to do that before, but I am so glad I did!  Freakin amazing burgers!

Here's what I did.

Beef mince, salt and pepper 

Form into a flat pattie.  Heat your pan - I like to use cast iron with a griddle plate - up to medium high temperature.  Add a splash of oil and then pop the patties in the pan to cook.  Give them a few minutes to brown up nicely before flipping over.
Once flipped, add slices of cheese to the top of the pattie so that it can melt in.  I used a smokey manuka cheese, however, you can use a plain cheese or whichever kind you like.

While that is cooking, heat up your deep frier.

In a bowl mix a good dollop of mayo with about 1tsp of wholegrain mustard, 1tsp BBQ sauce, and a few drops of hot sauce.  Give it a good mix and then dollop onto the bottom of your burger buns.  I find that brioche buns are really good.  Top with a little lettuce and then set aside.

Snip your streaky bacon into small pieces, approx 8-10cm and carefully drop four or so pieces into the frier.  They only need about a minute or two to cook so you need to keep an eye on them.  Drain them and then place on top of the cheese covered patties.

Once cooked, carefully place a pattie on each bun, top with tomato slices and then drizzle a little BBQ sauce on the top half of the bun before adding.

Seriously flavoursome burgers!

As for the dessert.  I wanted to make something that would be ready by the time we finished our dinner, without having to muck about with too much prep.  A slow cooker dessert is the perfect solution!

Heat your slow cooker on high and add the following directly to the pan.
50g butter
2C hot water
3/4C brown sugar
1/4C golden syrup
1tsp vanilla essence

Leave it to heat up until it is starting to bubble on the sides.

Soften another 50g butter in a bowl, and add 1 1/2C flour and 1tsp baking powder to the bowl.  Using a fork, combine the ingredients so it resembles a crumb.
Mix in 1/2C milk and another dollop of golden syrup, with 1tsp vanilla.  It should form a wet dough.

Drop heaped teaspoonfuls into the syrup.  Cover (no need for a tea towel) and leave to cook for approx 30-45 mins.

Serve with icecream.

So there you have it, a lovely dinner and dessert combination for you!  Happy cooking!

Don't forget you can purchase my Calamity Jayne cookbook from Amazon, and you can follow my page on FB :)

Chicken Burgers

Hey hey!

I hope you've all had a great weekend!  Did you get a chance to check out my cookbook on Amazon yet?  Here's the link for those of you who haven't seen it - 

https://www.amazon.com/Calamity-Jayne-Miss-Guide-Family/dp/1534991395?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

Anywho, I have a new recipe for y'all!  I was watching Rachael Ray the other day, and she made these amazing looking chicken burgers, so I thought I would recreate them with my own flavour for you :)

Chicken Burgers

Two burger buns
One chicken breast
Two rashers of streaky bacon
One apple, peeled, cored and sliced
cinnamon
butter
maple syrup
Camembert cheese

Firstly, slice your chicken breast in half - vertically - so you end up with two burger size pieces
Season with salt and pepper and herbs if you want, then pop in a grill press to cook.
Meanwhile, cook your bacon rashers on a flat griddle plate.
Heat a frying pan with a little butter.  Add the apples, a pinch of cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.  Cook until softened, but not stewed - still with a little crunch.
Slice the Camembert.

Make an onion jam -
Thinly slice a red onion and cook in a saucepan with a little butter.
When softened, add a splash of raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar, a Tbsp of brown sugar, a Tbsp of wholegrain mustard and I added a dollop of homemade apricot jam too.
Simmer until it is a jammy consistency.

Slice your buns in half, layer some apple on each base, followed by the chicken and bacon.  Top with a few slices of Camembert and pop under the grill to melt.

Add onion jam and place the lid of the buns on.

Enjoy with a side salad.

There you go, another tasty meal for you to enjoy!  Have a great week!

It's live!

Pssst!

Guess what?

It's live!

https://www.amazon.com/Calamity-Jayne-Miss-Guide-Family/dp/1534991395/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1467346498&sr=8-15&keywords=calamity+jayne

It took a lot of hard work over the last few days to get this reformatted to be available for y'all, but I'm so glad I did it!

For those of you who are knew to me, I wrote this cookbook (at the request of a few friends) about two years ago.  I had a limited number printed and they all sold out!  I never even got a copy for myself!

So as soon as I got Photoshop, I began to work on getting it ready to re-release and this time, it's available on Amazon, so all you International followers can be a part of it too :)

This is my first time formatting a book with photos in it, so I really hope I've done it justice.

Thanks again for all of your support!

Let me know on FB if you would like me to make it available on kindle too!

Spaghetti Squash!

Hi!

I meant to post this last night, but then things got away on me, and well, here I am, doing it now.  It's probably a good thing too, because I have an announcement!
As you know, I wrote a Calamity Jayne cookbook a few years back and I am, as we speak, working on the reformat of that same book so I can get it on Amazon!  Fingers crossed it goes to plan, and then in the next few days, it should be available :)

Now, those of you who follow my FB page will have seen my post last night saying that I was experimenting with Spaghetti Squash.  I am delighted to say it was a huge success!  Hubby has requested it as a regular meal :)  Now I just kinda made it up as I went, so I'm calling it a Spaghetti Squash Lasagne.

Spaghetti Squash Lasagne

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds removed
Olive oil, salt and pepper

Sauce:
1 onion
1 large carrot
2 cloves garlic, crushed
spinach
1 pack good quality sausages
1 tin tomato puree

mozzarella cheese

First up, preheat your oven to 200C.  Oil both halves of your squash and season with salt and pepper. Place upside down on a baking dish and pop in the oven for approximately 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft.

Meanwhile, heat a pan with a splash of oil.  Peel the skin from the sausages and break into pieces, adding to the pan.  I tried to make it into a mince consistency.  Brown.
Add diced onions and garlic to the pan and continue to cook through.
Add diced carrots.
If you are using frozen spinach, give it a squeeze first to remove excess liquid, and then add to the pan.  Heat through.
Add tomato puree and then fill can to half way with water, swirl it and tip into the pan as well.
Let it come up to the boil, and then turn it off.

Once squash is cooked, remove from oven and flip back over so the flesh is facing you.  Using a fork, run it along the flesh to make "spaghetti"

In a large ovenproof dish, place a few spoonfuls of the sauce, followed by a sprinkle of mozzarella, and a few dollops of squash.  Repeat the layers until all is used.
Top with more mozzarella and pop in the oven to cook for 15-20 minutes.
Serve with some buttered bread.

So, there you have it!  A lovely winter warmer meal using spaghetti squash.  Remember to keep your eye on my FB page for more info about the cookbook!

Have a great week!

Pudding!

Ok, so if you follow my FB page, you will have seen that I shared a link to a recipe for a salted caramel and chocolate tart.  My husband so kindly tagged me in the post and requested it be made tonight, so after perusing the recipe and seeing that I actually only needed five ingredients, I thought, sure!  Why not?!

Now, in true Calamity Jayne styles, I didn't quite read the recipe properly and thought I had it down.  However, my caramel wasn't thick like it should have been.  Mine is more of a gooey caramel chocolate tart.

This is mine:

and this is what it was meant to look like:

Quite a difference!

Anywho, it was still super tasty (and super sweet!  I could only eat a tiny slice).

So, here is what you need:

1 double pack of oreos
200g butter
2/3C brown sugar
300ml cream
350g dark chocolate
1tsp vanilla

Blitz up the oreos until they are a fine crumb.  Add 75g melted butter and blitz again.
Press into a tart tin - I used a silicone mould or if you have a loose-bottom tin, use one of those.

Pop it in the freezer to set.
Put the brown sugar and remaining 125g butter into a saucepan and heat until melted.  Now, here is the important part.  You need to keep whisking it until it starts to bubble.  I didn't do this.  If you want it gooey, then by all means, just whisk until it has thickened.
Remove from heat and continue whisking, while slowly adding 1/4C cream.  I would also add 1tsp vanilla here, I think that would bring the flavour out more.
Set that aside to cool for a further ten minutes before pouring into the base and returning to the freezer.

Put the chocolate into a bowl.  Gently heat the cream on the stove and when warm, pour over the chocolate and stir to combine.  If the chocolate isn't melting enough, you can pop it in the microwave for 15 second bursts until it is a smooth consistency.

Pour over the top of the caramel and pop back in the freezer to set.
If you have the flaky salt, by all means sprinkle over top before serving.  I didn't have any of this, so didn't use it.

Be warned, you will only need a small slice, this is very sweet!

Enjoy!

Cupcakes!

Howdy!

As promised, I have a few new recipes for you today :)
Hubby had control of the remote this afternoon, and he switched it over to Martha Bakes.  I think he was hinting!  I have to admit, though, it did give me some inspiration.

I made two batches of cupcakes today.  A lemon meringue cupcake (yes I've done this before, but this is a new recipe), and a red velvet cupcake.
At first glance, my lemon meringue cupcakes looked to be an epic fail - this is what happens when you haven't completely dried your bowl before whisking eggs, and when you get a smidge of egg yolk in there.  But!  They were amazing!  Or in the words of my daughter, "these are the goodest cupcakes ever!"
As for the red velvet, I may have overdone the cocoa, so they're not quite as red as they should have been, I have adjusted my quantity, so you should be okay with this one.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

100g butter
1/2C brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2C flour
2Tbsp cocoa
1tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda, dissolved in 1tsp cider vinegar
2/3C milk
1tsp red colouring paste

Beat butter with sugar and vanilla.  Add egg and beat well.
Sift flour and baking powder with cocoa and add this, start beating slowly, while adding the milk and soda/vinegar mix.
Add colouring and give one last beat.
Scoop tablespoonfuls into cupcake cases and bake at 200C for 15 minutes
Allow to cool.

Cream cheese and raspberry icing - I borrowed this idea from Martha

125g cream cheese at room temperature
50g butter, softened
approx 1 1/2C icing sugar
1 1/2Tbsp raspberry jam - pushed through a sieve to get rid of seeds.

Beat cream cheese and butter, slowly add icing sugar until combined.  Beat vigorously for a minute of two.
Swirl jam into the icing and using a knife, spread on top of the cupcakes.
Voila!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

100g butter
1/2C sugar
1 egg
1tsp vanilla
1Tbsp lemon curd
1 1/2C flour
1tsp baking powder
2/3C milk

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla together.  Add egg and beat again.  Add lemon curd, and give it a quick fold through.
Sift flour and baking powder into the mix and slowly start to combine, while adding milk.
Spoon tablespoonfuls into cupcake cases and bake at 180C for approx 20 minutes
Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Meringue topping

3 egg whites
1C sugar
1tsp vanilla
1tsp cornflour
1tsp malt vinegar

Beat egg whites in a clean, dry bowl :) until thick.
Slowly add sugar while beating continuously.
Mix vanilla, cornflour and vinegar together and pour into mix.
It should be glossy.

make a small hole in the top of each cupcake, and place a dollop of lemon curd on top - some in the hole, and the rest on top.  I placed a blob, though if you had runny meringue like me, maybe spread the curd across.
Pipe (or spread/pour) your meringue over top of each cupcake.
If you have a fancy blow torch thing, by all means use one of those, otherwise, put cupcakes under the grill for a minute, or until just starting to brown.

*Those lumps in the centre are the lemon curd*

There you go!  Two yummy cupcake recipes that I guarantee your family will love!