Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mama's' Dinner

Morning all.... after dinner madness....

We had everyone over, MIL, FIL, Brother, and of course the birthday girl Mama. Princess made her usual impact (joined us for dinner and had a great time scoffing pork).

Pork - for the first time in ages I stuffed up the crackling.. not very Domestic goddess of me...!!)

Pork Recipe -
Stuffed pork loin from butcher without the bone, crackling attached.. (normally i take this off the roll and roast it separately - hence the crackling disaster.
Salt the fat, place in deep roasting pan, surround with halved apples, pour in 500ml of beef stock, heat oven to 200 place in over, cook for 20 mins, then turn oven down to 180 and cook for about 20 minutes per 500g.

Roast Vegies -
I roasted kipfler potatoes, normal potatoes, some sweet potato and a tiny bit of pumpkin because that was all I had in the house. Just rolled them in oil and placed on over tray in over above the roast.

Cauliflower Cheese
I was going to skip this, but my brother made a special request, and as it was his birthday last week, I obliged.
Stem the cauliflower in rosettes. at the same time add a nob of butter, melted in a saucepan, then a tablespoon plain flour to make a rue. I kept adding flour till it made a paste, I left the heat on to cook the flour a little to remove the floury taste. Then added Milk about 500ml and whisked it to absorb all the rue and not have lumps. When it started to thicken i added some more milk and again whisked. Let it thicken a second time, added cheddar, a big handful, some pepper and then stirred till the cheese was melted. 
Pour this over steamed cauliflower, top with another handful of grated cheese and place in the oven.

Dessert was Creme Caramel
I make this with milk.
2/3 cup of sugar and a table spoon of water (or there about ) enough water to dissolve the sugar. Place in a saucepan, and heat till it turns to a light brown caramel. Pour into ramekins or in our case a round baking tray
While caramel is on the stove, combine 4 large eggs, 2 cups of milk, 2/3 cup of sugar and a teaspoon of Vanilla or in my case I used a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. Whisk all to combine.
Pour over hardened caramel in baking pan and cook in a water bath in a 180 degree oven for 45 mins or till it is wobbly but cooked.
Cool and then place in the fridge.

Serve with fresh fruit . We had it with Watermelon and strawberries as that is what we had in the house.

that was Mama's birthday spread... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA !!! xx


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Mamas birthday dinner plan

Its my Mamas birthday and time to create a little mid week magic!!

Menu plan

Creme caramel
Roast pork
Roast apples
Vegetables

Good wine
Great champagne
Fabulous company ..

Happy birthday Mama - we love you !!!