Suzyboo's White Chocolate Fudge

White Chocolate Fudge

250g butter, chopped
2 x 395g cans sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup golden syrup
2 cups brown sugar
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Line a 20 x 30cm pan with baking paper. Make sure the paper extends over the sides for easy removal of the fudge.

2. Combine the butter, condensed milk, golden syrup and brown sugar in a large saucepan.

3. Place over a low heat and stir until the butter has melted. Keep stirring until the mixture boils. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring constantly.

4. Remove from the heat and add the white chocolate. Whisk the mixture until the white chocolate melts and the fudge is smooth.

5. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth with a knife of you need to. Cool at room temperature (takes hours) and then chill for 2-3 hours in the fridge until firm.

6. Cut into squares of the desired size and enjoy.

Butter Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Photo & recipe courtesy of the very clever Becky Higgins.

BUTTER-PECAN SWEET POTATOES

8 medium sweet potatoes (5 lbs.)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
coarse salt
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
1/3 c. pecan pieces
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and halve lengthwise; slice crosswise 1/2 inch thick. On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with olive oil; season with coarse salt.

2. Transfer half the potatoes to a second baking sheet; cook both sheets until potatoes are tender, tossing occasionally, 25-30 minutes.

(Note: To make ahead (up to 5 hours) prepare recipe through step 2. Cool; cover and refrigerate. About 15 minutes before ready to serve, proceed with recipe.

3. Sprinkle with butter, brown sugar, pecan pieces, and cayenne pepper, dividing evenly. Bake until sugar is caramelized and hard, about 10 minutes. Gently toss; serve immediately.

Suzyboo's Fabulous Soup

From somewhere online lol.

For my friend Sam in the hopes she doesn't have to eat another carrot soup disaster :)

Suzyboo's Fabulous Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 large brown onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil

3 large carrots
1 medium sized sweet potato
1/4 pumpkin (Jap is nice)
chicken or vegetable stock to cover the veg (will depend on how much veg you chuck in)

Method:

1. Saute the garlic and diced onion in olive oil until lightly browned.

2. Chuck in the carrots, sweet potato and pumpkin and saute till lightly browned.

3. Add chicken stock to cover the veg and boil till tender.

4. Puree with a stick blender and serve with toasted bread.

The browning of the veg really adds to the flavour of this soup! This soup would serve 4. So it is quite a small soup but it works equally well with larger quantities of veg and stock. One of my all time favourite soups. I tend to make it when we have unexpected guests over for lunch. Always a winner :)

Coconut Caramel Swirl Cheesecake

Image and recipe courtesy of Super Food Ideas.

Coconut Caramel Swirl Cheesecake

250g plain sweet biscuits, crushed
125g butter, melted
2x 250g packets cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs
270ml coconut milk, do not shake tin or stir milk
380g can caramel 'Top n Fill'

1. Preheat oven to 150c or 130c fan forced. Grease a 20 x 30cm lamington pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.

2. Mix biscuit crumbs and butter together. Press mixture over base of prepared pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

3. Using an electric mixer beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add 1 egg at a time beating until combined. Spoon the tick top layer of coconut milk from can and add to the cheese mixture. Beat until combined. Reserve the remaining milk. Pour mixture into the prepared pan.

4. Place caramel in a bowl. Whisk in reserved coconut milk until just combined (mixture will still be lumpy). Place spoonfuls of caramel onto the cheese mixture and swirl with a butter knife. Bake for 50 minutes or until just set (cheesecake will wobble slightly in the centre). Stand for 15 minutes in the oven to cool with the door ajar and refrigerate overnight.

Tips: this cheesecake is soft. So wipe the knife with a wet, damp cloth between cuts.


Mum and I made this tonight for my cousin Macarena, who is visiting us, from Spain. She is going to give this recipe a go when she returns home with the help of her Mumma and my namesake: Susana :)

Pecan Praline Cheesecake

mmmm... looks and tastes better than cafe cheesecake ;)

Especially for my dear, old friend Alexander. Who am I to deny you anything my dear? xox

Pecan Praline Cheesecake

Crumb Crust
125g sweet biscuits crushed, I used morning coffee biscuits
60g butter melted

Process the biscuits in a food processor for about 2 minutes. Pour in the butter and process till combined. Press over the base of a spring form pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Filling
750g philly cream cheese, 3 packets
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
3 eggs
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans, I used my happy chopper :)

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scrape bowl between adding the eggs. Beat in flour. Fold in the nuts.

Pour filling into the crumb crust and bake in a moderate oven (160d as my oven runs hot!) or until set. Cool in the oven with the door left ajar (this stops the cheesecake from cracking). Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
60g butter
300ml jar thickened cream
12 pecans

Combine the brown sugar and butter in pan, stir over a low heat for 5 minutes till thickened. Do NOT boil the caramel sauce. Remove cheesecake from the pan and working very quickly spread sauce over the cheesecake.

Pecan Praline
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Combine the sugar and water in a pan, stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Then boil rapidly without stirring the mixture until it turns a light golden brown. This takes about 5 minutes.

Add the pecans and pour onto greaseproof paper on a baking tray. When set, chop the praline into small pieces.

Just prior to serving whip cream and pipe onto the cake. Place whole pecans around the outside and sprinkle with the praline.

This cake is really rich and serves around 12 people. Or 9 if two of your guests eat 2 1/2 slices each bahahaha.

Pound Cake

Fuzzy and the 'gigantor' bunt cake.

I got inspired after looking at this recipe, but I didn't have any Sprite or butter flavouring. So I went searching around and came up with this recipe which is a mix of several that took my fancy. Let me tell you it weighs a pound and you will def. put on pounds eating this little baby. Not diet friendly... no way!

Pound Cake

This would serve alot of people: 12-16 slices I'm thinking?

Ingredients:

480g butter (that's like nearly two sticks!!!)
600g sugar, caster is best (Not diabetic friendly either!)
6 large eggs
560g plain flour
1 cup of milk, full cream (I did mention it wasn't diet friendly, didn't I?)
1 teaspoon lemon essence
1 teaspoon almond essence
1 tablespoon vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 140d. Cream butter, you'll need a proper mixer to make this cake successfully. It is an awfully big cake!
2. Add the sugar and cream till light and fluffy.
3. Add each of the 6 eggs, one at a time, I did this by leaving my Kenwood Chef running while I added the eggs :-)
4. Sift the flour, I had to do it in two lots as there was so much, and mix with the milk.
5. Add the essences and use your spatula to scrape the sides at this point. Give it another good mix and pour into a LARGE prepared bundt pan. I prepared my pan the old fashioned way my Mumma showed me: by rubbing butter all over it and shaking flour all over it. Go Mum: this always works a treat.
6. Bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Mine needed an extra 20 minutes!
7. Allow this baby to cool for awhile in the pan. Don't tip it straight out or it will break.

Enjoy preferably with friends or you'll die of a diet induced heart attack hehehe. Lucky for me I have friends coming over tomorrow which will take care of this little baby for me ;-)

Fuzzy was so excited by this cake that he announced: "We are all going to get to eat some aren't we?" & "I'll have some in my lunch box tomorrow!"

Lisa's Pikelets

Lisa's Pikelets

3 cups self raising flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 cups milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder

1) Mix all ingredients together to form a smooth batter (add milk slowly!)
2) Heat frying pan and cook spoonfuls over a moderate-low heat until they form bubbles, then flip.
3) Serve.

SuzyBoo Notes:

This recipe makes a truck load of pikletes, far too many for our family, but they freeze really well.

Reduce the recipe as follows:
* 1 cup SR flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.
or
* 2 cups SR flour, 2/4 cup sugar, 2 cups milk, 2 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.

We have been using this recipe for years now and have worked out some different toppings. Husband Deluxe loves his with corn kernels (I buy the little tins of the super sweet stuff). String Bean likes hers with a sprinkle of grated cheese (put onto the raw side, flip and cook till the cheese is crispy).

Zucchini & Walnut Cake

My zucchini loaf!

Zucchini and Walnut Cake

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup soft brown sugar
1 small zucchini, grated
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2/3 cup vegetable oil, I used canola
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180d.
2. Line a loaf pan with baking paper.
3. Chuck in all the dry ingredients and mix.
4. Add all the wet ingredients and lightly mix with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 55 minutes.

Serve in slices with butter. Serve warm from the oven with 'real' butter... delicious. The boys loved this. An easy and sneaky way to get veggies into the tots.

I've blogged this as Simon thought you couldn't make a 'zucchini cake'... umm yes you can & for Tim who thought it tasted like carrot cake! :-)

Kim's Lemon Tart

Photo Courtesy of: taste.com

Kim's Lemon Tart

1 sheet frozen shortcrust pastry, thawed
4 eggs
1/2 heaped caster sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice (see SuzyBoo tricks below)
finely grated lemon rind from 1 lemon
1/2 cup cream

1. Preheat oven 180 or 160 fan forced.
2. Line sheet with pastry and chill for 15 minutes (don't skip this step or the pastry will shrink).
3. Line pastry with baking paper and pastry weights (I use glass wishing stones)
4. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove paper and weights and bake for another 5 minutes.
5. While the pastry is baking prepare filling by whisking all other ingredients.
6. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until set.
7. Cool in pan. Don't be tempted to serve it too quickly or it will fall apart.

SuzyBoo tricks I've picked up while cooking this 6 times since the lovely Kimsy gave me the recipe:

* Use spray oil in your pie dish. It will help getting it out when you serve it. If making for a special occasion and it needs to look perfect: use the spray oil and then line the dish with baking paper. Also chill for 6 hours prior to serving.

* I prefer to use the juice of 1 lemon (1/4 of a cup) and then fill up to a full 1/2 a cup using lemon squeeze. Now before all the cooking zealots jump on me... the full 1/2 cup of real lemon juice makes the tart very, well tart! hahaha The lemon squeeze, even though it's crappy fake lemon , actually makes this dish taste better not worse.

* invest in a good microplane like this one. Don't skip adding the zest as it makes the pie delish.

* I also use a heaped cup of caster sugar.

* You can be all prissy and serve it dusted with icing sugar and a dollop of whipped cream... or do what we do and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Penang Beef Curry

Photo: courtesy of: taste.com.au

Penang Beef Curry

* 2 large brown onions, sliced
* 1 kg rump steak, diced
* 1/2 cup crushed peanuts (whole peanuts are really yummy too)
* 2 tablespoons good quality curry powder
* 1/2 cup condensed milk
* 1/2 cup coconut cream ( I used lite and the whole tin!!!)
* 2 tablespoons fish sauce
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Chuck it all in the slow cooker and give it a quick stir.
2. Cook for around 5 hours on low.
3. Serve with basmati rice and some steamed veg.

Had this at a friends and loved it and have now made it at home. So easy. Kids liked it! All good really.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Image coutsey of: http://www.recchiuti.com

Had these absolutely delicious cookies today cooked my friend Tasha. Seriously good. Gooey and soft cookies. Loved them.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Yield: About 2 dozen cookies (depending on size)

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1½ cups chopped macadamia nuts
2 cups white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

3. Beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg, then beat in the egg yolk, then beat in the vanilla.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture until just moistened. Stir in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips by hand with a rubber spatula.

5. Roll into balls or drop by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, and press down on the cookies with your palm a bit to flatten (not too much!).

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges look golden brown and the middles don’t look quite set. Allow to finish cooling on the baking sheet.

Mal's Meatloaf

Image courtsey of: taste.com

Well I never thought I'd see the day where I actually liked meatloaf but this recipe is so good! Highly recommended.

Mal's Meatloaf

• 500g mince of your choice (I've tried beef, chicken and turkey)

• 1 carton of full fat sour cream

• 1 packet tomato cup a soup

• a heavy sprinkling of Italian herbs (I use parsley, thyme and basil)

Mix till combined and placed into a meatloaf tin lined with baking paper.

• 2 rashers of bacon - diced

• BBQ sauce (use a little or a lot)
  

Top meatloaf with the diced bacon and BBQ sauce. Bake for about 45 minutes at 200d and enjoy.

Suzyboo's Beef Stroganoff

Photo courtesy of taste.com

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 kg blade steak, cut across the grain into thin strips
• 2 medium brown onion, cut into thin wedges
• 2 tsp minced garlic
  
• 500g mushroom flats, sliced
• 125mls white wine
• 2 tbs tomato paste
• 125mls (1/2 cup) beef stock
• 2 tbs dried parsley
• 1 heaped tsp paprika
• 2 heaped tsp cornflour, mixed in a little water
• 250g carton sour cream
• pasta to serve

1) Fry up the steak till nicely browned in two or three batches. Remove from the pan once browned.
2) Fry the onion and garlic till cooked. Add the beef and mushrooms.
3) Add the wine and allow to cook till reduced slightly.
4) Add the tomato paste, stock and herbs.
5) Simmer for about an hour. If you used a better cut (such as rump) you could simmer for a shorter time.
6) Once cooked stir through the corn flour mix and sour cream.
7) Serve over pasta.

We had ours tonight with home made Turkish rice and steamed veggies.

Double Chocolate Muffins

Photo courtesy of: taste.com.au

What to do when String Bean has a friend over this afternoon and the cupboard is bare? (Well all the ready to go stuff has run out, but my baking supplies are always available.)

Double Chocolate Muffins
Makes 36 mini muffins

2 cups SR flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbs cocoa
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg, beaten
90g butter
250g chocolate chips

* Mix flour and butter to resemble breadcrumbs.
* Add sugar and cocoa
* Throw in rest of ingredients and roughly mix - it doesn't need to be perfect with muffins.

* Cook on 180 for about 20min or until brown.


Will update later with the kids opinions on these.

















The kids loved these muffins. Easy and not full of numbers so happy here.

Squealy scoffed 3 of these!

A Fire Twirling Dinner Date

We were invited to Mal's last night for a BBQ with the gang.

Many Mimosa's followed by the best BBQ ever (Tim cooked Jamaican Jerk Chicken) and beer with lime (Tim's home brew: Cerveza Lobos).

Tim and La Cerveza Lobos.

Photo courtesy of food.theatlantic.com

SuzyBoo's Mimosa Recipe (my fave cocktail atm)

* Good quality sweet champagne - Asti or Ricca Donna are both great
* Sweet juice - orange and mango is particularly nice

Serve half and half in a martini glass. You could chuck a strawberry, mint or orange slice on top if you could be bothered but not really necessary.

Once we were all nicely inebriated Tim, in his infinite wisdom, pulled out his fire twirling stick. We all had a good go. Tim is fabulous and has been practicing a lot, doing some great tricks. Husband Deluxe loved it, but he managed to get burnt on his upper arm! Go figure. Didn't hurt but he smelt like burnt hair and kero lol.

Am planning on posting Tim's Jerk Chicken Recipe as well.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

Image courtsey of: i.ehow.com

Jamaican Jerk Chicken: Tim Style

• 1 tablespoon Ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon Dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons Garlic powder or fresh
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1/4 cup Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Soy sauce
• 3/4 cup White Vinegar
• 1/2 cup Orange juice
• 1 Lime juice
• 1 Chilli
• 3 Green onions -- finely chopped
• 1 cup Onion -- finely chopped
• 1 whole boned chicken - Tim got this at the chicken shop at the Belco Markets.

1. Chuck it all in a 'bucket' and marinade for 12 hours (haha this is Tim's recipe).
2. BBQ till crispy.
3. Slice it up and serve.

This was seriously good! For more info on Jerk Chicken see here.

mmm that's tasty!

Well the casserole was so delicious.

Everyone loved it and all bowls were empty with a minimum of fuss.

100% success rate!

Next time I'd probably chuck some mushrooms on as well (I didn't have any in the house!)

Squealy ate a huge bowl full, he is going off because we had to rewind the Old Tom video!

Slow Cooker Beef and Red Wine

Photo courtesy of taste.com

What do you do with stacks of left over red wine from Geek Night? Cook a stew of course!

Beef and Red Wine - Slow Cooked

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1kg chuck steak, diced
• 1/3 cup seasoned plain flour
• 1 tin of tomatoes, pureed
  
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock, Massel brand
  
• 2 large onions, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 400g chat potatoes, halved
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced
• green beans, chopped
  
• pepper, herbs to taste ( I added thyme and parsley)

1. Chuck the steak into the slow cooker and coat with flour.
2. Chuck in all other ingredients and stir to combine.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Will check in tomorrow. Hopefully it's a thumbs up from the tots.

Blueberry Crumble Slice

A special request and who am I to say no to a friend? ;-)







Photo and recipe courtesy of New Idea.

Blueberry Crumble Slice

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup hazelnut meal
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 185g cold butter, chopped
• 125g cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 tsp grated orange rind
• 2 x 150g punnets blueberries
• Icing-sugar mixture, to decorate

Method
1 Grease 19cm x 29cm rectangular slice pan.

2 Process flour, sugar, hazelnut meal and cinnamon until combined. Add butter and process until mixture is crumbly. Press 3/4 of mixture over the base of pan. Press remaining mixture into a ball shape. Cover and freeze until firm.

3 Cook base in moderate oven (180C) for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool in pan.

4 Beat cream cheese, sugar and orange rind in a bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Spread over base, then sprinkle with blueberries. Coarsely grate remaining frozen dough over top.

5 Cook in moderate oven (180C) for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown. Stand slice in pan for 10 minutes before cutting.

6 Serve slice warm or cold dusted with icing-sugar mixture.

Jambalaya Cajun

Image courtesy of www.taste.com

Ingredients
Chuck the following into a slow cooker:

2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Cajun seasoning (I used the Hot stuff!)
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
2 or 3 tbs of tomato paste
1 cup of chicken stock (I used a heaped tsp of Massel brand)

Mix to combine.
Then add:

1kg of chicken (I used drumsticks)
1 finely diced onion
1 green capsicum, chopped

Stir and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.
30 minutes prior to serving add:

500g cooked prawns
2 cups of cooked white rice.

Enjoy of course. Will BBL with the report from La Familia, not sure if the cayenne pepper will be a winner? Wait and see I guess.

The verdict? 90% happy. Fuzzy didn't eat it, but then he is going through a fussy period. Squealy and Stringy loved it. For me this recipe needed more tomato, so I'll add some tomato paste next time I make it.