A week in the life - food and flowers

It’s been a week of quick and simple meals here at Casa Ooh, Look.

Some were better than others, and in between, there were a couple of repeats (this risotto is my go-to, so have to have this at least once a week).

Here’s what we had:

Monday was leftovers, so nothing to see here.

Tuesday was a surprisingly delicious Honey Mustard Chicken.

I normally do honey soy chicken with drumsticks, but I found this recipe and thought I’d shake things up a bit. Here is my version:

Honey Mustard Chicken (serves 2)

1.    Generously season 4 chicken thigh cutlets (bone in, skin on if you can find it) with salt and pepper. Place into an ovenproof/flameproof frypan or baking dish. Cook on the stove over medium-high heat until golden brown all over (about 5 minutes). Preheat the oven to 170C/340F.

2.    Combine in a bowl: 1 teaspoon seeded mustard, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic, 4 tablespoons honey.

3.    Spread the honey mustard mixture over the chicken in the pan. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with green vegetables.

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Wednesday was an old favourite that I’m surprised I haven’t blogged about before.

This recipe is a good way to use up that old white sliced bread. Just crumb the just-about-to-expire bread in a food processor (crusts and all) then seal in a zip-lock bag and store in the freezer. Whip out a cup of breadcrumbs to make this pasta and your life will be better.

Breadcrumb Anchovy Pasta (serves 2)

1.   Cook your preferred pasta in boiling salted water. Three minutes before it’s cooked, add the florets from half a small cauliflower (or broccoli). Drain the cooked pasta and cauliflower and keep warm.

2.   Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, throw in 5 or 6 chopped anchovy fillets. Stir them around until they are almost melted into a paste. Sprinkle over 1 cup of breadcrumbs and spread out evenly in the pan. Leave to toast for 2 minutes or so, until the crumbs are golden and kind of dried.

3.   Sprinkle the anchovy breadcrumbs over the pasta and serve.

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Thursday was probably risotto. Told you it was a favourite.

Friday nights mean a bit more time to spend on dinner before settling down for some tv time (Escape to the Country is my Friday night must-view, how old does that make me seem?).

I normally do this lemongrass pork with beef, and ‘un-pattied’, but this time I used pork and pattied them up before frying.

Lemongrass Pork Patties (serves 3-4)

1.   In a large bowl, combine 500g (1lb) pork mince, 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass stalks, ½ cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons chopped chives, ½ chopped onion, 1 teaspoon crushed garlic, 2 teaspoons fish sauce, 1 teaspoon caster sugar, and a pinch of chilli flakes. Mix well and form into about 16 little patties.

2.   Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan. Cook the patties for about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and cooked through.

3.   Serve with sweet chilli sauce, mung bean vermicelli and sliced cucumber.

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Sunday was Mother’s Day. I spent Saturday at the supermarket, trawling through the buckets for some tulips and this massive chrysanthemum. Mum really loved the 'mum, thank goodness!

I also made some muffins to take over, and they went down a treat.

Cheesey Vegetable Muffins (makes 12)

1.Sift together 1½ cups plain flour and 3 teaspoons of baking powder.

2. Grate one carrot and one zucchini into the flour. Add ½ cup of tasty cheese. Season with salt and pepper; maybe add a pinch of paprika if you like it spicy. Combine well.

3. Stir into the dry ingredients: 2 lightly beaten eggs, 1/3 cup olive oil, ½ cup milk. Mix gently until just combined.

4. Pour mixture into 12 paper-lined muffin pans. Sprinkle some more cheese on top. Bake in a preheated 180C/360F for 25 minutes or until golden. Remove from pan to cool.

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Also, I missed most of Eurovision. Dooze pw’un goes to Austria!

That, in a nutshell, was last week.

The food was pretty basic (but tasted good) and I’d love to spend more time cooking, but getting home at 7pm after a gruelling work day doesn’t leave me much interested in menu planning, unfortunately.

Must try harder!

Here is a final word from Tabitha cat:

Till next time, 

xx

Oven Express and Zumbo macarons - what a combo

When I first saw my little cottage many years ago, I was entranced. It was – and still is – a perfect home, with a lovely renovated interior and a plot of low-maintenance garden for enjoying the sunshine. It also came with some high-spec, stainless steel appliances, including a shiny cooktop and a swish oven.

I didn’t realise at the time, but the oven wasn’t as spotless as it should have been. For a new-ish oven, it was pretty grotty, with a fine coating of grease that made me wonder what the previous owners had been cooking in it.  I suppose I could have cleaned it, but I wasn’t sure that there was any non-abrasive cleaning product that would get the gunk off.

Well, imagine my delight when Susan from Oven Express asked if I was interested in reviewing their oven cleaning service. Yes, please, with bells on!

Some details on the services available from Oven Express

1. How long does it take?

My oven cleaning took approx. 1½ hours. A very thorough cleaning, including removal of the oven door and inside racks to improve access to the inside of the oven . The racks are soaked in a tank in their van, with the water heated to 90C and this really gets the grease off. My oven door is double glass, and I was astonished that the cleaning technician, Rabin, managed scrape off the layer of brown haze on it. I can now see what’s cooking in the oven!

2. How much does it cost?

Prices for an an oven clean start from $160 for a standard 60cm oven. Oven Express also cleans barbeques (prices from $140). You can combine these with a rangehood or stovetop clean as well.

3. What areas do they service?

Oven Express has a number of technicians who service the Sydney metro area at the moment.

4. What type of cleaning products are used?

They use non-caustic, fume-free cleaning products. There was barely any smell while my oven was being cleaned. Afterwards, I left the oven to air out for a day before using it, and there was a bit of ‘cleaning’ smell when the oven was first turned on, but this dissipated after a few minutes. Also, the technician was very neat and orderly and didn’t make or leave any mess behind.

5. Would I recommend this service?

Yes, definitely. My oven is now like new and I enjoy using it more. I think an oven cleaning would be ideal if your oven isn’t cleaned regularly. I’m speaking from experience here. It would also be useful if your home is on the market and you don’t want to be embarrassed by potential buyers taking a peek in your oven and getting a shock (yes, I actually look in ovens; don’t you?)

Oven Express

Ovenexpress.com.au

Ph: 1800 325 773
Ooh, Look... blog received this oven cleaning service compliments of Oven Express.

Before: Gross, filthy, caked-on grease

During: Grease, begone!

After: Oh utter bliss, a clean oven.

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To celebrate having a nice clean oven, I dug out a packet of Adriano Zumbo Patissier Salted Caramel Macarons.

I'd bought this pack about a year ago and it was 2 weeks from its Best Before date. And I'd never made macarons before.

It sounded like a good idea at the time...

The pack contains meringue mix, almond meal, caramel and piping bags and macaron stencil. 

You whip the meringue mix (contains dried eggwhites) with water, then fold in the sieved almond meal. 

Then fill the piping bag with the mixture and pipe macaron shells (using the stencil traced onto baking paper first).

After baking the shells, beat some softened butter with the caramel to make buttercream.

Sandwich the macaron shells with buttercream and voila, salted caramel macarons!

So where did I go wrong? I didn't sieve the almond meal properly, resulting in grainy mix. The shells are really orange in colour because the pack was so close to expiry. I didn't pipe the shells big enough, so they look like melting moments made from doggy-do.

What's good about them? They have 'feet'. They taste alright. The buttercream is yummy. They look pretty good coming out of my beautifully clean oven.

Will I try making macarons again? Heck, yeah! They can't be any worse than this effort...!