TRUST ME, It's Delicious (Mexican Style Breakfast)

This is my new favourite breakfast and it only takes about 10-15 mins to whip up.  It's based  on this Mexican breakfast recipe, but is simplified to cut down the time required.  I love this breakfast because it's very adaptable and you can easily make it for more than one person.  I tend not to use chilli because it can be harsh on the stomach early in the morning, but to be closer to Mexican you definitely should try a spicier version.

Mexican Style Breakfast - Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/4 medium red onion

1/2 tomato

1/8 yellow capsicum

1tsp oil or butter (or both - it's tastier and the oil stops the butter burning)

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat a pan on the stove top on a medium heat.

Chop the veges finely, add the oil/butter to the pan and then add your vegetables.

Let them cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened but not starting to brown.

Arrange the veges in a circle in the pan, with roughly 12-15cm diameter, and an even thickness.

Crack the egg over the top (being careful not to break the yolk) and let the white run down through all the veges - you can give it a gentle push before it sets to ensure it's around the edges of the vegetables. 

Turn the heat down ever so slightly (I put mine down from 3/6 to 2.5/6) and cover the whole thing with a large pot lid that doesn't touch any of the ingredients.

Leave for a couple of minutes until the edges of the egg are slightly crisp and the rest is cooked but the yolk is runny.

Now for the trickiest part - if you have a non-stick pan you'll probably be fine, but I don't so it's always a risky game for me!

Use a fish-slice to gently lift up your creation to serve the whole thing in one piece. My final photo is a "what not to do", but that is the risk of taking photos of actual meals and not having the chance to do them over!

Season to taste and enjoy with a strong coffee.

Tips (or What Not To Do That I Have Obviously Done This Time):

• Use a greater ratio of other vegetables to tomato.  The tomato tends to break down and is not conducive to a well-set dish
• It's important that there is a reasonable amount of egg around the edges of the vegetable disc, so the egg can set around them and it will be easier to remove from the pan.  If you look at my end photo you will see that I made this exact mistake
• Don't add salt until the end - it will draw water out of the tomatoes and make your dish too mushy otherwise

Serving suggestions:

• Top with sliced avocado, crumbled feta and coriander
• Break the yolk and put in a few drops of hot sauce or Worctershire sauce 
• You could add one or all of the following to your vegetables - chopped chilli, coriander, finely sliced bacon
• Serve on top of a warmed flour tortilla
• Serve as part of a brunch meal with toast, bacon, sausages etc
• Make a larger portion by increasing your vege amount and just cracking all your eggs over the whole lot.

This breakfast is simple, fresh and so tasty - once you've tried this you'll never want boring cereal again.

Enjoy!

Hot mess

TRUST Me, It's Delicious (Chicken Marbella)

Source

Even though I'm not the most skilled cook, I love food a lot. A. Lot. There's nothing I won't try, and I usually get excited about the next meal before the current one is even finished. Going out for a dinner is great, but I especially love home-cooking and baking. Add the overwhelming joy I get from food to the fact that I watch a lot of FoodTV (and read lots of foody blogs), and you've got yourself one inspired and hungry girl.  So this post series will feature a new recipe I've tried at some stage during the month.  I'm really looking forward to doing this feature - new food experiences just make life a whole lot more interesting and beautiful.

This first recipe is not brand new to me but it is one of my most recent favourites.  The original recipe comes from The Silver Palate cookbook which was written in the early 80's.  Despite the longish list of ingredients the recipe is incredibly simple.  Don't be put off by the combination of ingredients either - by the time it's done, everything will have cooked down together to make a fantastic savoury sauce with just the right amount of sweet and sharp flavours to balance it out.

Please try it just once, it really is delicious and not naff at all for an 80's dish!

Chicken Marbella adapted from The Silver Palate cookbook

8-10 chicken pieces - thighs & breasts, bone in - remove skin if you prefer
1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed (or grated on the fine part of your cheese grater)
2 Tbsp of fresh oregano OR 1 Tbsp dried oregano
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pitted prunes
8 large pitted Spanish green olives
1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice
3 bay leaves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine
2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or coriander, finely chopped (optional)

In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear juice (not pink).

Transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or coriander. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.

Serves 5-8

My serving suggestions and tips:

- You can make this meal to serve 2 (with leftovers to spare), just halve all the ingredients

- Sides that go well with that delicious sauce: potato mash and wilted spinach, or crusty baguette and green salad

- Chicken thighs can be used as a substitute, if they are boneless you can roll the marinade mixture inside just before cooking (don't forget to remove the bay leaves!)

- I tend to finely chop all my olives and prunes, that way the marinade goes further, and      melts down into a much more integrated sauce when cooked. 

- You may have to buy a few ingredients to start, but most of them last for ages so it's worth the initial purchase

Enjoy!

PS I didn't take my own pics because I forgot and ate it all.

TRUST Me, It's Delicious (PB & J French Toast)

Welcome to my second monthly feature, which is all about foooood. Brilliant.  I think about food a lot and it's one of the things that brings the most joy to me, hence the title of the post! I know I'm not the only person like this so I really hope this feature is enjoyed by lots of people! 

Now this "recipe" is almost too embarassing to post about, but it was so delicious that I don't care. And I know I'm not the only person that would enjoy this.   It's PB & J French Toast. Yep.  Just like regular peanut butter and jam on toast but fatter and approximately 5% fancier.  

Don't judge me. I know you'd try it! Also....I'm no food photographer so it tastes better than it looks...

PB & J French Toast

Ingredients:

2 pieces bread of your choice (slightly stale is better as it will soak up more eggy mixture) 

1 Tablespoon crunchy peanut butter 

1 Tablespoon jam of any flavour (I used three-berry)

1 egg

1/4 cup milk (fatty is better but trim works just as well)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Pinch of salt 

Butter (or oil)

Icing sugar 

Method:

Heat a frying pan on medium heat. Spread the bread with the peanut butter and make a sandwich.  Thoroughly mix the egg, milk, vanilla and salt in a shallow dish.  Gently place the sandwich in the egg mixture and soak for a few seconds until soaked in.  Turn the sandwich over so both sides are thoroughly coated. Don't leave it in too long or it will become too soggy and fall apart.

In the heated pan, melt a teaspoon of butter and place your eggy sandwich in (the pan should be hot enough so the sandwich gently sizzles).  Cook on one side until nice and golden, then carefully turn and cook the same on the other side.

While the toast is cooking, heat your jam in a small dish in the microwave for approximately 20 seconds so it turns to liquid.  You can also add a tablespoon of water before you do this to make the jam really runny.  I sieved my jam to get the seeds and lumps out.

To serve:  Place your cooked french toast on a plate, cut in half and dust with icing sugar. Drizzle your jam over and eat up.  Really good with strong hot coffee, on a wintry Saturday morning, with the telly on and still wearing your PJs...trust me. 

x

Ooh, Thrifty

I've decided to do monthly features to keep me posting regularly, and this is my very first one!  Ooh Thrifty will showcase my most recent vintage finds, which means I have to go opshopping at least once a month.  Luckily this isn't a hard task for me at all...

This month is the perfect time to start, because yesterday I went to a big second-hand fabric sale that happens once a year. I've never heard of it until this year, even though I've been in Dunedin for 9 years...I must have been living under a rock! 

When I first walked in the door I felt like Homer Simpson freaking out before he sinks his whole head into a giant sundae.  The entire hall was filled with tables piled high with bundles of fabrics, plus there were vintage fabrics on racks, rolls of fabric, scraps for super cheap and a whole other room with patterns, buttons and zips. I nearly lost concentration with the excitement of it all.  But instead I just put my head down and got in the zone, thankfully even though there were hundreds of people I managed to to avoid any paisley-related confrontations with like-minded crafters...

I came home super happy with all my finds, I managed to filter out all the "maybes" and probably saved myself a good $50 and a whole lot of buyer's remorse!  I really love my whole fabric collection now, and hopefully I've got enough to last me until next year. I can't wait!

What Happens When I Try to Do Work

The other day when I was making labels, all these little bits accumulated from cutting them out...and because I was tired I got distracted and started playing. Then I made up these little designs, and now I'm calling it art. So there.

Rekindled Romance

 After a little bit of post-Christmas laziness (well, a lot actually considering it's almost March) I've got my motivation back and have spent a few evenings making more bunting and labels.

I've been having fun developing my tastes and playing with different fabric combinations, and each time I make new labels I get to choose new pretty colours to match the product. I am in love with every set that I produce, which is really important to me because I would never want to make something that I wouldn't be proud to keep in my own home!  Even though my fabric stocks are pretty static at the moment (I have promised myself that I will use up what I've got before I go buying any more), I still love every design so it's always enjoyable to make things.

Some of these sets are for sale in my Felt shop, so I hope you take the time to have a look!

A Flurry of Creativity

In the spirit of creating things I had a lot of fun last week making a costume for a party.  It was so much fun, I went crazy with the glue gun and all the pearls and necklaces that I've been saving for decorations.  When the really cheap jewellery shops have sales, I often stock up on the long chains with lots of charms on them. They really come in handy when you want to decorate presents, I just pull them apart and thread the decorations onto ribbon and thin strips of fabric. Beautiful!

Green Thumbs Up

Oops. I haven't done this in ages.  It's not that I haven't been inspired, just busy. Plus I forget my camera a lot and think "this would make a great post, where's my - oh".  No matter, I'm here now!  Some of the things I do remember to photograph are the veges, fruit and herbs from my little garden. I love my garden!  We only just started growing things before the summer but we've had so much from it, for so little effort.  There's such a sense of satisfaction that comes from growing veges - it's easy, cheap, healthy and most of all - delicious! Plus I actually like doing the weeding and watering because it makes me spend time outside. 

I'm hoping there will be enough sun to ripen my tomatoes, but if not, I think some green tomato chutney will be on the agenda. Which will make a great post if I remember to photograph it.....

Playing Dress Up

Buy these here

The ONLY horsey photo of the day!

My dress pattern up close (kitty helped with the photography)

Last week I went to the Wingatui Races to celebrate Melbourne Cup, and even though the day was cold and rainy it was so much fun.  We took the train out there, had a private marquee with friends, BBQ, lots of wine, the thrill of the races and of course a chance to get pretty!  My outfit choice wasn't as polished as the previous year, which I'm really glad about because the weather meant that fancy hairstyles wouldn't stand a chance! But I had heaps of fun getting ready and was proud of my modified op shop find, mainly because I knew noone else would be wearing the same thing! 

As a reward for making my own dress, I treated myself to a pair of FABULOUS shoes from ASOS. They took a bit of practice to walk in them without falling over and knocking myself unconscious, but I love them so much and can't wait for the next occasion to wear them.   

Here's to many more summer events with friends and pretty dresses, and hopefully lots of sun! :)

 

Cutting Shapes

So I haven't posted for a LONG time, the main reason being that I have been really busy making and developing new products and filling orders for people. Of course I only get to do this in my spare time, so when I get a few moments spare I'm way more drawn to creating than talking about it, which is why the blog gets a bit neglected...

But I still enjoy feeling like I'm sharing my ideas etc, so the above is the newest branch of my venture - a new line/style of bunting for a gorgeous baby shop in town called Miracle. I feel so lucky and am VERY excited about this opportunity. I'd especially love to make vintage style baby clothes too but that's a wee while a way I think!  Anyway...enjoy.  Completed pics to come in the next few days!! :)

PS The above is for 11 sets of bunting, which equals 220 triangles and about 4 hours of my day...but it's a labour of love! x