I'd been staring at this recipe for a while, the mushrooms in the picture looked so tasty an knowing Andy doesn't particularly like mushrooms I couldn't not make this dish. It turned out scrummy which was a good thing as Andy refused to eat it.
The Recipe - Hot and Sour Cucumber with Sticky Mushroom Noodles from Donna Hay 60ml cup rice wine vinegar 1 tbsp lime juice 2 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled, deseeded and sliced (I use normal ones) 1 tbsp sesame oil 100g namenko mushrooms (I used a mixture of hon shimenji, button and shitake) 125ml oyster sauce 125ml chicken or vegetable stock 270g green tea soba noodles, cooked 1 cup mint leaves 3 green onions, thinly sliced
The Method
Place the vinegar, lime juice, chilli, sesame seeds and cucumber in a bowl and mix well to combine, set aside.
heat the oil in a large non stick pan over a high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 1-2 minutes or until soft.
Add the oyster sauce, stock and noodles and cook for a further 1 minute or until noodles are coated in sauce.
Place the noodles in a dish, top with the cucumber, mint and onions and serve.
I haven't felt much like baking this past week since having my wisdom tooth removed. It's not been great week, but at least the weekend is now fast approaching.
As I was up at an ungodly hour and unable to go to the gym I decided to try my hand at baking some lamingtons, I have never made then before and love coconut and love cake, so this seemed like a great choice. My recipe was for lamington wedges, instead o the usual square, I think I'll make the squares next time as the wedges were difficult to keep whole.
The recipe I have used came from two different books as the book I was using for the lamingtons said to use a ready made sponge, so I had to bake one of those first.
The Recipe - Sponge Cake from Stephanie Alexander's The Kitchen Companion 5 eggs at room temperature 150g plain flour plus extra for dusting 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled 3/4 cup caster sugar
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees, butter a 24cm cake time and dust with flour.
Whisk up the eggs and sugar in a bowl until thick and mousse like.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture and fold in with a large metal spoon.
Trickle the melted butter down the side of the pan and fold in using a large metal spoon.
Poor the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden and springy to touch. place on a wire rack to cool.
For The lamingtons from Chocolate Indulgence Book 40g Cocoa powder 250g icing sugar 125ml bolling water 30g unsalted butter 180g shredded coconut
Method
Trim the top and sides from the cake and cut into wedges.
Sift the flour and cocoa into a large bowl and make a well in the centre.
Add the butter to the boiling water and stir until melted, pour mixture into icing sugar and stir until combined.
Spread the coconut out onto a large plate.
Dip the sponge into the icing, shake off any extra icing and place onto the coconut. Roll over until each side has a good coating and pace on a wire rack
For a first try these turned out really tasty, a light and springy sponge cake helped soak up the chocolate icing and gather good helping of coconut. Not bad for a first try.
