Dulce de Leche Mousse

Well, this is my first post in a couple of weeks. That was unexpected - Emmet and I traveled up to the North Island to spend the holidays with my parents and we quickly discovered that we were being whisked away on a beautiful (but internetless) beach holiday. It was a perfect break away but now I am back and ready to share with you all.

When I was in Argentina I became a bit obsessed with dulce de leche. I brought quite a lot back to NZ with me and this beautiful dulce de leche and chocolate mousse is a delightful treat that came out of this obsession.

Peppermint Fudge

This is the last recipe in my series of holiday season baking treats. This is a super simple recipe for peppermint fudge.

Chicken and Shrimp Jalapeño Chili

If you're looking for a big bowl of comforting deliciousness then this is for you.

Chocolate Peppermint Slice

With Christmas just around the corner (eek!) I have been getting into the full swing of holiday baking. For me that involves lots of chocolate and lots of peppermint. 

This chocolate and peppermint slice is easy to make and is a great treat for yourself or for a nice homemade edible gift.

Steak and Cheese Macaroni

Macaroni cheese has always been one of my absolute most favorite dishes. It's easy to make, quick, and tastes great. I also love how easily adaptable it is.

This recipe take a simple stove top mac and cheese with the addition of delicious sliced medium rare steak.

Christmas Fruit Cake

Fruit Cake is one of those things that, to me, is synonymous with Christmas. This recipe is so simple to follow and the cakes taste exactly right, and deliciously moist.

Caramel, Apple, and Almond Pancakes

These caramel, apple, and almond buttermilk pancakes are quick and easy to prepare and make for a great family breakfast or brunch on a cool Sunday morning.

Thai Lamb Meatballs

Thai is my favorite cuisine - it's quick and easy, uses beautiful fresh ingredients, and is nice and healthy too.

Snickers {no bake} Cheesecake

It's been well over two months since my last cheesecake recipe (This makes me sound like Cheesecakes Anonymous!) so it's definitely past time for another! Luckily I just so happen to have this beautiful Snickers Cheesecake sitting here begging to be posted.

Steak and Egg Sandwich

During my short stay in Argentina, I noticed that they add scrambled egg to everything. Go anywhere selling food and you'll find french fries topped with egg, hot dogs with egg, grilled steak with egg... 

On a few occasions at a few different places I ordered a steak sandwich. Everyone knows Argentina for its steak so I had to make the most of it, right? On each occasion, the sandwich was also loaded full of scrambled egg. It tastes AMAZING!

Chocolate Orange Fudge

Chocolate and Orange is a classic flavor combination - one that is especially popular in the holiday season. Fudge makes a perfect homemade gift as well, it keeps very well and can be dressed up in cellophane or mason jars.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

Soup is just one of those things that I can't get enough of. I love coming up with new ways to enjoy soup. All year 'round too! I really don't stick to the "soup is for winter" rule.

Chocolate and Raspberry Calzones

Chocolate and Raspberry Calzones are a fun and delicious sweet twist on the Italian Calzone pizza. Hands up whose all for a dessert pizza?!

I absolutely adored this dessert. The calzones were easy to make, and once the pizza dough was made, quick too! The combination of ingredients makes this dessert a bit more pleasing to the waist line than my usual desserts - which I know a lot of you will love!

Lamb Kofta Pita Pockets with Quinoa Tabbouleh

Koftas are ground meat mixed with a few spices and shaped into balls or kebabs. They can be found in many different cuisines including Indian, Afghani, Pakistani, and Turkish. The Greek variation is a popular dish including chickpeas, usually fried and served with yogurt or tzatziki. They are simple to make and taste great. I've made the recipe a little more healthy by baking the koftas. 

Coconut Chicken Curry

Here is a nice and simple chicken curry dish that packs in a whole heap of delicious flavor.

I have been making this dish for a couple of years now. I actually forgot all about it for a while, until I was thinking of something quick and easy to make for dinner and it popped back into my head.

Belgian Chocolate Cake

It's rich, fudgy, chocolatey, delicious, and EASY: Gluten Free Belgian Chocolate Cake.

I recently took part in the Otago Medical School Research Society PhD Student Speaker Awards, where I took second place. To celebrate this, my PhD supervisor suggested that I bring in a cake for morning tea. My supervisor is gluten free, so began my first adventure into gluten free baking. 

Chicken Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those dishes that everyone loves. I find it can also be one of those dishes that people tend to assume takes so much time and so much effort - it's really not like that at all!

This PicNic-style lasagna uses ground chicken (or turkey!) as an alternative to beef.

Mainland Noble Cheese Straws

I love cheese. But who doesn't? If you're a fellow cheese lover then this recipe is for you. These cheese straws, showcasing the beautiful taste of Mainland Noble cheese, are quick and easy to make and make for a fantastic snack or starter. The flavor of the cheese is beautifully maintained in a biscuit-like form.

Rolo Brownies

Brownies are definitely my favorite chocolate-based sweet food. I love the gooey texture and the rich chocolate taste. When I saw Rolo's at the supermarket I knew that I had to make some brownies.

Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

Comfort food. There's nothing else like it. Macaroni and Cheese has always been my favorite, and using potato gnocchi instead of macaroni elbows makes this classic dish even more delicious. 

Mini Lemon and Berry Cakes

I am excited to be back to blogging after a week and a half away at a conference in Argentina.

Today I am sharing these super easy mini Lemon and Berry Cakes with you. This is a little bit of a cheat recipe, as it's really just a few small adaptions to my Lemon and Raspberry Loaf.

Chinese Five Spice Chicken Noodle Soup

I am really excited about this Chicken Noodle Soup as this is my first ever post for the "Secret Recipe Club." How does this club work? This is a very large group of food bloggers who are each secretly assigned to another members blog every month. The last is to pick something from the assigned blog, cook, shoot, and blog about the recipe.

Chocolate and Banana Bundt Cake

I am so happy to be writing this guest post as part of the 12th Blogiversary Celebrations on AprilJHarris.com. Twelve years is an absolutely amazing achievement. I just celebrated by 1^st Blogiversary last month and that took a lot of work and dedication so 12 years absolutely blows me away.

Triple Chocolate and Caramel Cookie Bars

Triple Chocolate and Caramel Cookie Bars - Need I say more?

Beef, Bean, and Macaroni Casserole

Beef, Bean, and Macaroni Casserole makes for a healthy 30 minute meal that the whole family will enjoy.

This dish is easily adapted to suit your families tastes - be it more or less spice, extra veges, or different ground meats.

Apple Caramel Scrolls

Apple and Caramel are one of my favorite flavor combinations. They work beautifully together in a whole range of recipes - including these apple and caramel scrolls.

Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai

During the week, I am always looking for quick and easy meals. Asian cuisine is usually my go-to. I love the combination of subtle spice and fresh herbs. This variation of Pad Thai ticks all the right boxes.

Mixed Berry Pancakes

You all know by now that pancakes are my absolute favorite breakfast/brunch food. So here is another lovely pancake combination - Mixed berries!

Beef and Black Bean Stir-fry

Beef and Black Bean is such a popular Asian dish, and luckily it's super easy to make at home so no need for takeout!

Raspberry and Cardamon Buns

I got the inspiration for these delightful little cardamon buns while watching a Jamie Oliver show. My honey straight away said that I should make something like his recipe for blueberry buns so that's exactly what a did.

The result was amazing.

Chili Chicken Pita Bread Pizzas

Individual pita bread pizzas make a fun and easy meal, while making pizza a tiny bit healthier, too.

I was really going for a super quick Friday night dinner with this one. Because I was feeling especially lazy and I couldn't even be bothered cooking some chicken, I just grabbed a smoked chicken breast from the supermarket. I was really surprised by how well this worked with the other flavors of this pizza.

Buttermilk Waffles

Since the weekend is almost upon us, I think a brunch recipe is in order. Here is my super simple recipe for buttermilk waffles.

I don't make waffles very often at all. When I do I always think "we really need to do these more often because they are amazing!" I think I need to remember that.

Waffles are not a common thing in New Zealand. Cafes here are very big on breakfast menus. Most of these menus, however, don't include waffles. Thankfully, a decent waffle iron can be brought at most electronic and department stores for a very reasonable price.

Strawberries are finally becoming available in supermarkets here now and I am going crazy with them. I topped these buttermilk waffles with strawberries and maple syrup. Delicious.

Buttermilk Waffles

Serves 6

1 1/2 Cups plain flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

120 g (4.2 oz) butter, melted

1/3 Cup sugar

1 1/2 Cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

To serve:

Chopped fresh strawberries (or any in season fruit)
Maple Syrup

1. Turn your waffle iron on to heat and also preheat your oven to the lowest setting.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, butter, buttermilk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix this gently into the dry ingredients.

3. Make each waffle using about 1/3 cup of batter. Once done, transfer to the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. 

4. Serve topped with fruit and maple syrup. 

Raspberry Slice

Raspberry slice is a New Zealand classic. A raspberry layer sandwiched between layers of shortbread and topped with lashings of raspberry icing.

You'll find this little delight in almost every bakery, cafe, and supermarket in New Zealand. It has always been one of my favorites and I was amazed when I realised that I'd never attempted it myself.

Beef Cannelloni

Cannelloni is an Italian dish of a pasta cylinders filled with meat and sauce and baked in the oven. They are not only a fun dish to make but also super taste and packed full of vegetables. This makes it a great way to sneak extra veges to the kids dinner.

Using fresh lasagna sheets as opposed to dried cannelloni tubes makes this easier to make, and much more delicious (if you're like me and greatly prefer fresh pasta to dried).

Aunt Bee's Three Meat Chili

I recently saw a post Aunt Bee's Recipes put together for Rocket City Mom: Tailgating Recipes with Aunt Bee. This is a fantastic collection of football season foods, and definitely worth a read. Everything she included looked fantastic, but the thing that immediately caught my eye was Three Meat Chili. Even just the name sounds amazing.

I clicked through to Aunt Bee's blog straight away and checked out the recipe. It seemed straightforward to make, and had a great combination of ingredients. So with a few minor alterations (based on the ingredients I had) I got right to making this chili.

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

I'm just going to start off by saying that I think this might actually be the most delicious thing that I have created so far. Probably quite bias coming from the this chocoholic, but my honey said the same thing!

This cheesecake has not one but THREE types of chocolate, layered into one no-bake cheesecake. What more could we ask for in a dessert?

Today marks the one year anniversary of my blog. It amazes me to see how far I have come in recipe development and (especially) photography in just one short year. 

Peri Peri Chicken and Quinoa Wraps

Quinoa makes a great base for such a range of recipes and I love trying it in new ways - These peri peri chicken and quinoa wraps were so simple to make (taking around half an hour total time) and they tasted fantastic!

The filling also reheated really well, as I discovered having the left overs for lunch the next day. The peri peri coating the chicken gives the wraps a perfect little hint of heat. Feel free to increase or decrease the amount you use to suit your tastes. 

Blackberry Slice

Every weekend before we do our weekly grocery shopping, I ask my honey "what kind of thing would you like me to make you for breakfast this week?" This time, the answer was "something with blackberries."

Here's my something with blackberries: A simple blackberry slice.

As well as being easy to make, this slice makes a fantastic snack (especially to go with a cup of tea!) and a easy, on the go breakfast. It contains fruit as a main ingredient, so I say we can call it breakfast. This would also make a lovely dessert, served warm with cream or ice cream.

Hazelnut Tartlets

We were looking around a home ware store the other weekend and they had mini tart cases on sale at 60% off - I brought them (of course). I also HAD to use them straight away and these cute little hazelnut tartlets are the result.

I adored these tarts. The pastry was deliciously short and reminded me of the pastry in the tarts from a specialist bakery (I was pretty impressed with myself actually!!)  and the simple, no bake filling was light and bursting with delicious flavor. This tarts make a fantastic, simple dessert. They also keep very well in the fridge for about 3 days.

Beef Meatball Noodle Soup

Asian-inspired cuisine is one of my favorite things to make. An afternoon a while back I had a craving for some sort of beef and noodle soup. Here's the result.

This Asian-style beef noodle soup was so simple to make, with simple ingredients and it tasted amazing. I absolutely loved the combination of the subtle ginger in the meatballs with the slightly spicy beef broth. And just to make it even better - it reheated so well! 

Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes

In my opinion, nothing beats a big breakfast of pancakes on a Sunday morning. Since I want to make pancakes all the time, I also always want to try out new ways of making them. This time it was lemon and ricotta with raspberries. My new favorite.

These pancakes had the perfect balance between the sweetness of the pancake and the sour lemon. They were light and fluffy, and I just wish I had more!

Butter Chicken

Every time we get Indian takeout I always order butter chicken, no matter how good my intention on getting something different. I always just assumed that it would be difficult to reproduce the delicious, creamy flavors of an Indian restaurant butter chicken. I have now reconsidered my previous assumptions. This butter chicken is quick, easy, and ridiculously tasty!

Of course you can't have an Indian curry without a beautiful garlic naan bread, and thankfully these are really easy to make from scratch at home too!

Chicken and Jalapeno Quesadillas

I'm all for super quick dinners during the week when, let's face it, no one really wants to come home only to have to cook a long and complicated meal. We all still want to have a meal that is packed full of fresh, tasty ingredients and quesadillas really fit this bill nicely.

This entire meal, from quesadilla to rice, took around 30 minutes to get on the table. I paired my chicken and jalapeno quesadilla with Jalapeno Rice from Kecias Flavor Breakthrough. Kecia is the master at all things rice and this dish was simple, took very little hands on time, and was the perfect complement to the quesadilla.

Chocolate Overload Cake

A while ago my good friend Michaela from An Affair From The Heart created a fantastic Chocolate Espresso Cake which I instantly loved. My honey had his birthday coming up, of course I had to make him a cake, and of course Michaelas cake was the first thing that came to mind. Here is my adaptation - Chocolate Overload Cake.

I adored this cake. It was easy to make (only one bowl!), and easy to decorate. The cake itself was perfectly chocolaty and deliciously moist. I think this is the kind of cake best described visually, so here are a whole load of photos!