Orange & Poppyseed Cake

Would you believe I've never made orange and poppyseed cake before? I love it whenever I eat it, but until now haven't attempted it. It was easy and absolutely beautiful. It takes a little time though, so you need to put aside about 30mins, plus the cooking time of 40-50mins. It is easily adapted to suit lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant people.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup milk (I used lactose-free milk)
• 1/3 cup poppyseeds
• 180g softened unsalted butter (I used olive spread, but a dairy free spread will work too)
• 1 cup caster sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• Finely grated zest from 3 oranges
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 and 1/2 cups plain flour (gluten free for celiacs)
• 2 tsp baking powder

Syrup:

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup white sugar (or caster)
• 20g unsalted butter (or olive spread, dairy free spread)
• Zest of 2 oranges

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius. Grease a 24cm cake pan and line base with baking paper
2. Place milk in a bowl and stir in the poppyseeds. Stand for 20 minutes
3. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and pale. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each
4. Gently fold in zest, juice and poppyseed mixture
5. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold in
6. Spoon the mixture into the pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean
7. Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a plate

For the syrup:

1. Place the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir until sugar has dissolved and butter has melted
2. Turn heat to high and simmer for 2 minutes
3. While the cake is still warm, pierce holes in the top of the cake with a skewer and pour over the hot syrup
4. Peel and thinly slice an orange and decorate the top of the cake and sprinkle with poppyseeds
5. Serve warm or cold.

D-E-L-icious  XD

Moroccan Lamb & Couscous Salad - Julie Goodwin

Please excuse the crappy photo, my Samsung phone camera used to be fantastic, 

but since the Jellybean update it is now rubbish.

Shame on you, Android! My next phone will be an iPhone!

I haven't cooked lamb backstraps before so buying them from my butcher was a new experience for me. I'm not sure if this is universal with all butchers, buy mine told me when you buy backstraps you get the 'backstrap' and a piece of 'fillet'. I didn't know what to expect, in fact I had never seen a backstrap before so when my butcher showed me the 'fillet' I laughed. The fillet was about 10cm long and 2cm wide. My first thought was 'what am I supposed to do with that?' So I served it up along with the backstrap XD

The backstraps are not cheap, in fact it was the most expensive piece of meat I had bought before - $29.99 per kilo but this meal only requires 400g. I can see why backstraps are expensive though - they are the most succulent cut of meat from the lamb. It is the trimmed part of the middle of lamb's loin and is free from any bone, gristle and fat so it is extremely lean.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup currants
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup couscous
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 oranges, zest finely grated, flesh reserved
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 400g lamb backstraps

Method:

1. Place currants in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5-10mins, until plump. I left them for about 30mins
2. Bring the stock to the boil in a pan over a high heat. Remove from heat and add couscous. Stir, then cover and leave for 5 minutes. The liquid will absorb into the couscous. Add the butter and fluff with a fork. Cover again
3. Heat half the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and orange zest and cook for a further minute. Stir through the brown sugar
4. Add the onion mixture to the couscous. Roughly chop the flesh of the oranges (discarding the membrane and pith) and stir through the couscous along with the drained currants and the orange juice. Season to taste with salt & pepper if required
5. Wipe out the frying pan and heat the remaining oil over a high heat. Combine the spices and salt in a large pres-seal bag and place the lamb inside. Seal and shake the bag to coat the lamb. Brown the lamb in the frying pan then cook for a further few minutes, until done to your liking. This will vary depending on the thickness of the fillets. When the lamb has about the same resistance to it as a palm of your hand, it's about medium. Let the lamb rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving over the top of the couscous. D-E-L-icious XD

Snow Pea & Orange Salad

To go with our BBQ last night I made a salad with the following:

• Mixed baby spinach, rocket and kale leaves
• 1 cucumber
• 2 sticks celery
• 1/4 red capsicum
• 1 shallot
• 1 orange peeled and chopped
• 10 snow peas

D-E-L-icious  XD