Brownie in a mug (vegan)

 

It's not quite spring and yet today was full of sunshine and promise.  In the morning I washed my hair, threw the bed linen in the wash and had it dried on the line by the afternoon.  We opened the doors and windows while we painted rocks and wooden spoons at the kitchen table.  Later in the afternoon I met a friend for a walk in Princes Park.  The number of diagnoses in Victoria were under 100 today for the first time in 2 months.  One might argue we don't need chocolate on such a day but it is a nice way to celebrate a good day.

 

So today I bring you one of my latest favourite desserts.  We haven't been baking many cakes lately but have been zapping mug cakes in the microwave.  Sylvia has tried a few but for me, this brownie is king.

As an aside, I find "baking" in a microwave challenging.  Five extra minutes on a cake in the oven might colour the cake slightly but five extra seconds in a microwave can give that horrid hard middles that is what passes for burning in such a new fangled appliance.  I remember decades ago when microwave cakes were all the range with those rubbery cake pans.  This recent round of mug cakes seems far more successful.  And best of all is the brownie which can be baked until it is almost cooked but still a little fudgy inside.

This brownie is rather rich.  The first time I tried it, Sylvia and I shared it.  It wasn't quite enough.  The next time I had it all to myself and it was a little too much.  So I have reduced it to two thirds of the recipe I found in The Kitchn.  Now it is just right.  Unlike the Kitchn version I make mine vegan and I don't usually have cream or ice cream with it.  It is a great recipe because we have everything in the house but I don't usually have ice cream or cream.  A bit too easy sometimes .....

 

More quick microwave desserts on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

Banana peanut butter nutella microwave brownie (v) 

Chocolate mug cake

Microwave self-saucing butterscotch pudding (v)

Single serve microwave chocolate cake with cashew frosting (v)  

 

Brownie in a mug

From The Kitchn

Serves 1

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine

2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons milk or non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2  tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch salt

1 tablespoon dark chocolate chips (optional)

Vanilla ice cream or cream, for serving

Melt butter in the microwave (I do it with sugar to stop it splattering) 20 seconds.  Gently mix in the rest in the order.  I always think it too thin but it thickens.  

 

Microwave for 1 minute.  It should be done when still a bit soft in the middle and cooked and springy on the outsides.  Slightly undercooked in middle is ok - remember microwaves keep cooking even for a bit after the food comes out and a brownie is better slightly undercooked and fudgy than slightly overcooked and dry.  If not done, microwave another 10-15 seconds.  

 

Eat with something creamy like ice cream if you wish.  Or just go for the pure intense chocolatiness!

On the stereo:

The Captain: Kasey Chambers

Candy Cane Pizzas

When I first tried candy cane pizzas in 2014, I didn't think it would take me almost 6 years to post the recipe on my blog!  My life has seen many candy cane pizzas and much change since then. But there has been one constant.  It is hard to get these pizzas to look good and even harder to have time to photograph them well.  I have usually made them either for Christmas in July dinners where I am rushing about or at Christmas where I have very little energy.  After this year's Christmas in July, I decided lockdown gave me the time I needed to make them again so I could photograph and blog them.

Above are some picture of previous candy cane pizzas.  As you can see I was lucky if I could find time to photograph them on the oven tray and they were then fed to hungry children.  I find this is a great meal to serve to kids at Christmas in July and let them help themselves to vegies and salads.  So often I found that the cheese had melted too much and did not contrast with the tomato sauce enough.  I think when I was first making them, I probably made my own tomato sauce but these days we buy tomato sauce as I am busy and Sylvia prefers the bought stuff.

I have a favourite fast track sourdough recipe that I have used.  In my usual pizzas the dough is so sticky you couldn't knead it.  It is helpful to be able to knead the dough to shape candy canes so I add an extra 1/2 cup flour.  It is still quite sticky but with some flour will be manageable.  The most recently candy cane pizza dough was made by substituting some beer for water.  It really bubbled up and had a lovely crinkly look with the yeast and sugar.  What I loved about this pizza dough is that it is quick and easy.  Everyone appreciates a Christmas recipe to make in the festive bustle.  Especially if you are making separate meals for the kids.

As I mentioned, getting the cheese to melt just right is quite challenging.  So many times it has pooled beside the pizzs in an oily mess.  So when I made the pizza in July I decided I would time it for 5 minutes to melt.  Woah! That was too much.  Next I tried 1 minute.  Still too much melt.  Then I tried 10 seconds (check out top picture) and see that it perhaps could have melted slightly more for most pieces but slightly less for a few.  Getting an even melt is another challenge.

 In addition to the cheese melt, there are a few other issues to note.  I use a ruler to measure each sausage of dough to make sure it is 30cm long.  It often takes a little more time to get the right length than I would expect.  I try and shape the pizzas by placing them like a candy cane pressing them to be a bit flatter, try shape the ends to be squareish and make sure of a bit of space in the crook of the cane.  It will expend slightly when it bakes.  I find a knife best for spreading the pizza sauce on (ie not a spoon).  When I spread pizza sauce on a round pizza I don't worry about the sauce much and just spread it with a spoon and don't worry about the edges.  For candy cane pizzas I trie to make it on neatly so it is straight along the edges and square on the edges.  When I bake it, I try and make sure it remains red and does not urn,  Spacing the cheese slices evenly on the

 

Even when I made the candy cane pizzas most recently and tried to get a good melt on the cheese, it melted too much and so I put some more cheese on it and did it again.  In the photo above you can see the melted cheese under the less melted second go.  However these are made for kids who are pretty forgiving of imperfections. 

And now that I have this recipe on my blog, it is much easier to refer to than searching drafts for my instructions.  You might not feel in the mood for it now, though this wet Melbourne lockdown weekend is the perfect time for fun pizza.  But otherwise, just keep this recipe in mind for Christmas.  You wont regret it.  I am sure there are quite a few more candy cane pizzas in my future!

More fun festive kids food on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Cheesmas Tree (gf)
Christmas bauble ornament biscuits 
Christmas royals
Fruit Christmas tree  (gf. v)
Gingerbread men
Lebkuchen 
Potato parsley stars (gf, v)
Zimsterne (cinnamon stars) (gf, v)

Candy Cane Pizzas
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe fast track sourdough pizza dough

1 cup sourdough starter*
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp dried yeast
1 1/2 tsp sweetener
3 tbsp olive oil 
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups flour
Tomato sauce (or pizza sauce - not too thin)
Cheddar cheese

Place the sourdough starter, yeast, sweetener and warm water.  (Optionally, leave a few minutes to check the yeast is blooming into small white bubbly bursts of activity.)  Mix to make sure the starter is well combined.  Stir in the oil and salt, then add the flour to make a sticky dough.  Sprinkle flour on dough and lightly knead either in bowl or on a floured surface to make a ball.  Cover and set aside for 30-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 220 C with a couple of pizza stones in the oven.  Line two rectangular baking trays with baking paper (the non-stick type).

Cut the dough into 6 or 8 (I usually do 6 but found 8 was better for cooking the dough through and the smaller candy cane is plenty for kids).  Knead each piece briefly on a lightly floured surface into a round ball of dough.  Roll out to make a 30cm long thin sausage.  I use a ruler to measure it and try and keep it fairly even.  Place sausage on the lined baking tray with the top curved to make the candy cane shape.  Flatten slightly and shape the ends to be squareish.  Make sure there is room inside the crook of the cane fr the dough to expand slightly.  Repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

Use a knife to spread tomato sauce over each candy cane neatly with straight sides and square ends.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until dough is baked but tomato sauce retains its colour.

While the pizza bakes, slice cheese into rectangles to be placed on pizza as candy cane slices.  They should be thick enough not to melt straight away.  When the pizza is cooked, arrange slices of cheese evenly apart to look like candy cane stripes.  Bake for 20-30 seconds or as long as you need for the stripes to melt but keep their colour.  Eat warm or at room temperature.  If you wish to reheat, cool pizza slight, and place uncooked cheese slices on to melt.

NOTES: You can also adapt this fast track yeast pizza by adding an extra 1/2 cup flour if you don't have sourdough.  Beer can be used instead of water, especially if you are low on sourdough starter.

On the Stereo:
White Christmas: Bing Crosby

Olive, Pineapple and Cheese Scones International Scone Week

Scones are so easy to make.  They are part of my heritage.  Often when I visit my mum she has a batch of scones with jam and cream.  I don't make them that often but I do love them.  So during International Scone Week each year, I have the fun of trying a new scone recipe.  This year for #ISW2020 I looked in the fridge and, no doubt thought of our Friday night pizzas, and decided to make olive, pineapple and manchego cheese scones. 

 
   

I had other plans but Sylvia was around telling me what she would and would not eat.  I had a jar of salsa needing to be used which I thought might make a nice addition to the flavour.  Unfortunately I ditched it so that Sylvia might try the scones.  By that time I had noticed that my choice of add-ins reminded me of my favourite pizza, I wished I had pizza sauce instead of salsa.  Maybe another time!!!

We ate the scones on a winter Sunday afternoon with nowhere to go.  It is still lockdown and the weather forecasters has promised rain and gloom but it was tantilising sunshine instead.  (At least the diagnoses are on the way down.)  The scones cheered me up.  They spread a lot and were quite flat but tasted light and tasty.

My recipe I created was based on the basic scone recipe that is like the ones I grew up with.   It was quite sticky to handle and required a lot of flour to be able to knead it.  Even then the dough was very fragile.  But the flavour was good and I liked the contrast of the bitter olives and sweet pineapple.  As opinion seems divided about pineapple on pizza, I could imagine not having full support for the combination but I recommend it.

I am sending these scones to Tandy for International Scone Week 2020.  Thanks to Tandy for continuing to bring together scone baking bloggers.  Check out her post for a list of scones sent to Tandy this week. 

More scone recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Beetroot, apple and walnut scones (v)
Gruyere scones
Kale scones (v)
Pumpkin scones
Pumpkin, pecan and poppyseed scones (v)
Strawberry marscapone scones
Walnut, brie and apple scones

Olive, Pineapple and Cheese Scones
An original Green Gourmet Giraffe recipe
Make 12-15 scones

2 cups self raising flour
3 pinches of salt (about 1/4 tsp) salt
2 tbsp butter or margarine (I used nuttalex)
1/4 cup chopped olives
1/4 cup diced fresh (or tinned) pineapple
1/4 cup manchego cheese (or other firm cheese)
1 cup milk (I used soy)
Egg and/or milk for glazing

Preheat oven to 220 C. Lightly grease a baking tray (or line with baking paper).

Place flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub in butter with your fingertips (or as you normally would do – pastry cutters, food processor etc) til it resembles fine breadcrumbs.Toss olives, pineapple and cheese with flour mixture.  Pour in milk and mix in gently til it forms a soft and sticky dough.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and knead lightly til smooth. Press dough out to a 2cm thickness. Dip biscuit cutter or glass in flour and cut as many scones as possible from dough. Place scones on a baking tray. Lightly knead off cuts into a ball and press out again and cut more scones. Repeat until all dough is used.

Brush the scones with a little milk or egg (I mixed milk and egg yolk). Bake in over for about 12-15 minutes until lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped on top. Remove from tray and wrap in a clean teatowel.  Best eaten warm or on day of baking.

On the Stereo:
Native Place: Railway Children

In My Kitchen: August 2020

I wish I could be more excited by August but I am wary and tired.  July was a very unsettled month.  Our Covid19 restrictions tightened a few times, school went remote again, masks in public became mandatory, we have an 8pm curfew (which would bother me more if there was anything to do out of the house in the evenings), Sylvia had a week of illness, we both got tested for Covid19 (and to our relief were negative), a few people around me worked with people with Covid19, Sylvia's school had a diagnosis, and the numbers of daily diagnoses got as high as the 700s.  All our relief at Melbourne doing well in June has dissipated.  Compared to may other countries, it is not so terrible.  However, the disappointment of too many people flouting the restrictions means too many discussions about the whys and whos of responsibility.  No wonder I have so little energy for blogging.

At home, we have been enjoying comfort food (pizza, sourdough bread, brownie in a mug), trying to eat more fruit by drinking more smoothies and experimenting with some new recipes.  Above is a failed experiment with a an old recipe.  I took an overnight sourdough bread and tried to pretty it up (inspired by Lorraine and VegHog).  I didn't flatten it properly or cook it enough.  I will try again and remember not to prioritise style over substance.

On the same afternoon, Sylvia made a far more successful smaller rosemary and garlic focaccia.  She used a corner of my dough and decorated it with rosemary sprigs, gold salt, and crushed garlic.  It was cooked until it was lovely and golden brown.  I had focaccia-envy!

As I mentioned, face masks are mandatory.  Here are mine.  I made one (green), a friend who sews made another (grey), I bought a couple (large flowers) from ebay, and a couple (smaller flowers) from the Johnston Collection but I am not sure if either are selling any more.  They are preferable to disposables but still fog up my glasses and can be stuffy after being out for a while.

Last month I mentioned I had dabbled in making kombucha.  I confess my scoby is quite neglected but I am doing a great job of collecting bottles.  Just in case the mood takes me, you know!

I am not cooking that often but I do the occasional big casserole or stew that can last a few meals.  It can take a while to chop the vegies but a colourful pile of vegies always makes me happy.  These vegies were chopped up for Jacqueline's Roasted Vegetable and Rice Bake. It lasted quite a few meals but was not quite right for me.  Possibly due to my changes!

I changed around the Roasted Vegetable and Rice Bake recipe, using a tin of brown lentils rather than corn mixed in with the rice and added a bit more water.  Even so I found it a bit dry.  You can see above that I needed some add ins but it didn't need much to make it a meal.  One night I  added some leftover pasta sauce.  On the occasion that I took the above photo I added some hummus and some brussel sprouts.  But I love Jac's idea of roasting veges over oven-baked rice so might give it another go!

Aldi supermarkets recently had a special on British foods and Sylvia brought home some wine gums.  They were not quite the rght texture.  So when I saw a packet in a local supermarket I bought them for her.  These were the real deal, soft but slightly chewy.  Unfortunately they have gelatine in them (ie not vegetarian) so we had them for a treat but are unlikely to have them much.

A photo of the garden before we used quite a bit of parsley.  I have had so much bad luck with parsley that I still get excited when it regrows.  And the straggly baby leeks above have hung around for a few years and continue to help out when I need spring onions or chives.

Our lime tree went gangbusters a month or two ago and now it is starting to grow more fruit.  I really need to give it a bit more care but am amazed at what it produces even when slightly neglected.

Back in lockdown and still making sourdough bread.  This loaf was made in the shape of a hedgehog with olive eyes and some snipping at the dough with scissors to make spikes.  It was fun to make and the "spikes" made it easier to cut because my breadknife didn't slide over the loaf as it often does.

I made cauliiflower cheese recently because it is great winter comfort food and I had a cauliflower that needed using.  Then i ate some as a side dish but one or two nights I just piled cauliflower cheese on toast with a bit of extra cheese and put it under the grill on low so it heated through.  A great lazy but warming meal.

On another night when I didn't have much cauliflower cheese left and had eaten enough of it, I blitzed it into a sauce with a blender and tossed it through some ravioli.  I served it with salads leftover from our Christmas in July lunch.  The salads were great but the pasta was far too rich and I ate some of it for lunch the next day.

Recently Sylvia and I have been doing Taco Tuesday (with the occasional Waco Wednesday when Tuesday does not suit).  Tacos are such a great sharing dish.  We can put out some fillings and share at least some.  I really loved the above plate of tacos, cheese, spinach, rapid refried beans, corn, coleslaw and sour cream. Sylvia's latest taco of choice is fried egg, sour cream, grated cheese and occasionally lettuce.

I bought this Japanese packet of Pizza Crisps at my local supermarket in the international aisle.  I was fascinated by the idea of lumps of melty cheese on the crisps.  Sadly the packet lied and inside the chips were covered with a an orange powder rather than lumps of melty cheese.  Nice but not as special as I had hoped.

Sylvia was online getting ideas for messing up the kitchen one night a few weeks back.  I think I was on a phone call when she asked if she could make blue pasta.  I nodded and came out to find she had made this blue dyed pasta.  It looked pretty amazing.  The kitchen looked interesting too.  Thank goodness she is getting better at cleaning up after her culinary fun!

If I am not challenging by a child leaving a trail of mess behind her, I have a cat who likes to bat anything off a table or shelf.  I have a shelf with knick knacks on it next to the sofa.  He stands on the edge of the sofa and has a go at whatever he can reach.  I could forgive him dashing a street car magnet from San Fransisco to pieces but when he beheaded an elf from a salt and pepper set I had bought at a local trash and treasure as a kid in primary school I was most displeased.  Tonight I have put the head back on with superglue but now I need to find a place for it that is safe from the cat.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event, that was started by Celia of Fig Jam and Lime Cordial,  I am grateful to Sherry for soldiering on despite all the upheaval as In My Kitchen is always a fun event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog and visit more kitchens.

Lockdown Christmas in July

Christmas in July this year was indeed a moveable feast.  Back in the good times of June when 20 people could gather in a home it seemed we could do it but by July restrictions had tightened to only 5 guests and I considered a kids lunch and a parents lunch separately.  And then there were no visitors and I despaired.  Until a colleague suggested taking food to my friends who usually come around for Christmas in July.  So the food got portable and we were able to get together on zoom.  Covid19 is really making us having to innovate to connect in this unsettling and isolating lockdown time.

Once we had agreed on a date to share food and zoom, the planning had begun.  The food had to be vegetarian, include gluten free, be portable, not too bulky, not likely to spill, easy to reheat and easy to divide up.  Sylvia and I discussed lots of ideas.  We bought a few choice items at the farmers market the weekend before and then on the weekend of the lunch, we had a cooking blitz.  Here is the menu.

 

Menu

Mini tomato, goats cheese and caramelised onion quiches

Baked cauliflower bites with hummus and feta

Potato parsley stars

Tabouli salad and green salad

Candy cane pizzs

Christmas fruit cake

Christmas tree meringues

 

Meringue christmas trees

We planned to have lots of Christmas tree shaped meringues for everyone.  Sylvia has made a few batches this year that have worked really well.  So I left her to make meringues but the first batch did not form stiff peaks and it took another batch and a lot of beating (5-10 minutes) to get the desired marshmallowy thickness.  Unfortunately once bitten twice shy meant that the second batch was smaller and then some spilled.  We only had 5 meringue Christmas trees in the end.  One for each kid.  These were made on Saturday and on Sunday Sylvia finished them off by piping chocolate and sprinkling hundreds and thousands on top to look like tinsel.

 

Mini tomato, goats cheese and caramelised onion quiches (recipe at end of post)

One reason I love baking for Christmas in July is the opportunity to try recipes I have been drooling over for far too long.  I had pinned a picture of these tarts some time ago.  They looked cute and delicious and great to packing for a picnic or a potluck.  Planning ahead I bought some onion marmalade and goats cheese at the farmers market a week ahead.  I made them on the Saturday night.  They weren't too hard but were a bit fiddly.

Sylvia, who has embraced eggs over the last year or so, does not understand how I will not eat eggs by themselves but I will eat quiches.  i have tried to explain I like quite a bit else in the quiche other than eggs.  Meanwhile I find it odd I made her a quiche with no onion marmalade and she still left bits of her tomato.  I am not sure if it is a great thing that we agree on cheese and pastry but we do.  Unfortunately the pastry was not as golden as I would have liked.  I didn't want to overcook as it needed to be reheated.  But the silicone (which I used) is quite shy of browning pastry compared to metal muffin tins.  They still looked quite cute with the

Baked cauliflower bites with hummus and feta

Once the quiches were made I set about making the cauliflower bites which I chose because they were gluten free.  I think they appealed because cauliflower and cheese scream Christmas to me, probably because I love cauliflower cheese as part of any roast dinner.  It lifts any dinner to from everyday to entertainment!  I was also interested in the idea of mixing in hummus and happy to find something gluten free I could serve.

The cauliflower bites seemed a bit fragile, especially when they were hot out of the oven.  It helped to Squeeze out as much liquid as possible and press them down firmly in the muffin tin.  This was the last of my Saturday work and I was up late because I am a night owl and I knew I would not be able to do much in the morning.

Potato Parsley Stars

It was a given that we had potatoes.  But we had to choose from roast potatoes, potato salad or potato stars.  Sylvia wanted stars.  So stars it was.  We've made them a few times.  They are fun and fairly straight forward.  I am very sad that my favourite Trentham potato lady at the farmers market has not been visiting since lockdown.  I assume she is unable to to travel into Melbourne.  She sells potatoes that are so full of flavour that it feels a little sad to buy potatoes at the supermarket but that is what I had to do.

Candy cane pizzas

While I love to experiment with the food I serve the adults, I always make the same thing for the kids.  It seems that kids always love pizzas even if they are a bit picky with any other food I made.  I am always trying to get the cheese not to melt too much so it looks like stripes.  It is constantly a challenge.  But I have experimented with this and hope to share a recipe soon.

The last item I made was a Gluten Free Christmas Cake that I baked a week before the lunch.  More about the cake in another post.  Sylvia decided to make Christmas bags for the kids.  We wrapped the pizzas in foil, and put the meringues into popcorn boxes.  I found some old takeaway boxes and used more popcorn boxes to package up the food.  Then I packed everything for one family and had two bike rides with food in my panniers that I dropped off during the ride.  I was pretty behind but by about 3 we all joined in a Zoom video chat to talk about the meal, sewing masks, wearing masks, contact tracing, remote schooling and our families. 

Making lots of finger food seemed more work and less food than a meal we could share in my house.  Luckily one friend left some tubs of salad on the verandah that completed the meal nicely.  I am glad that we did the meal when we did.  The last week has seen among us illness, corona virus tests (negative), contact with people with corona virus, and the government talking tighter lockdown which today has culminated in moving from stage 3 to stage 4 restrictions.  I really hope that in December we will be able to be more social when it comes to celebrating Christmas!

More ideas for Christmas food:

Glazed tofu roast

Sweet potato and red cabbage gratin

Jewelled pumpkin and pistachio salad

Broccoli slaw

Pea mint and spinach salad

Christmas wreath salad (rocket, avocado and pomegranate)

Christmas crunch popcorn

Reindeer oreo balls

Rocky road puddings

Mini tomato, goats cheese and caramelised onion quiches

From Better Homes and Gardens

Makes 24 mini quiches

12 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, halved

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried Italian (mixed) herbs

Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season

2-3 sheets frozen ready-rolled shortcrust or puff pastry (25cm x 25cm), partially thawed

2 eggs

1 tbsp cream

1 tbsp finely grated parmesan

1/8 to 1/4 cup caramelised onion chutney (I used onion marmalade)

50g goats cheese, crumbled

Cut cherry tomatoes in half.  Please in a baking-paper-lined roasting dish, drizzle with oil and scatter with herbs and seasoning to taste.  Roast at 190 C for 10-15 minutes or until skins start to wrinkle and burst.

Meanwhile grease and line two x 12 hole or 1 x 24 hole mini muffin tins.  Cut 7cm diameter circles from the pastry sheets and line muffin holes.  I had to use my fingers neaten up the tops of a few pastry cups once in the tin because they were not smooth.

Spoon a generous quarter teaspoon of onion marmalade into the bottom of each pastry cup.  Light whisk together eggs, cream, parmesan and seasoning.  Divide among pastry cups, filling them about 3/4 full.  Place a cherry tomato in each and crumble goats cheese around tomato.

Bake for 15-30 minutes until tomatoes are well cooked and pastry is golden.

NOTES:

• I used cherry roma tomatoes which were so small I did not cut in half but they would explode with burning juices in my mouth so I think perhaps halving the cherry tomatoes would help.
• I only used 2 sheets of puff pastry because it was all I had but I was able to get about 20 x 7cm diameter circles and then about 4 x 6cm diameter circles.
  
• I used silicone mini muffin tins and the puff pastry cases did not get golden and crisp.  I think a metal tin might help crisp them up.
• I find the best way to line mini muffin tins is to cut circles of baking paper for the bottom of the tin (by folding a piece of baking paper into a small square and cutting the circle out of it so you cut all many circles at once) and if it is silicone I don't grease but if it is metal I grease it.
  
• I made one for Sylvia with no onion marmalade and sprinkled some parsley so I could tell which one it was.  She enjoyed it.

Baked cauliflower bites with hummus and feta

From Cooking Canuck

Makes about 24

500g cauliflower cored and riced

5 tablespoons hummus

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (I used GF)

3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

Once the cauliflower is riced, place in a clean teatowel and wring out as much liquid as possible.  Mix all ingredients together with the cauliflower in a medium mixing bowl.  Spoon into lined and greased mini muffin tins (2 x 12 hole or 1 x 24 hole) and press down in the tin.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Gently remove from tin.  Can be eaten warm, room temperature or frozen for later.

On the Stereo:

An Aussie Christmas