Cook's Club Challenge #12

Here is another instalment of my experiments with the CCC#12 on http://www.taste.com.au/

I really enjoyed this one - the Australian Pumpkin soup was a real winner - I have made it several times now. it turns out slightly different each time I make it - must be the difference in pumpkin and the fact that I obviously don't measure things properly ;-)

The Custard Powder biscuits remind me so much of the 'fork' biscuits my best friend's mum used to make when we were kids. I instantly teleport back to her kitchen every time I make them.

It must have been time for another failure, as I was getting much too sure of myself. I tried the Mustard Chicken Bake. The flavour was a bit strong for us. It did not help that the potatoes were as good as raw - but then we did discover that for a few months after that, the potatoes were extremely difficult to cook and get a good result -no matter what we tried.

Cook's Club Challenge 10

I only tried one recipe from Challenge_10 - the MINI MARS BAR CHEESECAKES

These mini cheesecakes looked so delicious and they seemed easy to make too!

They came together fine, and looked OK, but you guessed it, it was time for a failure ............................ they did not set very well.

They tasted very nice, but they were very soft and gooey

Others that took part in the challenge had more success than me - they all looked so yummy!

Cook's Club Challenge #8

For Challenge_8 I tried out two of the three dishes.

Jazzie’s Triple Choc Brownies are to die for - they are the nicest brownies I have made.

I then tried Jazzie’s Broccoli Pie - yummo. This is another one that has become a firm favourite in this house.

The above picture is my first attempt, and the following picture is what I do now. I make up individual pies and have added onion & mushrooms to mine. Hubby's is just a bacon & egg pie ;-(

Stay tuned for more adventures in Cathy's Kitchen.

Cook's Club Challenge 7

in Challenge_7 I tried all three recipes

The Butter Chicken has to be my all time favourite - I make it up just for myself, with some rice, and divide and freeze in single portions.

Unfortunately, even given the number of times I have made it, I usually forget to take a photo.

Next success was the cake - very nice. Hubby liked it a lot and took some to work the next day.

My next project was to make up a pizza from scratch - not bad. I did not make up the dough, but bought some premixed dough and used that. The pizzas were OK and a bit of fun to make up with friends, but I think I will leave the pizza making to the professionals LOL
All in all, I am enjoying my Cook's Club Challenges very much.
stay tuned for the next installment.

Cooks Club Challenge #5

Here is my third success! Lemon Meringue Pie from Challenge No.5

This was lovely - both hubby & Dad went back for seconds - I love the way the lemon came together and just flowed into the pastry case.

Here is my next success - Chilli tomato & mushroom Fettucini. this dish was really nice - had a really nice kick to it. This is another dish I regularly make up for myself in a big batch and divide into single serves for later.

Now for the first FAILURE!

I have never had much luck using yeast or geletine in anything I have made in the past.

I figured, with my new found confidence, I would make Hot Cross Buns. I followed the instructions step by step, they looked quite nice in the pan before they went in the oven.

When they came out, they looked OK (if a little darker than what I would have liked ;-( ) but on the big taste test - BAA BAAM - they were so rubbery. The flavour was good, but the texture was so wrong!

This failure has not deterred me from trying other things - there are one or two more failures to come which I will report on a bit later - these failures are usually 'operator error' as a result of me not reading the instructions properly.

Will post some more cooking results soon.

Feel free to let me know what you think.