Kate's Crazy Culinary Creations

This is the last gingerbread item for Christmas, I promise. While it did take some time it was worth the effort and they came out really good. I once again used the recipe for my gingerbread, here is the link for the recipe-  Gingerbread Recipe . I have a cookie cutter to cut out the Santa face and mustache so they were easy to make.  It was the icing that took the time. I decorated them them over 3 nights to allow the royal icing to set between colours.  Night 1 the red hat. Night 2 the white on the hat. Night 3 the skin colour, 4 hours later the beard and mustache. I iced the beard first then the mustache. I allow the beard and mustache to form a skin before I sat the mustache on, about 30 minutes. I will make theses again but now that I have made them once I think they will take half the time the next time because I know the constancy that the icing needs to be and understand the timing better. Happy cooking, until next time, Kate.

I had ordered extra fruit and vegetables for Christmas and ended up with extra tomatoes so I decided to make Tomato Passata, tomato puree that I use all the time in my pasta sauces. It was pretty easy to make and can be frozen for up to 2 months, so it will no doubt get used before then. Firstly you need to peel the fresh tomatoes. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Remove any stems that maybe on the tomatoes and cut a cross about 2 cm across on the bottom of the tomato (the other side to where you removed the stem.) Fill a bowl large enough for 4 tomatoes with water and ice. Place the tomatoes into the boiling water, 4 at a time, for 30 seconds to a minutes. The cross will slightly open. Then drop into the ice water. Once removed from the ice water you should be able to remove the skin from the tomatoes. Once all the skin is removed chop the tomatoes. In a large deep saucepan pour the oil, add both the fresh and tinned tomatoes. Finally add the sugar, basil, salt and ...

I was looking for an alternative for a Christmas cake and recently had this whilst on holidays in Hawaii. I had it at the Cheesecake Factory and loved it. I thought at the time that it was something that I would have to try. The red cake makes it perfect for a Christmas cake. I will warn you though, it does take a bit of time but the result is spectacular. You will need to make it over two days or make the cheesecake in the morning and the cake and icing in the evening to serve. So first to make the cheesecake. Preheat your oven to 140 degrees Celsius. You will need a roasting tray large enough to fit the spring form pan into that you are using. I used 24 cm tin, just keep in mind that you will also need a cake tin of the same size to cook the cakes in later. Boil you kettle with enough water to fill the roasting tray with half way up the sides of your tin. Line the base of the spring form tin with baking paper and spray the sides with oil. Wrap the bottom of the tin with 2 layers of...

I posted my gingerbread recipe last Christmas but I though I would post a couple of picture of the gingerbread house that I made this year and one last Christmas. This gingerbread recipe is so good and great for making structures with. Here is the link for the recipe- Gingerbread Recipe .

This recipe combines some flavours that I really like. And is there anything better that a home made pizza. I have posted my recipe for pizza bases on my lamb pizza  post earlier this year. This recipe is amazing and the more times that you make it the easier it gets! Now for the topping, you can cook this on your BBQ, if you have a BBQ with a hood, otherwise you can grill the chicken and onion in a grill pan on a hot plate. Spray the capsicum with some oil and put into an oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes until the skin begins to black. (If you are doing on your BBQ place them onto the grill and cook until charred all over. Turning as required.) Once cooked place into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow it to stand for 5 minutes. Peel the skin off and deseed. Cut up to your desired size. While you are waiting for the capsicum to seam in the bowl, process the garlic, chilli, paprika and oregano until finely chopped. Add the lemon juice and oil and continue t...

I thought that this recipe looked interesting. It combined to things that I really like curry and noodles. It was a little different having a curry with noodles like this but it was easy to make and a great mid week meal. In a large heavy based saucepan heat the oil over a medium-low heat. Add the curry paste, ground coriander, curry powder and turmeric. Cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly until aromatic. Add half the coconut milk and continue to cook, still stirring. Once the oil has separated add the chicken and cook, still stirring, for a further 4 minutes. Add the onion, stock, brown sugar, fish sauce and the remaining coconut milk. Simmer covered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove the cover from the pan and simmer for a further 6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Meanwhile cook you noodle as per the packets instructions. Drain them and divide them among the 4 serving bowls. Cut the lime in half. Add the juice of 1 half to the curry and qua...

I was looking for something to make for Christmas gifts this year and I have seen a few different combinations of Chocolate bark. This recipe combined a lot of chocolate but looked awesome and was fairly easy to make. You could make it with store bought cookies if you were short on time. I decided to make my own.   So first you need to make the cookies. Place the butter into the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until smooth and creamy. Add the brown sugar and beat until fluffy and light in colour. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla until combined. Just make sure that you scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to.   Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Combine with the wet ingredients on a low speed. Add the chocolate chips and mix on low for a minute until well distributed. Remove the dough from the bowl and cover with aluminium foil and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.   Preheat the oven to 170 degr...

I saw this recipe a while ago in one of my cookbooks, it was my brother's dog's birthday last week so I thought it was the perfect chance to give them ago. They are fairly easy to make and would be great Christmas gifts for any dog lovers out there.  So to start with combine the wholemeal flour, bread flour, salt and brown sugar into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs and the vegetable oil. Dissolve the milk powder in the water and add to the mixture. Mix together to form a firm dough that is smooth and workable. At this time you may need to adjust the mixture by add a little more flour or water. Cover the dough in the bowl and set aside to relax for 15-20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Roll out the dough to about 1 cm thick. Cut the biscuits with a bone shaped cookie cutter (if you don't have one, like me, just use whatever you have. I used a car and a medium sized gingerbread man). Place the biscuits on to a baking tray lined with b...