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    • Chicken Diane

      I’m not sure how the delicious magazine I took this recipe from managed to make the chicken look so attractive. I really enjoyed this, but unfortuately it didn’t photograph particularly well. The amounts are for 4 people.

      ingredients:

      700g potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
      30g butter
      2 tbs olive oil
      4 chicken breast fillets, with skin (I couldn’t find any fillets with skin, so I used skinless, which worked fine)
      3 eschalots, finely chopped
      2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
      1/2 chicken stock
      2 tsp Dijon mustard
      1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
      1/4 cup brandy
      1/2 cup thickened cream
      2 tbs chopped parsley
      2 tsp lemon juice

      Preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the potato in a baking tray, drizzle with 1 tbs oil, and toss with salt and pepper. Place in the oven while you brown the chicken.

      Heat the butter and remaining oil in a frypan over a medium heat. Cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden. (If your fillets are thick, cook for a little longer). Place the filllets, skin side up, on a seperate tray in the oven, give the potatoes a stir, and roast both for a further five minutes or until cooked and golden – mine took a good deal longer than 5 minutes, as I don’t think I cooked the chicken well enough in the first stage.

      Return the frypan to a medium heat, add the eschallots and cook for a minute, add the garlic and cook for a further minute, stirring all the while. Stir in the stock, mustard, sauce, brandy and cream (I omitted the brandy, and used Carnation milk instead of cream – this seemed to work fine, but I’d like to try it with the brandy). Bring this mixture to a boil then simmer on medium for 2-3 minutes to reduce by half. Stir in the parsley and lemon juice. Serve with the potatoes, and wartercress (I went with some steamed vegetables rather than watercress. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten watercress, actually.)

    • Expressions

    • Crawling

      This sweet little boy was the resident baby at the shower – a balloon tied to his ankle, you could see it bobbing behind him as he crawled rapidly around the room, squawking happily.

    • Blueberry Muffins

      At a loss as to what I felt like for breakfast one Sunday morning, I whipped up these blueberry muffins from a new faithful book, The Muffin Bible published by Penguin. Sweet, light and with deliciously soft spots of blueberry dotted through them, they were the perfect start to the day. A very speedy recipe.

      ingredients:

      2 cups plain flour
      1 tblsp baking powder
      2 tsp custard powder
      1 cup sugar
      3/4 cup blueberries (I imagine it means fresh – I used frozen)
      2 eggs
      3/4 cup milk
      3/4 cup oil

      Preheat the oven to 190C.

      Sift the flour, baking powder and custard powder into a large bowl. Add the sugar and blueberries (if using fresh – if frozen, reserve til last).

      In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil. Add the egg mixture to the dry mix (along with blueberries if using frozen) and stir gently until just combined. Spoon into a muffin tin, and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

      The recipe suggests you serve dusted with icing sugar, but not if you’re having them for breakfast! I would recommend a cup of coffee as an accompaniment instead.

    • Cupcakes

      I went to my first baby shower on the weekend – the first pregnancy among my contemporaries, really, and a slightly alarming reminder of passing years. The afternoon’s refreshments – pavlova (well, it wouldn’t be an Australian celebration without a pav) and super cute pink and blue cupcakes. I am thinking that I want to have a childhood-style party for my next birthday, just so I can have cupcakes and play Pin the Tail on the Donkey (although for this party it was Pin the Dummy on the Baby).

    • Anton

      Flushed from riding his bike in the backyard, he grins up at me.

    • Storytime

      Listening to a story before bedtime.

    • Curiosity

      My Baby Cousin – I can never be bothered properly classifying my cousins’ children, as cousins-once-removeds or whatever they are, as they are all too small for such long titles – was terribly fascinating by my camera, and kept toddling over to stare seriously into the lens.

    • Port Melbourne skyline

      I stayed with my cousin in Melbourne while there to attend my grandmother’s funeral – the day after the funeral was cool and overcast, and with a wind rushing in from the sea. This photo is the view from their apartment balcony.

    • Sapling

      A small sapling stretching upwards next to the lower dam. A sapling of what, I do not know – I rely on my mother for most horticultural knowledge.