Monthly Archives: July 2014

Macadamia & Choc Chip Cookies

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IMG_4878These cookies are just delicious. The savoury nature of the macadamia makes them very moorish, so be careful! They are so good they don’t need much more of an introduction really! I have to thank Judy Harper for this recipe, but I have no idea where she originally sourced it from.

Makes 18

Ingredients
200g butter, softened
180g brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1 cup milk choc chips
1 cup white choc chips

Method
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs and continue to beat until well combined.
Stir the flour through the butter mixture. Once combined add the macadamias and choc chips. The mixture is quite stiff so I find it easier to mix the nuts and choc chips through by hand than with a spoon.
Pull roughly 2 tablespoons of dough from the mixture and make a ball, it will be slightly larger than a golf ball but smaller than a tennis ball. Place of a baking paper lined tray and flatten slightly. Continue with the rest of the dough. You should get about 18, depending on the size of the cookies.
Bake for 12 minutes.
IMG_4881The cookies will keep well in an airtight container for several days…but they probably won’t last that long!

*For a variation you could use any combination of choc chips that you like, you might like to substitute the white choc chips for dark.

 

Farro & Bean Soup

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IMG_4334The soups keep coming for winter. The thing I’m loving most about soup at the moment is that one batch will last a couple of meals for the two of us. Nothing like a night off cooking when you’ve got a newborn…or anytime! This is just like a minestrone but with a couple of extras, the beans and faro. This recipe has evolved from Guy Grossi spelt & bean soup recipe.
I have served it here with some crusty bread…delicious!
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stick, finely diced
1 capsicum (any colour), diced
1 parmesan rind
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 potato, 1 cm dice
1 can borlotti beans, drained
1 can cannellini beans, drained
500ml chicken stock
100g farro
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
Grana Padana or other parmesan cheese, grated

Method
IMG_4331Heat oil in a large saucepan over a low-medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes then add carrot, celery, capsicum, garlic, potato and parmesan rind. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. While this is cooking down drain and rinse the borlotti and cannellini beans. Divide the beans in two and mash half the beans and set the other half aside.
Add tomatoes, mashed beans and chicken stock and cook for 20 minutes. Then add the whole beans and farro and simmer for a further 20 minutes until the farro is tender. Remove the parmesan rind and stir through the chopped parsley. Serve with grated Grana Padana.