Hello Friends!
It feels like forever since I have been here….how are you all?
Settling in to school/work/new year routines?
I have had an incredibly busy start to the year and really just haven’t had time to do the things I enjoy doing (i.e. blogging and catching up on how you are all doing, to name a few!)
However, I’ve just had a week off, relaxed, recharged and now feel ready to take on 2013! Better late than never, I say! Oh, and we’ve finally got internet connected in our new place so I can access my blog without exceeding the download limits on my iPhone….slave to technology, yes I am! Just kidding, I also had a very nice time unplugging for a few days over the recent long weekend 
Aussie readers, how was your Australia Day weekend? Did you celebrate, have a BBQ, or just enjoy a day off work? Australia Day is my favourite day of the year, a time to celebrate being Australian, having a BBQ, hanging with friends and family and listening to Triple J’s Hottest 100 Countdown. This weekend we celebrated at a beach party at Yorkes, and it was fabulous, one of the most fun times I’ve had in ages.
I am sure I will have some photos to share with you in coming weeks, but for today’s post I wanted to share a couple of Aussie-themed recipes with you. These recipes also mark my 52nd and 53rd new dish….which means, I’ve cooked one new dish a week for a whole year!!!! When I started this challenge, I really just needed something to do and something to add to my blog. I’ve enjoyed trying some new cuisines and challenging myself to move away from the standard meat and three veg I was so fond of cooking.
I’m not sure at this stage if I am going to continue cooking one new dish a week this year. I would like to, but due to time constraints, I won’t have time to blog about them all….just the really awesome ones 
I do aim to improve my creativity in the kitchen, learning how to combine flavours without a recipe, adapt recipes on my own, as opposed to following them to a ‘t’ and I also intend to improve my food photography skills, so (hopefully) you are going to see better photos from now on.
Without further ado, here are two Aussie-themed dishes that I cooked last week.
First up we have some ‘apple and macadamia crusted lamb cutlets’, with a recipe adapted from taste.com.au. This dish combines two very Australian ingredients, lamb and macadamia nuts. Australians are some of the world’s biggest consumers of lamb and we are also one of the world’s biggest lamb producers. This certainly rings true in our family, coming from a string of sheep farmers (and eaters ). Macadamia nuts are native to Australia…and are delicious too! The combination of the macadamia and apple went so well with the lamb cutlets, and was a delicious change to crumbing with breadcrumbs.
). Macadamia nuts are native to Australia…and are delicious too! The combination of the macadamia and apple went so well with the lamb cutlets, and was a delicious change to crumbing with breadcrumbs.The ingredients
6 lamb cutlets
100g macadamia nuts
1 small granny smith apple, peeled and grated
1 lemon, rind grated, and juiced
1 tbs dried thyme (fresh rosemary would be better, but we had none on hand)
S&P, to taste
The method
In a processor, or mortar and pestle, roughly crush the macadamias. Combine with the apple, lemon rind and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (C). Place the lamb cutlets in a roasting pan and press the macadamia mixture onto the lamb. Spray lightly with canola oil. Roast for approximately 20-25 minutes.
- We served our lamb cutlets with a simple rocket and tomato salad, drizzling the lemon juice over the top, and some macadamia/chilli potatoes.
For the potatoes
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 sweet potato, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tsp macadamia oil
1/2 tsp olive oil
1/2 green chilli, chopped finely
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped finely (fresh from the garden )
)1 tsp fresh chives, chopped finely (also fresh from the garden )
)Combine all of the above ingredients together and roast in the same pan with the lamb for about 25 minutes. Yum!
And, now onto dessert, a delicious ‘passionfruit custard slice’! I found this recipe on taste.com.au also, and followed it exactly, so please see this link for details. Both of these dishes were under a list of Australian recipes. As passionfruit is not native to Australia (but is grown here and very popular) and the custard slice originated in France, I am not 100% sure what makes this Australian. I do know that custard slices are very popular here though, so I decided that was good enough for me!
These are the lattice biscuits…they’re sweet, pastry biscuits. I’ve never had them before and they’re tasty enough on their own!
YUM! Firstly, congrats on your one new dish a week! That’s a huge achievement. Thank goodness you can document them all here – I’m thinking you’d have a bulging recipe file otherwise! Both these meals look fab, but the passionfruit slice looks amazing. Anything custard-filled gets my vote.
I agree! Custard is the best, isn’t it!! I was given a recipe book for Xmas to write up my year of recipe’s…that is going to be a year-long event in itself!
The dessert looks really tempting! Great to see that you’re back with new energy. I’ve been following your photos on Instagram and I’ve been very impressed. xo
LUXESSED
Thanks Anouka
A rest is always good to get renewed energy and enthusiasm! You should try a passionfruit custard slice…they are the best!
Oooh, I forgot about using lattice biscuits instead of pastry for a vanilla slice! So, so good.
Well done on making it through your one new dish a week year, such a great effort!
Thank you, it was a pretty easy challenge most of the, busy times are hard ‘cos all you feel like eating is quick meals!
That’s a lot of food, yummy.
Thankyou, they were both delicious meals!
I love your delicious dishes my friend, I love seeing you add a new dish a week – good on you
Cheers
CCU
Thanks very much
I will certainly try to cook a new one this year (this I find quite easy now, it’s part of my routine!) x
Ali, I love the entire meal. The lamb looks incredible! Love the mixture for the lamb and the potatoes. The sweet pastry treats are gorgeous!
Thanks Judy
I love lamb and the macadamia mixture was really tasty on them! …how did you go with the halloumi cheese?
Nice to see you blogging about Ali
Hope you’re going to have a wonderful year and don’t work so hard! remember to take breaks and ‘blog’ when you can hehe ~
I was overseas this year for Australia Day so I didn’t get the chance to celebrate but next year when I do celebrate I am definitely going to make lamingtons!
Thanks Daisy
Work really gets in the way of my social life and hobbies sometimes – hehe! But, it pays the bills, so got to stick at it!
Lamingtons are so good, aren’t they! We didn’t make them, but ate quite a few over the weekend!
Happy belated ‘Straya Day! Those passionfruit thingos have me drooling!
They were pretty sensational!
Looks like excellent food. Thanks for the recipes.
Thank you and you’re welcome
They were both very tasty.
Good to see you post again! And you came bearing food!
A pair of pretty fine looking dishes. Good stuff – thanks.
Thank you
I’m just happy I’ve had time to cook over the past month! Both dishes were very tasty!
Wow! What fab dishes!! I am OK with one dish a week. I am having atough time myself trying to keep up, and some weeks are worse than the others. Still, anything is good as long as it’s there, worth the wait I say. The lamb looks mouthwatering!!
Thank you
Some weeks are busier than others…those weeks I tend to have left-overs or I’ll prepare two meals in one night. The lamb was delicious!
Love the blog! Those biscuits look strange, but I’m sure I could scoff some down!
Sigh, sorry I was listening to someone talk as I typed, I meant to put “Those biscuits look savoury!”
Haha! I did the same thing the other day on Instagram…multitasking sometimes doesn’t work the best on all of these technical platforms! The slice was actually really sweet, but delicious all the same! If you like custard, then I am pretty sure you would like them!