Scoffed Cooking School...

On Friday, 14th February, we went to Scoffed Cooking School (School of Food and Fun)... to do a French cooking class...

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We were lucky as there were only 10 of us doing the course so we had plenty of kitchen space to work in.

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First we were seated and given a glass of French sparkling wine...

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Then we had an appertiser of house cured salmon on a chardonnay emulsion with orange and fennell salad (underneath)... Delicious!

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Our chef, Alanna explained how the salmon was cured with salt, pepper and citrus, left overnight then basted with brandy...

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In the kitchen, we were guided through the steps to make our entree’ of butter poached prawns with kohlrabi purée and roasted cauliflower shards.

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We then went back to our tables in the cafe to enjoy our dish with a lovely French Rosé - delicious!

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On to main course - we prepared a red wine jus which reduced away while we made the aligot (potatoes with cheese) and roasted the heirloom carrots. 

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This is the eye fillet steak, ready for slicing...

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In this pot - shallots, red wine, stock, rosemary and bay leaf, left to reduce down...

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Aligot is potatoes and cheese.  The potatoes softened in cream then we added gruyere, mozarella and parmesan cheese to form a cheezy, melty potato delight!

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We cooked a generous fillet of beef which was pan seared then basted with melted butter in the pan. The jus was finished off with a generous knob of butter to give it a nice sheen. Out the window with my diet!

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Once plated, we enjoyed our beef with a French Shiraz style wine.

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My fillet, cooked to perfection...

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For dessert, we were given a pre-made crème brûlée and it had a crushed toffee topping which we each blow-torched or brûlée’d.

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My chef!

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Served with an Earl Grey house made ice cream and biscuit crumb, it finished off the night perfectly. 

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This cooking class was great value for money.  Where can you go and have a 4 course meal with matched wines plus 4 hours entertainment for $145.00 per head.  All recipes have been emailed to us so we can try the recipes at home.  We had a great Valentines Day evening!

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School of Food and Fun, definitely

Cheers - Joolz xx

A busy week...

I ordered a Kangaroo Island Relief Hamper through Hamper Emporium - I am really pleased with it for the price.  I paid $100 and I think it is great value.  The wine is a $30 bottle, the shampoo and conditioner are $42/set, 2 x olives at $7.95 ea, olive oil $12.95, rolled oats $6.00, plus the other items so well over $100.  They also give a donation to the KI Mayors Fund...

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We've started doing Meatless Mondays.  This is a Moroccan Lentil Shepherd's Pie, quite delicious and ZERO points.  The roast pumpkin topping was delicious!

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I served it with steamed greens, also 0 points...

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I also had enough for 2 lunches to freeze...

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The weather has been odd of late...very humid with chilly mornings, quite foggy.  Just look how green the park lands are now, after that big rain we had.

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Tuna Tuesday meant I needed to search the WW app to find a recipe.  These are Tuna mornay vegetable bakes...

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Husband declared it the best tuna morney he's ever had...not sure if he was joking or for real but they certainly were tasty...

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Muesli, fruit and half a serve of yoghurt for breakfast...

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I did a comparison of these 2 blueberry yoghurts I had in the fridge.  Bearing in mind the Dairy Farmers is not a low fat one but it just goes to show how you can cut back by using a low fat option.

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The Chobani one is 170 gms and 5 points and the DF one is 150 gms and 9 points.

Chobani - total Fat 0.3, Sat. fat 0.2, Sugar 16.7, Kjs 564.4 and Protein 13.6 

D/F - total Fat 9.3, Sat. fat 6.0, Sugar 20.2, Kjs 822 and Protein 5.7

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Wednesday night, I was a bit over everything so just coated chicken breasts in a crumb coating and baked until tender.  Servied with roasted potatoes, pumpkin and zucchini and sweet corn...

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On my morning walk, I noticed these shrubs which were bursting into bloom...

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I have been told they are Crepe Myrtles, something I'd heard of but never seen in flower...lovely!

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Yummy porridge again...

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Put my car through the car wash on Thursday...

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My nephew gifted us a crayfish so I made 3 salads to enjoy with it.  It was delicious!

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Friday morning, the horizon was cloudy at sunrise, quite spectacular...

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Ugh!  I tried Woolworths Macro Linseed & Sunflower 85% Lower Carb bread - husband complained about it, saying it was not good.   I thought he was a bit whingy until I tried it.  I think eating cardboard would've have more taste.  I actually cut off the crusts so I could chew it!  I did not enjoy it with my eggs at all!  Never again!

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...and after saying my tomatoes would never ripen, I finally had a red one!

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I picked it but it wasn't very juicy...

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We headed off to Adelaide for the weekend.  A special Valentines Day for us and wedding venue hunting on Sunday...the bride and groom think they've found the spot!

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Cheers - Joolz xx

Weekend roundup...

*** Spider warning - a few pics coming up ***

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First up, Friday night Fakeaway - turkey apple burger with carrot, beetroot, tomato, apple lettuce slaw and mayo on a brioche (bun not WW approved, but it was small, light and fluffy)...

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I had steamed eggs on toast for breakfast Saturday morning...
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Saturday evening - Gary Mehigan's WW Black Pepper Chicken curry.  Quite nice, but I think it just needed a little sweetening off, but quite yummy!

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Sunday morning - Hot Mess!  

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I sauteed up (no oil) capsicum, onion and about 20 gms bacon...then removed from pan.

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Then I steamed some zucchini zoodles, carrot and sweet corn...then added the bacon mix back in...

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I then nestled 2 whisked eggs into the mix, put a lid on and steamed it until the egg was firm.  Sprinked with smokey paprika!  Declared delicious! 2 points for the bacon!

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Later in the morning, I went out to water my Vegepod and this nasty creature was sitting on the outside!  I am petrified of spiders but over the years I have mellowed slightly.  This sight previously would have had me run around to the front of the house and no coaxing would get me back there!  Even looking at these pictures would have been hard!

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Husband wasn't home at the time so rather than lose sight of the blighter, I decided I had to act!  I sidled past him and went inside to get a can of spray.  Hairs on my arms are standing up!  Now I have to spray him without having him jump on me! Yikes!  I reach around from the other side of the Vegepod and give a big spray, many, many sprays!  He zooms around into the inside of the pod!

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I caught it all on video and it is quite funny to watch.  You can hear my breathing and how agitated I am...

Anyhoo, after about 30 minutes, he finally succumbed and ended up a crumpled heap in the Vegepod.  Now I am wondering if he has a mate???

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My tomatoes are doing really well in here.  I can spiI had thinned out some of the Tiny Toms that I popped in here (I just sunk all the shrivelled tiny tomatoes that were still on the vines from last year, back into the soil).  I replanted some in a pot, so we'll see how wer go with those.  I wonder if disturbing the soil made the spider come out or if he was just lurking...it doesn't bear thinking about!

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When husband got home, I made him extricate the mongrel with some long handled tongs, squash it then throw it over the fence!

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My well earned mid afternoon snack...

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I made up two overnight oats pots - one with strawberries and the other with blueberries.  5 points each.

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My sourdough starter went into the bin - it failed to thrive after day 3...bummer!

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Pretty, very neglected rose, struggling to survive amongst the mint, morning glory vine and rosemary bush...

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So vividly hot pink!

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Dinner last night - Mayura Wagyu beef kebabs - from our local Foodland.  These were delicious!

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Oats pot this morning - was yummy with more strawberries added on top!

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I added chia seeds which help thicken it up...

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Bless me!  Look what I found when I went home at lunch time today, dead as a doornail!  Charlotte's buddy, Charlie!

RIP!

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Cheers - Joolz xx