A Jamie Oliver Moment

My mum put on the usual spread of delicacies for our family dinner last night. You know, just the usual for a simple Saturday meal: Soup, a roast, salad. And for dessert apple and pineapple slice, Viennese Sachertorte (chocolate sponge cake), cherry cheesecake slice and fresh cantaloupe. (I bet you're wishing you were of German heritage now.)

My grandfather asked why my mum had cooked so much (I think she just likes to cook). Then he asked me if I also cooked, to which I sadly had to reply no. Highlights of my own cooking career include crumbling cakes, raw 'baked' potatoes and my all-time favourite, cheese a la flames. I feel like I'm a disappointment to my lineage! When experiencing my cooking, people frequently comment in utter puzzlement, "But your mum is such a good cook..."

My own cooking abilities can be summed up in the Jamie Oliver moment I had a couple of days ago. I'm pretty sure it was Jamie Oliver that had the show where he'd come into someone's kitchen and cook up something restaurant-like from whatever was on hand in the pantry. Feeling a bit inspired, I attempted my own fanciful dish from what I could find in the fridge. Pumpkin soup and leftover pasta, with a little help from the spice rack, became the very classy herb and pumpkin penne with chives and parmesan.

Tasty, but still a clear distinction from my Mum's cuisine.

Steff the Chef: Banana Non-Tumble

My second attempt at this delicious banana cake turned out fantastic! As you can see, its form is perfect, and it tastes just as good as last time. I just love banana cakes. In fact, I love almost all banana-products; smoothies, sundaes, shakes, pancakes, slices... I'm just so glad the terrible banana disaster is long gone!

Some of you may remember my first attempt at this, which barely resembled a cake at all. In fact, we turned it into trifle. If you don't remember it, it can be found here.

Steff the Chef - Zapped Pears

Another delicious recipe from Steff's kitchen!

An elegant and fancy dessert turned quick and simple. Here's what you do:

Recipe:
1. Core and peel pears.
2. 'Poach' in the microwave with a little butter and sugar.
3. Serve with chocolate sauce and icecream.

Ratings:
Taste: 8/10
Difficulty: Easy-peesy-lemon-squeezy
Presentation: Impressive Dinner Party Quality

Chef's Note: Normally you'd do all sorts of fancy French things to the pear, like add cinnamon and cook in something a little more refined than the microwave, and you'd make your own chocolate sauce... But this is a great variation for a quick treat.

Steff the Chef - Banana Tumble

Another delicious recipe from Steff's kitchen!

I call this one Banana Tumble (some sources call this Banana Fall-Apart).

Recipe:
1. Gather ingredients for making a cake (I used banana cake, but you may substitute any flavour as desired to create the entire Tumble series).

2. Proceed to make the cake.

3. Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool. It's very important that the cake looks beautiful and is near-perfect at this point.

4. Turn the cake tin over and allow cake to fall to pieces on the cooling rack.

Serving Suggestions:
Banana Tumble may be used to make trifle, eaten with ice cream and your choice of toppings, or eaten as a snack on its own throughout the day. If you're creative, try sticking the cake back together with icing, or drizzle melted chocolate over the pieces artistically.

Ratings:
Taste: 10/10
Difficulty: Easy
Presentation: Classy Restaurant Quality

Chef's Note: If you'd prefer an untumbled cake, I suggest using something a bit more hardy than olive oil cooking spray to grease your tin.