Squid Ink Pasta with Oyster Mushrooms

One of the beauties of making pasta is that you really don't need to worry too much about proportions and measurements. By having a general understanding of cooking (ie knowing things like a pinch of garlic goes a long way) you can really just throw everything together however much you have!

I came across a book the other day, called "Relaxed Eating" - food from a bowl. Pasta is definitely one of those foods where you can feel good about indulging in a hearty serving straight from the bowl.

Here's our recipe for a delicious squid ink pasta dish (note the lack of measurements. Just throw it altogether):
Ingredients

Pre made Squid Ink Pasta (you can make your own if you're feeling daring!)
Semi dried tomatoes
Oyster mushrooms (cut into hearty chunks)
Anchovies (anchovies are strong so we just added about 1 small jar)
Minced Garlic
Chilli (Our first chilli harvested from our chilli plant!)
Olive oil (plenty of it)
Oregano - finely chopped
Method

Boil the pasta to cook and drain. In a medium sauce pan add the oil and garlic and chili and saute to release the flavours. Add mushrooms and semi dried tomatoes and saute for about 1-2 minutes to soften

Add pasta and stir through to combine well. Stir through the anchovies and oregano so that they break completely apart and the pasta is evenly coated. Serve in large bowls for a relaxed meal.

Eataholics - what's your food phobia?

Been watching the ABC documentary about Eataholics - guys who have eaten nothing but chips for 20 years. Or a guy who has lived on a diet entirely of chips and beans, and doesn't even chew his food.

We all have our food phobias - and weaknesses. I'm Asian and absolutely love noodles - especially the instant kind. When I was younger, my parents wouldn't let me eat them because of their MSG...sometimes, my dad would let me have ONE single noodle out of his bowl. So to date, even though I know it's bad for me, and they actually taste pretty awful at times, I still find myself craving them. I guess it's like a comfort food - like mac and cheese.

Meanwhile, I'm not really a huge fan of chips and fried foods. Nor chocolate for that matter. Which I guess makes me pretty odd -especially the chocolate part.

Anyways, I'd love to hear what other comfort foods and food phobias people have. Leave a note - let me know! (Let me know if I can create something out of it...)

Chocolate AND cheese cake

Seriously, two of my favourite desserts - in ONE! I saw these lil chocolate cheesecake cupcakes at this patisserie near work and thought, wow! What a concept! I figured I'd give them a go for my boyfriend's birthday.

The tricky part was trying to figure out how to bake the cake for long enough but then be able to add the cheesecake in the middle...my flatmate suggested baking paper, which totally did the trick. I tried to put some rice in the middle to weigh it down, but it just ended up rising with the cake.

However, in the end (little bit of Physics here...) because the cheesecake is denser than the chocolate, it held its own so the cake just rose around it. And I have to say...it was indulgently good!
Gourmet Inspired Tip: I was short on time so I cheated and bought cake mix. I'm sure your favourite choc cake recipe will work just as well. Or you can try and mix up the flavours? Do an orange cake with chocolate cheese filling? Hmmm...combinations are pretty much endless!

Ingredients:

Chocolate cake batter: here's a good one from Nigella that should work. I would just make enough batter for one 8 in cake tin and skip the frosting. Or if you're lazy, buy a mix!

For cheesecake filling:

250 g cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs vanilla
20ish Blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Make the batter per instructions and pour into a round, greased 8 in cake pan.

Lay a sheet of baking paper across the surface, gently pushing down in the centre so that the paper sticks to the batter, but don't push the paper all the way to the edges of the pan. You want the edges of the cake to rise and a crust to form while the paper keeps the middle gooey.

Bake pan for 15-20 minutes.

While the cake is baking, gently fold the cream cheese into the sugar and the egg until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and most of the blueberries and whip quickly until well mixed and the blue berries are just starting to break apart.

Remove the cake (but leave the oven on!) and gently remove the baking paper from the centre of the cake. The sides of the cake should just beginning to set while middle should still gooey without a crust. Carefully spoon your cheesecake mix into the middle of the cake, using the back of a wooden spoon to evenly distribute it into a general roundish shape. Don't worry if batter spills over the sides of the developing crust. Top cheesecake centre with remaining blueberries.

Put the cake back into the oven and bake for another 25 minutes until the cake part is cooked all the way through and toothpick comes out clean. The cheesecake part should be firm and not runny and little brown peaks should just be starting to form. Turn off the oven and cool the cake in the oven with the door ajar for about 2-3 minutes. Remove, let cool completely and serve.