​I know this won't be a hugely popular dish, but I had to post it, as I love it. I love a good bean salad, always have. So for those of you that like beans like I do, this recipe is for you.

​Serves 4-6

1 x 750g can four bean mix, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely sliced
2 Lebanese cucumbers, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, diced
3-4 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons apple juice
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
​
Combine the beans, onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, oil, apple juice, vinegar and brown sugar in a medium sized bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to combine. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or until needed.

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​Torta Tenerina or Torta Montenegro is a fudgy chocolate brownie like cake that originated in Ferrara in Italy.

As I am a sucker for a good love story, this cake was made for King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Elena Petrovich from Montenegro, his bride, and is a story about tenderness. It was love at first sight for these two and they married on October 24, 1896. The queen became known as the bride with a tender heart, and the cake was also called Torta Montenegrin or Torta Regina del Montenegro in her honour. Small note Elena and I share the same birthday.

The outside of the cake has a lovely crust, but as you get to the centre it is tender and fudgy.

This is a great dessert as it is so quick and easy to make. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's absolutely perfect.

​Recipe adapted from Silvia Colloca www.sbs.com.au/

200g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), chopped
100g unsalted butter
sea salt
4 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
2 tablespoons plain flour
fresh berries and icing sugar for dusting, to serve


Preheat the oven to 180°C/160C fan forced.

Grease and line a 20-22 cm round springform cake tin with baking paper.

Place the chocolate, butter and a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl isn’t touching the water. Stir until melted and well combined, then remove from the heat and stand until completely cooled.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl with a pinch of salt just until firm peaks form.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until thick and pale.

Add the cooled chocolate mixture to the egg yolk mixture and stir to combine well. Sieve the flour on top of the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Add one third of the beaten egg whites and fold into the mixture until well combined. Add the remaining beaten egg whites and fold in very gently so you don’t beat all the air out. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes or until just firm.

Remove from the oven and stand to cool in the tin. Once cooled it will sink slightly.

To serve, top the cake with fresh berries, dust with icing sugar. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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​This recipe came about because I was in my green grocers and I saw some golden beetroot next to the 'normal' red beetroot and I just had to cook it.

So when I came home, and as I was flicking through some old recipes I had, I found this salad recipe. I had all the ingredients at home, so I thought I'd give it a go.

It was delicious, I honestly love this one.

The original recipe used store bought coleslaw salad dressing, but I hate those, I never, ever, buy salad dressings in a bottle. So after a quick google search I found a dressing I would make to go with this salad.

This is super easy, and would be great with a barbecue.

The original recipe also included 150g shaved ham which is fried until crisp. I just didn't think the salad needed it.

Now you can also omit the mayonnaise if you have people coming over that don't like mayonnaise or have allergies, just replace the mayonnaise with some extra virgin olive oil, to taste. 

So if you are looking for something different to make for your next barbecue, try this, it is really good.

Serves 6-8

4 large potatoes, peeled, cut into 2cm cubes
1 red onion, thinly sliced
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled, sliced
2 bunches fresh beetroot (8 medium sized beetroot)
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 large dill pickles, finely chopped

Coleslaw Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt


Cut the beetroot leaves off. Wash the beetroot then place in a large saucepan. Cover beetroot with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. The beetroot is ready when it is soft when you poke a skewer into it. Drain, allow to cool slightly, then peel the skins off the beetroot and slice thinly. Place sliced beetroot into your serving bowl.
​
Using the same saucepan (just rinse it) place the potatoes into the saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are just cooked. The potato is ready when it is soft when you poke a skewer into it. Drain, peel the skins off and slice thinly.

Place eggs in a small saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes. Drain, place saucepan until cold running water for a minute. Then peel and slice. Add to the beetroot and potatoes.
​
Add the chopped pickles, the sliced onion and the capers to the beetroot.
​
Coleslaw Dressing: In a medium sized bowl, add the mayonnaise, sugar, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir to combine. Taste for seasoning and sweetness. Refrigerate until needed.

Pour the dressing over the beetroot salad, gently toss to combine. Taste for seasoning.

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​I recently bought yet another cookbook, Top 100 taste.com.au The Thrifty Pantry. It is fabulous, everything I have tried from it is delicious and these gnudi are amazing.

My husband grows silverbeet in our garden, so I was looking at different ways I could cook it, when I came across this gnudi recipe. Gnudi are featherlight clouds of fluffy fresh ricotta, they are so quick and easy to make and make a great midweek meal. 

I love the flavour of this dish, it's so simple yet perfect for me. One day I'll try the gnudi with a tomato based sauce, will let you know if I like it.

This is a simple dish, but for me absolutely delicious, something I will be making for years to come.

​Recipe adapted from the cookbook Top 100 taste.com.au The Thrifty Pantry

​Serves 4
1/2 bunch silverbeet
500g fresh ricotta
100g (2/3 cup) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Pinch of salt
Pinch of nutmeg
40g (1/2 cup) finely grated parmesan 
100g butter, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
​

Line a baking tray with baking paper. Remove silverbeet leaves from stalks. Roughly shred leaves. Finely chop stalks. Set aside.

Combine ricotta, flour, salt, nutmeg and 1/2 of the parmesan in a large bowl until a soft dough forms. Divide dough into quarters. On a lightly floured bench, roll each quarter into a 34cm long log. Cut logs into 2cm lengths.

Cook gnudi, in batches, in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water, for 2 minutes or until tender and gnudi float to the top. Using a slotted spoon, transfer gnudi to prepared tray.

Meanwhile, melt butter with garlic and thyme in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture foams and turns light brown. Add silverbeet stalks and leaves. Stir until leaves are just wilted. Remove from heat. Add gnudi and lemon juice. Gently toss to coat. Serve, topped with remaining parmesan.

To save the recipe to your favourites go www.whatscookingella.com/silverbeet-and-ricotta-gnudi.html 
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​This twist on a mojito will become a favourite with your family and friends. It's super refreshing on a hot summers day and a perfect drink to get a party started.

You can omit the rum for a mocktail the kids or adults can also enjoy.

​For the mint ice cubes, just place fresh mint in ice cube trays and top with water. Freeze overnight to set.

​Recipe adapted from the cookbook Top 100 Taste.com.au The Thrifty Pantry

Serves 8

2 large limes, cut into wedges
2-3 tsp caster sugar, to taste
8 fresh mint sprigs
1L (4 cups) soda water, chilled
500ml (2 cups) fresh pineapple juice, chilled
310ml (1 1/4 cups) white rum
Fresh pineapple slices, to serve
Mint ice-cubes, to serve
​

Squeeze lime wedges into a large punch bowl or serving jug. Add the squeezed wedges, sugar and mint to the bowl. Use the back of a wooden spoon to muddle. Top with soda water, juice and rum. Stir to combine. Add in pineapple and mint ice-cubes just before serving.

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I love halloumi, it is one of my favourite cheeses, I always have a pack in my fridge.

The saltiness of the cheese with the chilli oil and lemon, is just delicious. Make sure you have a loaf of crusty Italian bread in the house though, to dip into the oil.

This recipe is so easy and quick to put together it will become a regular party dish in my house. But it's also great for lunch and dinner with a green salad. ​

​Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's cookbook 'Nigella Bites'

Makes 20-30 pieces

2 tablespoons chopped, deseeded fresh red chillis
¼ cup (60ml) extra virgin olive oil
500g halloumi, sliced medium thin, about 1/2cm thick
juice of ¼ lemon

Serve with crusty Italian bread
​

Mix the chopped chilli and extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl or cup and leave the flavours to deepen while you cook the cheese.

I use a non-stick frying pan for this, without any oil, and just give the cheese slices about 2 minutes a side until they're golden-brown in parts.

When all the slices of halloumi are cooked, transfer them to a couple of small plates.

Give the chilli oil a stir, spoon it over the cheese, then give a spritz of lemon.

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​Let me start by saying that I always have a bag of frozen Australian prawns in my freezer. Some days I just don't feel like going shopping and on such occasions frozen prawns are brilliant as you can do so much with them.

This recipe is made with ingredients I always have in the house. It is so simple to make, and when I make it my family don't leave the table until every prawn is gone.

This would be ideal at parties as finger food, something different to do with prawns.

Note: Always zest the lime before you juice it, far easier.

​Recipe adapted from Lorraine Pascale's cookbook Baking Made Easy

Serves 4 as a starter

Finely grated zest of 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes
90ml whiskey
180g soft light brown sugar
20 raw tiger prawns, peeled and deveined
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil


Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan forced.

Put the lime juice, whiskey and sugar in a pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring gently, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring, increase the heat to high, bring to the boil, and cook a further 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens and is syrupy. (If the whiskey catches alight, and you see blue-orange flames, just take it off the heat and the whiskey will burn out, this hasn't happened to me yet, but I thought I'd mention it as it is the original recipe).

Stir in the lime zest, remove from heat and set aside.

Put the prawns side by side in a shallow ovenproof dish, sprinkle over the chilli.

Brush the prawns with the oil.

Pour 1/4 cup of your whiskey syrup in a small bowl. Brush the syrup onto the prawns. Reserve the remainder of the syrup for dipping the prawns into once they are cooked.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the prawns turn opaque. Brush with some of the reserved syrup.

Allow to cool slightly as the glaze can be very hot, serve with crusty bread and a salad if you like.

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​These breadsticks are soft, fluffy and so easy to make.

One thing that 2020 brought me is time, more time at home with my family, more time to try new things in the kitchen, things I may have been too busy to try before. Baking bread is a great example of this. I had always wanted to bake bread, but it needs time, so it was on a to do list, but I never quite got around to it.

But now, I love baking bread, I love how easy it is, I love the aroma of fresh bread wafting through the house. I love that when all I need to go to the shops for is to buy bread, I don't bother, I just bake it. I now have a few bread recipes that my family love, and I just make it.

These are called Olive Garden Breadsticks in the recipe that I found, but as I have never tried Olive Garden Breadsticks, I didn't want to use that name. 

Although these are best eaten warm, they do keep really well for the next day.

I have added the option of 1-2 tablespoons sugar, you adjust the sweetness to your liking, I prefer it with one tablespoon, but they are delicious even with two tablespoons.

These are easy to make, a deliciously soft and fluffy, my family love them, hope yours do to.

​Recipe adapted from lilluna.com/

Makes 12 breadsticks

Breadsticks:
1 cup and 2 tablespoons warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1-2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons oil
3-3 1/4 cups bread flour

Garlic butter:
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoons garlic salt or 1-2 cloves fresh garlic, chopped


In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. Add the salt, oil, and two cups of flour, and mix until combined. Add additional flour, ¼ cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is soft and only slightly sticky to the touch.

Knead the dough until smooth, sprinkling with flour as needed to make the dough manageable. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let rise one hour, or until doubled.

After the dough has risen, punch it down gently and divide it into 12 equal sized balls. Roll each ball out into a 22cm rope, and place on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining dough, using two baking sheets. Cover and let rise one hour.

During the last ten minutes of rise time, preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan forced. Bake 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove from oven and brush with melted butter, then sprinkle with garlic salt. (If using fresh garlic, chop it finely and add it to the butter while it is melting to infuse the garlic flavour into the butter, then brush it on the breadsticks).

Serve warm.

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​This one is one of my daughter's favourites.

I love easy to make cocktails, and this one is really easy. Mix everything together in a jug and serve.

This gin-based cocktail has both fruity and floral notes, it's a great party cocktail.

​You can use normal apple juice, as I did, it doesn't need to be cloudy apple juice, I might even try it with sparkling apple juice.

If you find it sweet you can make it with a little less apple juice and add some mineral water instead. The mineral water also makes it more sparkling, which I like.

​Recipe adapted from www.bbcgoodfood.com/ 

Serves 8

250ml gin
200ml elderflower cordial
1 litre cloudy apple juice or normal apple juice
​Mineral water, to taste (optional)

Apple slices and ice, to serve
​
In a jug, mix gin with cordial.

When ready to serve, divide the mixture between 8 glasses, top up with apple juice (and mineral water, if using), apple slices and ice.

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The 14th country in our Eating Around the World Adventure is Benin.

A very important part of any trip around the world for me is discovering new foods and people, and getting a glimpse of local traditions. My family discuss the country, what they eat, how they eat. Who their neighbours are, where is the country, what continent. It's a great way to discover the world, even though we don't really go there.

I always find it interesting trying food from countries I know nothing about. I love researching recipes, trying to find something that the people in that country eat.

In Benin they have largely a vegetable diet as meat is quite expensive. Of the meats, chicken and fish is cooked mostly there, however they do also eat beef, pork and goat. They tend to serve there food with either a peanut or tomato based sauce.

The food I have tried has been delicious and my family have loved our visit to Benin.
​

This is what I made:

​Spicy Peanut Sauce
​Beninese Peanut Soup
​Moyo
Yovo Doko
​

Spicy Peanut Sauce: This spicy peanut sauce is so easy to make and is delicious. It can be served over meat, rice, sweet potatoes or other vegetables. Before serving, I drizzled some of the peanut sauce over the chicken and sweet potato I served it with, then put the remainder in a bowl for my family to drizzle over the rice and bok choy that I cooked to accompany this dish.

Here is how I made it:

1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
1/2-1 Habanero chilli, to taste
2 beef stocks cubes
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 cups water
1 cup peanut butter 

Blend onion and habanero pepper together in a food processor until smooth. 
In a frying pan over medium heat, add oil, the onion and chilli, tomato paste, salt, and stock cubes. Fry for about 5 minutes. 
Add peanut butter and water to the pan. Mix to combine. 
Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, add more water 1/4 cup at a time, if your mixture is too thick. The oils in the peanut butter split, it will come back together with constant stirring.
Serve with pan fried or barbecued meat, roast vegetables, rice, or potatoes.
Enjoy!
​

Beninese Peanut Soup: If I am going to go on this adventure I am going to try dishes I would not consider cooking otherwise. This soup is something I would never have considered cooking if it wasn't for our visit to Benin. This was delicious, the flavours were amazing, but the discussion from my family at the table was this is not a soup. Now in Benin this is a soup, it is filling, flavourful, and if you don't have meat, you need a hearty soup that will fill you up. But for my family, they call this a delicious satay sauce that would be amazing with meat or fish. Now this made a large quantity so we all had soup the first night and with the leftovers the next day I did use it as a satay sauce with skewers I made of fish, prawns, beef and chicken, and my family were right it was delicious. But here I post it as a soup, but it really can be used as a delicious satay sauce.

Here is how I made it:

2 cups vegetable stock
2 x 270g cans coconut milk
1 small brown onion, diced
4 shallots, diced
1 stick celery, diced
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon powdered turmeric
1 sweet potato, diced, you need around 2 cups of it
1 x 400g can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
½ tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon Maggi seasoning
1 ½ tablespoons Berbere spice mix
1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander

Fresh coriander leaves, chopped, for garnishing

Place the vegetable stock in a 3-4 litre saucepan. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the peanut butter and coriander. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove about 1 cup of the liquid and place it into a small bowl. Add the peanut butter and stir until creamy. Return the mixture to the pot, stir well, add coriander and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Use a stick blender and purée the soup to a smooth consistency. Garnish with chopped coriander before serving.
Enjoy!

And here it is, the same soup served as a satay sauce, which was absolutely delicious with chicken, prawn, fish and beef. Not traditional, but oh so delicious. I served it with Asian greens.

Moyo: This is a salad popular in Benin, similar to a south american salsa really, tastes absolutely delicious and goes with so many dishes. Everything is finely diced and it just freshens up a meal.

Here is how I made it: 

​3 ripe tomatoes, diced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green capsicum, diced
1 chilli, optional, I used a jalapeno, finely diced
3 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
4 tablespoons sunflower oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
​

Try to dice everything in similar sizes so it looks pretty. In this recipe you do not throw out the tomato pulp, the whole tomato goes into the salad. 

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season, adjust vinegar, if needed, to taste, refrigerate for an hour, before serving.​
​

Yovo Doko: Yovo doko is typical Beninese street food they are fritters that are traditionally topped with powdered sugar. They can be deep fried for round fritters or fried in a little oil for flatter fritters.
Attempt 1: Now we didn't love these, I found them dense and they took way too long to fry them. Now maybe I should have deep fried them, but the recipe I used, didn't. These were okay, but not something I would make again. 

Yovo Doko Attempt 2: For some reason after yesterdays failed attempt, I wanted to try these again. I found another recipe, nearly identical to the first recipe, the only difference was these used 20g less sugar and the main difference was after you mix the dough, you set it aside for 2 hours before frying. What a difference, the mixture puffed up, so when I went to fry them the puffed up into little light and airy doughnut like balls. These I deep fried. This is like Croatian fritule, which I had all the time growing up. These I would definitely make again and again. 

Here is how I made them:

500g plain flour
1 x 7g packet of dry yeast
150g sugar​
1 x 10g sachet of vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
2 teaspoons (10ml) vegetable oil
​500ml of lukewarm water

Vegetable oil, extra, for deep frying

Put flour, yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, oil and water in a bowl. Mix with a fork or whisk until the mixture is well combined.
Cover with cling film and a tea towel, and let stand at least 2 hours.
Heat oil over medium heat in a medium sized saucepan or deep frying pan. You need at least 4cm of oil.
Take 2 teaspoons, using one spoon take a dollop of batter, and using the second spoon carefully push the batter into oil, being careful not to overcrowd. Fry until golden on the bottom. Turn over once to brown both sides. The first batch will be your tester to see if your heat setting is right to ensure you get the right oil temperature. If they burn before they cook through, turn down the heat, if they take too long to cook, increase the heat, they should only take 2-3 minutes, depending on their size. 
Remove the fritters with a slotted spoon onto layers of paper towels to drain. Repeat until batter is finished. Sprinkle fritters with powdered sugar while still hot.
Enjoy!
​

​Now to add another sticker to my world map.

Next Stop Greenland.