My parents were coming over and I had decided to make a Lemon Tart for dessert to have after dinner. But I realised they were coming early in the day and I would need to make lunch also, and as I had decided on a light lunch, I decided I'd make a second dessert so I decided on this Lime Tart, it was quick and easy to make and my family really love pies.

I would love to call this a Key Lime Pie, as I've always wanted to make one, but I can't as we don't have Key Limes in Australia, so I can only call it a Lime Tart, but secretly ​in my house we call it a key lime pie anyway.

The tart is delicious, it is simple to make and it looks beautiful.

Some make this recipe with a meringue top, using up the egg whites, I chose not to and went with a cream top. The original recipe used two cups of cream on top which I thought was too much, so I reduced it to one cup, as pictured here. ​

But even with one cup I found it was too much cream to filling ratio, the flavour of the filling got lost because of all the cream, so I reduced it to 1/2 cup cream, and I piped the star shapes on so some of the tart was cream free. So when you go to make this you can use 1 cup of cream or less, that is up to your personal preference and how you like your pie. 

​I add a little green food colouring as the filling is yellow really, but I wanted it to look 'limey'. So the addition of food colouring is completely optional.

This is simple, easy and tasty, something anyone new to pie making should try. ​

​Recipe adapted from www.jamieoliver.com

Serves 8
10 digestive biscuits
84g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest, grated
A few drops green food colouring, optional

½ - 1 cup thickened cream
½-1 tablespoon caster sugar, extra
Extra grated lime zest, to garnish


Preheat your oven to 180°C/160 fan forced

. Make the crumb: Finely crush the biscuits (rolling pin in bag or food processor).

Place the biscuit crumbs in a bowl, add the butter, sugar and salt, mix to combine.

Grease a 22cm  pie dish with cooking spray or additional butter. 

Pour the crumb mixture into the pie plate and evenly press to form a crust on the bottom and up the sides. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the filling: Add the condensed milk, egg yolks, lime juice and zest to a large bowl and mix thoroughly to combine, add green food colouring, if you like. 

Pour into the prepared pie crust then bake for 15 minutes, or until set. Allow to cool then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

​​When ready to serve, beat the cream and extra caster sugar together until it holds stiff peaks. Using a spatula, evenly spread the whipped cream on top (or pipe the cream and decorate the pie).

Garnish with additional lime zest, if desired. 

Slice and serve.

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​It is no surprise to anyone that knows me that I love food shows, I love watching people cook, I find it very relaxing and I love getting new ideas on what to cook for my family and friends from these food shows.

This recipe came from My Kitchen Rules' brother sister duo Henry and Anna. Now I hate drama on food shows, I don't like mean people, I just like nice people who like to cook and this is what I found in Henry and Anna, two nice people who cook food I like to eat. 

Now from the MKR website it states 'Henry is more assertive and likes to follow a recipe and stick to it. Anna is the better cook and prefers to look at a recipe, get the general idea and then wing it and add in some of her own ideas.' Now this is me in a nutshell, the first time I cook something I'm Henry, I stick to the recipe. If I like it then I become Anna and I add some of my own ideas to the recipe next time I cook it.

These two seem so nice I would love them to win the competition, a cookbook from them would definitely make it into my house.

Now enough about them, about this tart. When Anna made this Lemon Tart and got a 10/10 for it, I knew I was going to make it, and I am so glad I did, it was delicious. The pastry was easy to make, and was delicious. The lemon custard was even easier to make. It was tangy, it had the perfect balance between sweet and tart.

It's a great dessert as you can make in advance, it looks amazing and it will impress any guest you serve this to.

If you don't love blueberries just add a few fresh raspberries on top of the tart, raspberries and lemon are a match made in heaven.

This is a simple, elegant dessert that truly needs to be made by you.

​Recipe adapted from au.tv.yahoo.com/shows/my-kitchen-rules/

Serve 8

Pastry:
200g plain flour, plus extra, to dust
80g icing sugar mixture
¼ tsp salt
125g cold butter, diced
2 egg yolks

Filling:
250ml thickened cream
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
2 lemons, juiced
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
½ tsp vanilla bean paste

Blueberry Compote:
250g blueberries
2 tbs caster sugar
½ lemon, zested, juiced

Icing sugar, for dusting
​
Make the pastry:  Place flour, sugar and salt into a food processor. Add butter and pulse until crumbs form. With the motor running, add egg yolks and process to combine. Add 1 tbs iced water and pulse until just combined. 

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Shape into a disc. Enclose in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 
​
Meanwhile make the filling, place all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. Allow the flavours to develop while pastry is chilling.
​
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

Place the pastry between two sheets of baking paper, then roll out until about 3mm thick and large enough to line the base and side of a 22cm round deep fluted tart tin with removable base. Place the pastry into your tin, if it tears while lining the tin, just use any excess pastry to close holes. Prick base with a fork, then freeze (or refrigerate) for 10 minutes.

Cover pastry with baking paper and fill with dried beans, rice or baking beads. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove beans/beads and baking paper and bake for a further 10 minutes or until base is just starting to colour and is dry. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.


Reduce oven temperature to 140C/120C fan forced.

​Strain the filling mixture through a fine sieve into the tart shell. Bake for 45 minutes or until filling is just set.

Set aside to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. ​
​
To make the blueberry compote, place blueberries, sugar and lemon zest in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5-6 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Refrigerate until cold. 

​To serve. Slice tart and place on serving plates. Spoon compote to the side and dust with icing sugar to serve.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to ​www.whatscookingella.com/lemon-tart-with-blueberry-compote.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​One thing I love to eat is eggplant. I love it baked, fried, in a sauce, as a dip, I could keep going on and on, I just love it.

This crumbed eggplant is very easy to make, they are great hot or cold, are great with or without the sauce. They are just delicious.

This is lunch, this dinner, this is party food, this can even be breakfast for me.

I only salt eggplant that has a lot of seeds in it, if by chance you buy one with minimal seeds, you can skip this step.

Simple, addictive, delicious, I could eat this again and again.

Serves 4-6

2 large eggplants
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup plain flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup milk
½ cup finely grated fresh parmesan cheese
2 cups packaged breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Tomato Basil Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 x 400g can tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil


​Cut eggplants into ½-1cm thick slices. Place slices on wire racks over oven trays; sprinkle with salt. Stand for 30 minutes, rinse under cold water; drain. Pat eggplant slices dry with absorbent paper.

Coat eggplant slices in flour, dip in combined eggs and milk, then coat in combined cheese and breadcrumbs.
​
Tomato Basil Sauce: Heat oil in a medium pan; add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add undrained crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and stock. Simmer, uncovered, for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in basil. 
​
Shallow fry eggplant slices, in batches, over medium heat, in hot oil until browned on both sides and crisp, and eggplant is cooked through.

​Serve eggplant slices with tomato basil sauce and a green salad.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/crumbed-eggplant-with-tomato-basil-sauce.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Pasteta, a pantry staple in any Croatian home. As kids you grow up on a tinned version that you spread on bread and you love it. Then you grow up and try real Pate, well, what a difference, real pate, freshly made pate is truly one of the most delicious things you can eat, it is nothing like the tinned version.

My husband and I went out to dinner for our anniversary one year to a local restaurant and we ordered some pate, it was my first try of real pate, now I had tried some from the deli section previously, with the orange jelly on top, but this was better, this was amazing, this was better than any pate I had ever tried before. Every mouthful was amazing, it was one of those OMG moments, one of those I love this, moments, I need to learn to make this moments.

Pate is sexy, there I said it, somewhere in time it went out of fashion, but I say this should never, ever be made out of fashion as every mouthful is creamy, smooth, delicious and amazing. It is hard to believe that offal can be sexy, but this is.

This recipe is originally from Donna Hay's Cookbook-A Cook's Guide. This is what I love about food, it is to be shared, recipes are to be shared, it is when you love something so much, you need to share it, you need to tell others what you know.

Now a few tips: About the livers: Make sure the livers are fresh, that is really important, they should be glossy and moist. Make sure you trim the livers of any white connective tissue and bloodlines to ensure your pate doesn't taste bitter. Once this is done, the recipe is quick and easy.

You could use one small brown onion instead of an eschalot, but I prefer eschalots. You can also use pure cream instead of thickened cream.

Once you have placed the clarified butter on the livers, the pate can keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, but trust me, it won't last that long.

With the chunky bits that don't make it through the sieve, my goodness don't throw it out, save it and eat it to, it's a cook's treat, you could share it if you had to.

So this is a recipe everyone should try, I know I am going to make this again and again and again.

Recipe adapted from www.notquitenigella.com

Makes 2 pots

20g butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 eschalot, finely diced
350g chicken livers, trimmed
1/4 cup (60ml) brandy
125g cold butter, extra, chopped
1/4 cup (60ml) thickened cream
Salt and pepper, to taste

​80g butter, clarified

Toasted bread and cornichons, to serve
​

​Firstly, trim the livers of any white connective tissue and bloodlines to ensure your pate doesn't taste bitter.
​
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the butter to the pan. Saute the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the trimmed livers and cook for 2-3 minutes. The inside of the livers should still be pink. Add the brandy and cook for 1 minute.
​
Place the liver mixture into the bowl of a food processor, add the extra cold butter cubes and the cream and process until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once while blitzing the livers. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste, don't forget to season, it is really important.
​
Press the mixture through a fine sieve. Pour into sterilised jars or containers. I then just put this in the fridge to set a little while I clarified the butter. 
​
Clarified butter  is just butter with the milk solids removed. To clarify the butter, heat it gently over a very low heat without stirring. Remove from heat and allow to stand - as the butter cools the milk solids will separate to the bottom and the liquidy yellow clarified butter will sit at the top. Spoon this carefully onto the top of the pate to seal it and refrigerate for 2 hours until set.

Once set, serve it with crusty bread, fresh or toasted and a bowl full of cornichons.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/chicken-liver-pate.html 
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​This is what I cook when I don't feel like cooking.

All day yesterday I just did not feel like cooking. I knew I was going to make a chicken soup, but I needed something after the soup, as soup is just not enough for my family. You may be thinking you don't feel like cooking yet you are making a soup and something else, that's cooking. Chicken soup to me is like baking, once you put everything in a pot, it cooks itself, you don't do anything for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours. I love when my family request soup, means an easy dinner to prepare for me.

As for the baked chicken, it takes 10 minutes to prepare and then it bakes itself for one and half hours, dinner is done and you do very little. Yet the family is satisfied, you spend less than $10 on ingredients, far cheaper than take away chicken where I live. 

Now I only used 3 marylands, as we were having this after a soup, so I knew my kids would have a leg each and it would be enough. But add more chicken and potatoes if you are only baking this and use two trays to not overcrowd the potatoes. As for the vegeta it is a Croatian vegetable stock powder which I chose to use as a seasoning. The amount is a guide. I actually just lightly sprinkle it on the potatoes and chicken without measuring. Like you would with salt.

So if you ever don't feel like cooking, try this, super easy and my 7 year old reckons the skin is baked to perfection-he cracks me up, he loves food with a passion.

Serves 3

3 chicken marylands
2 onions, thickly sliced
2 very large potatoes, peeled
2-3 tablespoons rice bran oil
1 teaspoon Vegeta, for seasoning
​Salt and pepper, to taste


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

Peel the potatoes, cut into medium-large chunks or into thick discs. Grease an oven tray with some rice bran oil (you need enough oil to cover the surface of the tray lightly). Scatter over the potatoes, toss in the oil, do not overcrowd the baking tray, spread the potatoes out. Sprinkle with half of the Vegeta, season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 30 minutes.
​
Add the sliced onions to the tray, toss the potatoes around, leave three gaps where you will be placing the chicken marylands.

Season both sides of the chicken marylands with the remaining vegeta. Add them to the potatoes, skin side up, moving the potatoes around the marylands. Bake for 50 minutes-1 hour or until the chicken skin is crispy and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken when ready. Bake the potatoes 10 minutes more if needed to be crispy. Serve with a green salad.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/roast-chicken-marylands-with-potatoes.html 
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​I have been making this recipe for years, but somehow have forgotten to blog it in the past.

This is one of the easiest, tasiest dishes you can make. A simple marinade, a simple peanut sauce, a simple side dish, everything is simple, but the flavours, the flavours are amazing.

This is great as you can prepare a lot of this recipe in advance, so perfect party food if you ask me, perfect mid week meal to.

You can serve this with your favourite Asian greens, broccoli, bok choy, chinese broccoli, snow peas, whatever you love. ​I love to use this recipe Bok Choy with Garlic, Honey and Soy and then just interchange the greens to whatever I feel like eating on the day.

You can just as easily make this using chicken thigh fillets, everything is the same except the cooking times. You would just want to cook it longer, for about 5-8 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. You could also make this with lamb, I know it works as that is what I order when going to my favourite Indonesian restaurant.

The recipe makes for a lot of peanut sauce, so if you are doubling the meat quantity you don't need to double the peanut sauce recipe. The peanut sauce will keep for 4 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge.

So looking to try something new, something you have loved while eating out, but don't know how to make at home, give this recipe a try, you'll love it.

​Recipe adapted from Janelle Bloom's cookbook 'Fast Fresh and Fabulous'

​Serves 6

4 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 small brown onion, grated
½ cup kecap manis (ABC brand)
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons caster sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1kg beef rump steak, cut into bite sized pieces

Steamed jasmine rice and wok tossed beans to serve
​Fresh coriander leaves, to serve

​Peanut Sauce:
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3 small red chillies, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons ground coriander
375g jar crunchy peanut butter
1½ cups coconut milk
2 tablespoons kecap manis
1 tablespoon grated palm sugar
1 lime, juiced
​
. Combine the garlic, onion, kecap manis, oil, sugar and salt in a large snap lock bag, add the beef and rub well to coat. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight if time permits.
​
For the peanut sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, chilli, garlic and coriander and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the peanut butter and coconut milk, then cook for 3-4 minutes until warm. Stir in the kecap manis, palm sugar and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning adding salt and sugar as desired.
​
Preheat a barbecue plate or grill to medium high. Thread the marinated beef onto skewers. Barbecue for 4 minutes (2 minutes on each side) or until cooked to your liking. 

Serve skewers with peanut sauce, steamed rice and Asian greens if desired.

To save the recipe to your favourites go to www.whatscookingella.com/indonesian-satay-with-peanut-sauce.html 
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​If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment below or take a photo and tag me on Instagram or Twitter with #whatscookingella

​Garlic bread is a side dish, Ham and Cheese Garlic Bread is a meal. 

This is one of those things you make when you need a snack, you don't feel like a big dinner, you need to clean out the fridge, you have bread leftover from a party....

This is delicious. Last night I didn't feel like cooking, so I told the kids we'd get a pizza, but last minute after seeing a loaf of bread in the kitchen, I said no to the pizza and went with this instead. My kids loved it, far cheaper than a pizza and it tastes really good.

I have made it with a french stick as well, works fine. Use any ham you love, you could probably use a salami to.

This is simple, this is cheap, this is tasty, this is, something you need to try.

Recipe adapted from www.taste.com.au

Serves 4

345g Vienna loaf
120g butter, softened
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
100g grated pizza cheese
100g harvarti cheese slices
100g sliced ham
​

Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

Slice the loaf diagonally into 9 slices, ensuring you don't cut al the way through.

Combine the butter, garlic and half of the grated cheese in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and mix well, to combine.

Spread both sides of each bread slice with the butter mixture.

Place a large sheet of aluminium foil on your work bench. Top with a large sheet of baking paper. Place the loaf on the baking paper.

Cut the havarti cheese slices in half diagonally to make triangles. Place a ham slice and cheese triangle into each slice.

​Sprinkle with the remaining cheese on top.

​Wrap the loaf in the non stick baking paper and foil. Place on an oven tray. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp and golden and the cheese has melted. 

Scatter with spring onions and serve hot.

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