Don't Get Excited!

No....I didn't take these photographs. I've not progressed that far as yet. I will, though. I'll have to escape from the mountain sometime over the next few days as I have to pick up a USB cord. Two arrived on order at a store up here yet and I've still to take my camera with me to see if one of them is suitable. I have my doubts. It that turns out to be the case, I will visit a camera store at Helensvale, down on the Gold Coast. It's not too far from the mountain and I'll dodge all the madness of the traffic down there. You've probably noticed by now, I hate leaving my mountain hide-away! However, if I have to do so, my passport is up-to-date, I will make a quick dash into the hectic, outside world!
It's a long time since I've shared any recipes with you. I imagine you're all starving by now! Forgive me my tardiness! Hopefully, these will make up for my shocking neglect! You must remember, though, you have enjoyed the Festive Season in between takes!
Watermelon & Goat Cheese Salad: Place in a large bowl, 8 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 1-inch cubes, 1 cup crumbled goat's cheese, 2 tablespoons freshly chopped mint, 1 teaspooon freshly chopped coriander/cilantro and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice. Combine gently. Serve decorated with sprigs of fresh mint leaves.
Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes: Pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Season four chicken legs, jointed all over with salt and grounded black pepper and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in chopped basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your 2 handfuls of red and yellow, halved and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered. Scatter the a whole knob of garlic, broken up into cloves into the pan with 1 chopped chilli and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1.5 hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through, until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone. If you fancy, you can add a 410g can of cannelloni beans or some sliced small new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish - remove the chicken meat from the bone, shred it and mix it with cooked linguine or spaghetti. Gorgonzola Quichettes with Red Onion & Thyme Confit
200 g shortcrust pastry* (ready-rolled)
15 g butter
1 medium red onion (peeled and thickly sliced)
1 heaped tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp thyme leaves
150 g gorgonzola
2 egg yolks
4 tbsp mascarpone
2 tbsp single cream
salt, pepper
Pre-heat oven to 200C. Line 24 mini muffin tins with shortcrust pastry. (I have a non-stick and a silicon. I don't need to grease it, but do so if your tin requires it...the dough shouldn't be thicker than 1-2 mm. Cut off surplus dough and smooth round the edges. Prick with a fork, then line with small pieces of grease-proof paper and fill with baking beans or pulses. Place tray in the oven and blind-bake pastry for 10 minutes, it should be cooked through, but not too brown on the edges. Leave pastry shells to cool, then store in an air-tight container. For the onion confit, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, fry the onions until browning, then add the sugar and let caramelise. Deglaze with the balsamic vinegar and cook over a low heat, enough for the onions to soften through and the vinegar to lose its edge. This should take about 15 minutes. Add the thyme leaves and season to taste. The confit will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week. To finish the quichettes, pre-heat oven to 180C. Beat the egg yolks with the mascarpone and cream, season to taste. Fill the pastry cases with roughly half a teaspoon full of gorgonzola, then top with a teaspoon full of the egg/cream mixture. Make sure the cases are not filled all the way to the top as the filling will rise. Put into the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the mixture has set and is browning on top. Meanwhile, gently warm the onion confit in a pan to make it easier to handle. Remove the mini-quiches from the oven and leave to stand for a few minutes. Top with half a teaspoon of onion confit and serve while still warm.

You have no idea how long it has taken me to write this post! I'm not sure if it's blogger playing games with me or my computer. I'm hoping it's blogger, not my computer!!!! I hope you enjoy these that have taken me a week to write and post!!!!!!!!