Crumb Cake with Pineapple & Custard

This Sunday in Melbourne is of course Father's Day! We had 15 people over for lunch and i was tasked with making two desserts! The first dessert was easy - the always satisfying torta di chocolate but for the second dessert i wanted to try something a bit different. In my daily perusal of Eats on the iPad app Flipboard, i came across the recipe for a Hazelnut Plum Crumb Cake on Smitten Kitchen. Of course plums aren't in season in Australia at the moment so i opted to make a tweaked pineapple version (also happens to be my dad's favorite fruit).

This cake is similar in ways to the crumbles that we're familiar with here in Australia, except with a base that makes it easily slice-able! And the best part is that the custard is baked IN to the cake so there's no need to dollop it on top! Unless you're feeling extra piggy today.

Green Mango Salad with Chargrilled Chicken

 Finally! Just over 12 months ago today i arrived back in Melbourne from my first trip to Thailand. I arrived rested, exciting, and... craving! My trip to Thailand consisted of binge consumption of four things: Red pork curry (made...tick!), pad thai (made...tick!), mango and sticky rice (made...tick!), cocktails (made....tick!) and papaya salad (not yet made!). It's soooo hard to find green papayas here in Australia, but this week as i was walking through Coles i noticed green mangos! With no hesitation i piled three into my basket and trundled for the cashier, eager to race home and make this salad.

 If you have not had green mango or green papaya before you might feel put off by the thought, but don't. There is no strong sourness or bitterness imparted by the unripe fruit. Instead, it's more about the texture. Crisp and fresh like cucumber but firmer and less watery. With the combination of the refreshing mango sticks and the salty/sour/spicy dressing, this dish is a killer summer salad which i will continue to make so long as i can get my hands on green mangoes and papayas. 

Pizza with Leek, Mushroom & Prosciutto

 Is a pizza really a recipe? I suppose it is, just a really really simple one! I've shown you how to make my pizza dough before, and my pizza sauce so this is really just a collection of toppings that i enjoy! And i hope you will too.

Picadinho de Milho

Picadinho de Milho or Chopped Beef with Corn is a Brazillian dish traditionally served at botequim or pub restaurants. I've also seen several references to the dish being one traditionally made for festivals and other community occasions.

It is a simple dish with few ingredients, and like so many dishes traditional for festivals and gatherings, it is hearty and moreish. As such, enjoy this dish for what it is rather than expecting some sort of high-brow delight from it. It's soul food, enjoy it with rice and a fried egg.

Korean Fried Chicken

Holy frijoles how has nobody ever dragged me out for Korean Fried Chicken before?? This is really a piglet's delight. Succulent pieces of crisp fried chicken tossed in a spicy Korean sauce. The ultimate in finger licking indulgence, i could have polished off the whole lot myself (and almost did!).

Seriously though, this dish is too good not to try. I'm not a big deep frying person as apart from the health considerations there' the hassle with all the oil and the draining and getting it to the right temperature and whatnot. But i can guarantee you that, even if you are a low-use deep fryer like me, these wings will convert you! So long as you don't mind (a lot) of spice!

A note here: traditionally, this recipe calls for gojuchang, which is a Korean chili paste. Unfortunately i couldn't get my hands on any so i substituted with Sichuan Chili Bean Paste and tweaked the sauce to get the right flavour.