Miniature Food Mentions

Food + Jewellery = Cute!!!

I am totally obsessed with anything in Miniature size!

Be it canapes, desserts, toiletries or any other variety of packaging, there is something so exciting about receiving a product at a tenth of its original size. I love the miniature toothpaste in hotel rooms, or the tiny bottles of sauce/ketchup you receive from hotel room service, and especially love the free samples in the letter box of deoderant and shampoo that is an exact scaled down version of it's supermarket parent. I think this stemmed from a childhood obsessed with childrens kitchen play sets of replica supermarket foods and ingredients!

Most of the time I find I will buy a product purely for that reason alone....

So what does girl do when she stumbles upon two of her passions in life, food and jewellery, combined in a new and so damn cute way???

At the Glebe markets the other weekend, whilst lapping up the beautiful winters day on show, Craig, friends and I strolled amongst the endless rows of store holders showcasing their wares of items new and used.

We stumbled upon this store holder who was selling the most precious little jewellery that was made up of miniature replica's of various food items.

And although not made in Australia, they are so cute and I just had to mention them on here! If only I had a little daughter to purchase them for....

You can find more of these designs Here.

So anyway, in my continued search for inspiration and in keeping with today's miniature theme, I came across a lady's blog who, along with her husband, were inspired to take up a challenge by Martha Stewart and create a tiny version of take-away food. I think the results are self explanatory on how successful they were, and how much effort they went to in recreating what you see below. Check it out here.

It gets my mind ticking.....

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Modern Prawn Cocktail

Modern Prawn Cocktail

The legendary, if somewhat outdated, prawn cocktail generally consisted of shredded iceberg lettuce, cocktail sauce and avocado on the side and could typically be found at any cockatil party in the 1970's. Since it's humble beginnings the Prawn Cocktail is still a favourite and the recipe below is a fresh and tasty spin on a tried and true winner. Perfect for an entree as we did at our dinner party on Saturday night, or as a easy summer lunch!

Ingredients

(serves 4)
16 cooked Prawns de-veined & shelled, with tails on.
2 Avocados, cubed
5 Cherry tomatoes halved
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 teaspoons chopped Coriander
½ cup diced Spanish Onion
Salt
Pepper

Basil oil
Handful of Basil leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Chilli oil
½ Red Capsicum
Tabasco Sauce (to your desired heat tolerance!)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Basil oil
Hand chop a handful of basil leaves until fine. Place in a bowl and mix with olive oil until completely covered. Alternatively, place in blender with enough oil until it turns to a sauce consistency. Place in fridge to infuse.

Chilli oil
Hand chop the capsicum until diced very small. Place capsicum in a bowl and mix in a teaspoon of Tabasco Sauce, then add olive oil until completely covered. Place in fridge to infuse. (this could also be done in a blender if desired).

Prawn/Avocado Stack
Place the halved tomatoes into the oven for 15mins on 200C. Take out and let cool.

Dice the cooked tomatoes roughly, then loosely mix the avocado, tomato, lemon juice, coriander, olive oil and onion in a bowl being careful not to mash the avocado.

Once well combined, place 3 tablspoons (more of less depending on how much avocado you want) into a biscuit cutter on the centre of a plate.

Press it down gently into the mold with the back of a fork to provide a snug fit. Pull the mold away revealing a self-standing avocado stack.

Arrange 4 prawns on top of the avocado stack.

Place the basil and chilli oils around the avocado on the plate.

Garnish with a sprig of coriander.

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Lemon Freeze

Lemon Freeze

I'm sure mum originally found this recipe in some edition from the 1970's of Women's Weekly or Woman's Day. However despite it's origins or seemingly dated ingredients it still proves to be one of our family favourites, with just the right balance of salty, sweet crunch and light, smooth and delicious lemon filling. My nan used to rave about this dessert and whenever mum made one she would always have to make an extra for Nan too! I have resurrected this old chestnut and it still lives up to my fond memories even in the noughties!

Ingredients

4 cups cornflakes
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
3 tablespoons caster sugar

Place the cornflakes in a plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin, until they turn into crumbs.

Combine corn flake crumbs, 2 Tbsp sugar and melted butter in a bowl, mixing well until combined.

Line a loaf pan with cling wrap pressed well into each edge. (This will allow you to easily remove the Lemon Freeze from the pan when serving).

Using half the crumb mixture (2 Cups), press with a fork into the base on the pan to make a solid and level base for the soft lemon filling.

Reserve the remaining crumb mixture for the topping.

Beat egg yolks until thick. Combine with condensed milk. Add lemon juice and lemon peel. Stir until thickened.

Beat egg whites until just stiff, then gradually add 3 Tbsp sugar to egg whites.
Fold gently into lemon mixture.

Pour mixture into your prepared pie pan on top of crumb mixture.

Layer the reserved crumbs on top of the lemon filling then freeze until firm.

Remove from freezer 10- 15 minutes before serving.

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Salmon Patties

Salmon Patties

Salmon patties are an old childhood favourite and Craig and I recently revisited them, the weekend just gone. They are great for a light Sunday dinner and are just as delicious the next day also on a sandwich! I like mine very oniony so if onion if not your thing – then you can easily omit the onion or shallots or both!

As with all recipes there are variations so here are a few ideas:
- make smaller sized ones as finger food at your next party
- leave out the breadcrumbs for gluten free meal
-use herb and garlic breadcrumbs, or for other varieties look under breadcrumbs in this blog for suggestions!

INGREDIENTS
500g potatoes, peeled,
30g butter/margarine¼ cup (60ml) milk
Salt & Pepper to taste1 Celery Stalk – diced finely
2 Shallots – sliced finely
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
½ handful of flat leaf parsley – finely chopped (optional)
415g can red salmon, drained, with bones and skin removed

¼ cup (20g) grated parmesan (optional)

2 eggs
¼ cup (35g) plain flour

¾ cup (50g) dry breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons olive oil

salad, chips

lemon wedges, to serve

Cook potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water until tender., Remove from heat. Drain off water and mash lightly with a fork or potato ricer if you have one.

Add butter and milk, and salt & pepper to taste beating until very smooth. Set mashed potato aside to cool completely.Flake salmon into a medium mixing bowl. Add mashed potato, 1 egg (lightly beaten), celery, shallots, onion and parsley. Season to taste and mix well to combine.

Divide salmon mixture into patties (a bit bigger than the size of a golf ball).

In 3 separate containers, have the plain flour, the second egg (lightly beaten with fork) and the breadcrumbs ready.
Dust with flour, brush with beaten egg and coat with breadcrumbs

Place the crumbed patties on a plate, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

When ready to cook, heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Cook patties for 3-5 minutes each side, until golden.

Drain excess oil on kitchen paper, drizzle with a squeeze of lemon and serve hot with salad and hot chips.

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Potato Gnocchi

Ever since he saw it being done on Masterchef, Craig has been at me to make this recipe. I hunted down a Potato ricer on my travels in my lunch break the other day and so we set about making some homemade gnocchi from scratch. I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of Gnocchi. I find it quite filling and gluggy and can never seem to get through a whole bowl full. Admittedly, I have only used the supermarket packet ones and maybe that is where I was going wrong, because this recipe produced very light little gnocchi's, a pure delight to eat! (Though I would still recommend small serves :)

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients
750g desiree potatoes, unpeeled (very important to use this variety of potato)
1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour, plus a little extra

Salt to taste

(serves 4)

Place the potatoes in a saucepan and cover with cold water then bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged).

Drain the potatoes well and set aside until just cool enough to handle. While still hot, peel by hand and discard skins. The potato skins should have started to crack which will make this easier. (I used a vegetable peeler to remove stubborn bits of skin as it is very important to remove ALL skin so it doesn't end up in the silky gnocchi bites).

Using a potato ricer (think of a large garlic crusher) or mouli, press each potato into a bowl. The outcome should resemble grated cheese. Season to taste with salt. Cool slightly, but not completely.

Add flour to the warm potatoes then use your hands to knead briefly until a soft dough forms.

Note: If mixture is still sticky, add a little more flour (the amount of flour added is very important!)

Too much flour = heavy, tough gnocchi

Too little flour = dough falling apart during cooking

Place gnocchi dough on to a lightly floured surface.

Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece out to form a log about 2cm wide. Using a lightly floured knife, cut each log into 1.5cm-long pieces.

Roll each ball of gnocchi over the prongs of a lightly-floured fork, pressing gently with your index finger or thumb underneath as you go, to form a dent in the back of each one and fork marks on the other side (this creates a textured surface, helping sauces to cling to cooked gnocchi).

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi. As they cook, gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water. Continue cooking gnocchi at the surface for about 10 seconds then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

Toss gnocchi through your favourite sauce and serve immediately.

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