Easy and moist apple and banana loaf

Toasted banana and apple bread - delicious

Easy and moist apple and banana loaf

Ingrid and I were catching up at the beach for a relaxing morning (hmmmm not sure relaxing was the right word) with our kids to enjoy the beginning of the warm weather. We usually make all sorts of bits and pieces for our kids to eat and often I feel for the time I spend, things only get nibbled and they come home again with me and can't really be eaten at a later stage. This time I decided to use up what I had in the fridge and just make one thing, a moist fruity loaf.
The recipe came from the magazine Recipes+ however as always, I have changed it a wee bit.
The great thing about this recipe is it is very adaptable. I added all the leftover apple slices that were browning in my fridge and cooked it in a square dish rather than a loaf tin.
The loaf was divine, very moist and Ingrid as I scoffed nearly all of it whilst sorting out the numerous arguments our boys had over toys and ignoring the pleas of "mum ma push me, push me" on the cute tree swing we sat besides...
The photos is what was leftover, toasted in my panini maker and spread thick with butter and eaten for breakfast.

What you need
125g melted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups banana mashed
1 cup chopped apples
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
How to make 
Oven 180 regular 160 fan forced
Grease a loaf or cake tin
Melt the butter and stir in the sugar, eggs, mashed bananas, vanilla and cinnamon.
Sift the flour and baking powder and stir through until combined.
Add the chopped apples
Pour into greased tin and bake for an hour or until a skewer or knife comes clean.

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and marshmallows

Want to keep it simple: Omit the icing and marshmallows and just dust with icing sugar.

This cake has been doing the rounds in our family, lots have tried making it, experimented with it, and changed it up a bit, so it's a cake that can be personalised.

Recently I even made a tractor cake!!! for my son's third birthday using this recipe. I changed the cocoa for melted dark chocolate and I made a creme fraiche chocolate icing with the number 3 ploughed out of the icing (and a few chocolate flakes broken over the ploughed field) and a toy tractor on the side. It was a kids birthday cake, that the parents enjoyed as well. However, it wasn't as pretty as this cake and I wont be posting a pic. It needed a bit of visual refinement.

I'm not a fan of cakes that don't look like cakes anymore....or food for that matter, I cant stand green or blue cakes (Thomas!!!) I know the kids love it but I just don't get why you would want to make a cake that simply looks like a rainbow of additives and chemical components.

Therefore this cake is my 'go to' for any special occasion, I know it works, it can be dressed up or down, and it tastes like a REAL cake. Enjoy, Ingrid

Chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and marshmallows
What you need:
2 cups of flour
2 cups of brown sugar
1 cup cocoa
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
handful of pink marshmallows

How to make:
Preheat oven to 180c. Mix everything together until smooth. Pour into greased 20cm diameter (deep) cake tin and bake for 45mins (approx). Test with skewer, cake is ready when it is clean.

Vanilla buttercream
What you need:
125g unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 tbsp milk

How to make:
Beat butter and vanilla with electric beater. Gradually beat in half the sifted icing sugar, milk, then the remaining icing sugar. Add milk to get the consistency you desire. Spread onto cake and top with marshmallows.

Cheap Eats - Poor Man's Parmesan

Poor Man's Parmesan with olive oil, lemon and edamame beans

Cheap Eats 
Poor Man's Parmesan (Pangritata)

I can't remember where I saw this idea but its been one on my list of things to do for a while. I love Parmesan cheese but as a weekly ingredient with all the other expenses these days (nappies and baby stuff) its not a regular feature. This recipe gives pasta texture and crunch and a lovely garlic flavour.

All you need for the basic mix some bread - any will do fresh, frozen or even stale and some garlic, Olive oil and salt.  To bump up the poor man's Parmesan you can add herbs such as parsley, chives, basil, oregano, rosemary or chili

Other ideas with poor man's Parmesan

 with grilled asparagus, capsicum (peppers) or aubergine
 with a fried egg
 with crispy ham, bacon, shredded corned beef
 with peas or edamame beans
 with garlic sauteed spinach
 with tinned tuna, salmon or sardines
 with rocket or baby spinach topped with walnuts
 with fresh or grilled cherry tomatoes
 with a marmite sauce (Nigella)
 with vegetable ribbons (carrots and courgettes)
 with lemon, chili, olives and anchovies
 with crumbled feta or blue cheese
 With steamed mussels
 with flaked smoked fish or a firm white fish

How to make 'EASY'
Toast 4 slices of bread (or similar)
In a food processor blitz the bread with 4 cloves of fresh garlic, salt to taste and I added a handful of parsley from my garden.
Toast in a pan with olive oil until lightly browned.
Stir through steaming hot pasta with a good splash of olive oil. I added lemon and edamame beans to the photo above.
Simple, cheap and delicious
Vanessa X

Honey and banana buns with cream cheese icing

A while ago Vanessa and I created a range of recipe cards that are selling throughout gift and food shops around New Zealand. This is one of the recipes that proved to be popular. It's a great recipe that's not too sickly sweet like some 'kid's birthday cupcakes, so it's loved by not only the kid's, but the adults will get stuck in as well. You can omit the icing and hundreds and thousands, if you just want these buns as a great snack or for a morning tea, just serve with lashings of butter. Ingrid

Honey and banana buns with cream cheese icing

Makes 12

What you need:
100g butter, softened
1 banana, ripe
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 cup fruit yoghurt
2 cups self-raising flour
2 tsp cinnamon

How to make:

Preheat oven to 200C. Cream butter and add honey. Beat in eggs, yoghurt and banana. Fold in sifted flour and cinnamon. Don't overmix. Spoon into muffin trays and bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Serve with icing for a treat, but they taste great as is.

Cream cheese icing
175g cream cheese, softened
50g butter, softened
2/3 cup icing sugar

How to make:

Beat all ingredients until smooth but thick consistency. spoon into piping bag and get creative.

Cheap Eats: Mexi Macaroni

Can you feed four for under $5?

When Sweet Living Magazine, gave us a challenge to come up with a meal to feed four for under $5, we have to admit, we didn't know what we were going to end up with. Easy enough to throw together a packet of pasta and a can of tomatoes, but making something tasty, flavorsome and appealing is quite hard on a budget. Whilst walking up and down the isles of the supermarket many protein and meat options were off limits as they blew out the budget. However beans and pulses fill you up, are cost effective and versatile. I know you are probably thinking that these ingredients are more suited to vegetarians or people who don't have a huge appetites but believe us, both the men and the kids in our lives were impressed. The beans were the star of the show, they thicken the sauce without needing to add more expensive ingredients such as tomato paste. They came from the "Delmaine" range and were large butter beans in a rich sauce and even better they were on special. 

Top tips for budget shopping

• You need to get products on special, our butter beans were 69c, reduced from $2.35. Quite often tins of tomatoes are on special, so buy up in bulk as they are useful in all sorts of budget dishes (pastas, stews, soups, slow cooked meals). Also seek out the largest tin as they are often cheaper and the excess can be frozen.
• When checking out the food on the shelves ALWAYS look to the bottom of the shelf - that is where you will find the cheapest options, generic brands or less common and reasonable products.
• It's hard to make a cheap meal that contains meat, but if you can get some cheap sausages, they would be great chopped up and mixed in with this meal. 
• Make more than you need, so it can be frozen and used for another family meal at a later date.
• Dried herbs and spices might seem expensive to buy at the time, however they can go a long way for many meals if you choose right. We added a teaspoon of smoked paprika, that gave this meal a real gutsy kick. Other good spices to buy are chili powder, great for bean or meaty dishes and if you like your meals to have a kick. I often use premixed Moroccan seasoning which contains garlic, turmeric, paprika, chicken extract to name a few, I shake it over chicken, potatoes, or roast vege, or even to season rice or couscous.

Toasted breadcrumbs and garlic sprinkled on top (poor mans parmesan), 
would work brilliantly with this dish.

Mexi macaroni 
Serves 4 adults
What you need:
1 onion (16c)
1/2 can of 800g homebrand tomatoes (80c) 
1 can of corn ($0.95)
2 cans of Butter Beans (69c x 2)
1 x packet of Macaroni (95c)
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika 
2 teaspoons of Moroccan seasoning (or similar, or even just a whole chili simmering in the sauce) 
2 teaspoons of oil ( we used olive because thats what we had, but any cooking oil will do) 

= $4.24 (+ spices and oil would make this up to $5) (NZ Dollars)

How to make
1. Chop and sauté the onions until soft and add the smoked paprika and Moroccan seasoning. 
2. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes on low.
3. Add the beans and simmer for another 10 mins on low. 
4. Add the corn and warm through. 
5. Don't over cook the sauce as the beans will go mushy.
6. Boil the water and add salt and cook the macaroni according to the packet. 
7. Stir the sauce through the pasta and serve. 
8. Garnish options - grated cheese (if you are feeling flush), chopped green herbs such as parsley, chives or coriander or toasted breadcrumbs and garlic which is actually called poor mans parmesan.

Cheap Eats - leftover chicken

Cheap Eats 

Since doing a "feed a family for $5" guest post for SweetLiving Blog I have been thinking more about what I spend on food. Ingrid and I are both on maternity leave and down to one income so the reality is something has to give. Gone are the boozy foodie nights out, random clothes and makeup purchases, the gym membership and expensive bottles of chardonnay. 

Chicken and cannellini bean pate - a great way to use up leftovers...

When I shop I look for things I can stretch further without compromising on taste. For example I would never buy cheap mince but rather bump up the premium mince with beans. I bought 2 cooked chickens the other day for $20. They made a fantastic meal that night and the thighs were the first things to go, the next day I made Ingrid chicken wraps with lettuce, mayo and anchovies. The day after that the left over breast meat (it's never my favourite part) was looking a little sad, and unappetizing but with a little creativity I made this spread/pate. The beans, like with the mince stretch it out further  especially if you don't have that much leftover and the mayo and lemon moisten it up.

Other ways to serve this would be in crusty rolls, on crackers, in lettuce cups, in a tortilla wrap, a rice paper wrap or mixed through shredded lettuce and carrot.
Never throw away leftover chicken again!
Vanessa X

Inspire me with asparagus

These are our lastest recipes from our Sister vs Sister cook off in New World supermarket's REAL Magazine, and the photos in their full glory. We had so much fun coming up with the recipes using Asparagus, styling and photographing them, and best of all taste testing them...over and over just to make sure they worked.....(what a job!) we really wanted to share them with you...so here they are...

VOTE FOR VANESSA'S DISH TO BE IN TO WIN

Asparagus and eggs are a match made in heaven – they just work. My pasta dish is a take on the traditional carbonara. Once again, it’s a dish I have never made before because I generally don’t cook with cream, however I often order it when out. I decided to use evaporated milk as it’s not as rich as a restaurant dish and has less fat, so it could be served often as part of your family meals. However, if you prefer cream, use it by all means. The asparagus gives the dish a healthy shot of colour and a break from the creaminess of the sauce. Buon appetito!

Vanessa's Spicy Sausage and Asparagus Cabonara
What you need

4 garlic cloves, chopped or sliced

6 good-quality spicy sausages

1 bunch fresh asparagus

2 eggs, beaten

375 ml-can evaporated milk or cream

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

500 grams penne pasta

Fresh parsley 

How to make
1. Pan-fry the garlic in a little oil over a medium heat.

2. Grill or pan-fry the sausages and then slice diagonally.

3. Remove woody ends from the asparagus and microwave (2-4 minutes), boil or steam. If microwaving, add 3 tablespoons of water. Check the asparagus so you don't overcook it – it should still be firm to the bite.

4. In a bowl mix the cooked garlic, eggs, evaporated milk and half the Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Cook the pasta in rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (firm but not hard to bite) for about 14 minutes.

6. Drain and return pasta to the pot (don't put the pot back on the element as the heat will cook the eggy carbonara sauce). Stir through the egg mixture.

7. Serve sprinkled with remaining Parmesan and top with the sausages and asparagus.Garnish with ground black pepper and chopped parsley.

TIP...I made the mistake of putting the pan with the sauce and pasta back on the element with it turned off as I like my food really hot. My recommendation is not to do this as it's a fine line between ending up with scrambled eggs or having a silky smooth sauce!



Ingrid's Spring Asparagus Farinata

I love making pizza and bread and in memory of our Nonna Maria, who passed away recently at the grand age of 91, and who cooked with such passion, hands waving all over the place, flour flying through the air, I’m attempting a farinata.

This is an Italian flatbread made with chickpea flour. No kneading required in this dish, so it’s much simpler than bread making and similar to a crispy savoury pancake. Asparagus goes well with the nutty flavour of the chickpeas and the shavings crisp up nicely under the grill. It’s known as street food in Italy and made in large copper pans in wood-burning ovens. Vendors tear off pieces and serve it on wax paper to eat on the spot, however I think it’s a nice change for lunch served with a crisp green salad.

VOTE FOR INGRID'S DISH TO BE IN TO WIN

What you need

I used a 30cm pizza pan but you could use a large oven-proof frying pan. Do it in batches if your frying pan is small. The batter only needs to line the pan, much the same as a pancake.

Batter
1 cup chickpea flour 
1 cup lukewarm water
½ teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon ground pepper
2 tablespoons oil

Topping
1 bunch fresh asparagus, shaved (see tip)
1 tablespoon fresh herbs (oregano or thyme)
1 tablespoon oil


How to make

1. Preheat oven to 230°C or 210°C fan bake.
2. In a bowl sift the chickpea flour and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
3. Slowly add the lukewarm water, whisking continuously until smooth. Stir in the oil. Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes.
4. Place the shaved asparagus in a separate bowl. Add a splash of olive oil; mix to coat.
5. Drizzle olive oil into pizza pan. Place pan in the preheated oven for 5 minutes until oil is hot.
6. Pour in the batter. Scatter with the shaved asparagus and fresh herbs.
7. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until batter is set. Turn the oven grill to highand grill the top for 5-10 minutes until golden and crispy.

To serve: Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt then, when slightly cooled, cut into wedges and serve with a green salad.

TIP...

To shave asparagus, hold the woody ends like a handle and peel with a vegetable peeler; set aside the tough ends. Slice any leftovers into thin strips. Use the woody ends to flavour soups or stocks.

Raspberry and Beetroot Jelly

This retro cool jelly/ relish was such a hit at a recent family garden party on my recent trip to England, I just had to share it. It's super easy but looks pretty damn complicated to make (so a good dish to impress the guests!) It's a real showpiece on the table! I'm so glad there was enough for the party and leftovers for the next few days as I couldn't get enough of it. Enjoy, Ingrid

Grandma Mimi's Raspberry Beetroot Jelly

Serves about 20 party guests
What you need:
1kg cooked beetroot (diced)
1 packet of raspberry jelly
250ml water (boiling)
250ml white wine vinegar

How to make:
Pack the diced beetroot into a jelly mould. Dissolve jelly into boiling water and add white wine vinegar. Add to the beetroot. Refrigerate overnight until set and keep cool until ready to serve. Serve with a tub of sour cream and chives.

Tips: 

• Perfect with bbq food or cold meats such as ham.
• Will last for at least a week in the fridge.
• If you want to make a family sized jelly, just halve the ingredients.

Tangy and fruity, a refreshing change to the usual staple bbq salads. 

Lemon and Sour Cream Loaf

Lemons ideas part four 
The problem I have is whatever I make, I am tempted to eat. I decided to make these loaves for my mum and dad, my auntie and a family friend. There is no calories in licking the bowl is there?

All ready to give to my lovely dad... 

I ended up making 3 smallish loaves so sandwiched them together with a bit of the icing and topped them with the candied lemons in from my last post.

Topped with candied lemons - will tell you how in the next post!

Lemon and sour cream loaf 
Lemon and Sour cream loaf from ECook

125 grams butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 grated rind lemons
1 egg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/4-1/2 cup mixed peel
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp lemon juice

1.  Beat the butter, sugar and lemon rind to a cream. Add the egg and beat well.

2.  Beat in the sour cream. Fold in the sifted flour and peel alternately with the milk and lemon juice.

3.  Spread into a well-greased and floured 10 cm x 20 cm loaf tin.

4.  Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes until cooked when tested.

The sour cream icing was amazing!

Sour cream icing 
All I did for the icing was follow the same method as a cream cheese icing on a cheese cake. Sour cream is not as thick as the cream cheese so beating it with icing sugar made it on the runny side so I decided not to add any lemon juice. In hind sight lemon peel would have been nice. Refrigerate before you spread it on the cakes.
Enjoy X

Candied Lemons

Candied lemons on baking paper 

Lemon ideas part three
Lemons or oranges done this way are really really addictive. They make a fantastic garnish on cakes/cupcakes and would even be cute as a garnish to lemon tea at a tea party. A  celebration ham topped with sliced oranges and lemons coated in a sweet whisky marmalade syrup/ golden syrup/brown sugar also works well.

You could even pack them into a preserving jar and keep them for when you need a sweet and sour sugar rush, I imagine they would last quite a while...

All you need to do is slice up the lemons, place on baking paper and add a teaspoon of sugar to each slice. Bake them in a moderate oven for around 20 minutes. Do keep checking them as they can go from soft to crispy pretty quickly.

I used my ones on a lemon and sour cream cake (below) with sour cream icing - delicious.

Lemon and sour cream cake with candied lemons and spring flowers 

Lemon Syrup Yoghurt Shake

Hundreds and thousands bring back childhood memories...

Lemon ideas part two 

My last post was like making pancakes, the first one is never the best! The recipe is great but I wasn't happy with the images or the font. Last night I had a 3am moment (well to be honest it was 5am and I was up with bubba #2) thinking about lemon syrup...

I thought about all the lemony things I love. Tip Top lemon yoghurt ice-cream and Puhoi lemon yoghurt  being two of the best I have been indulging in for a while and you cant go past a good zesty lemon curd on your toast. This sparked my imagination for a lemon yoghurt shake and I couldn't wait to get out of bed and make it...

With an abundance of lemons check out the previous post to make the syrup. It lasts for ages and has many uses, this being one of my favourites. Its reasonably healthy other than the sugar and a great way to get your kids to drink milk and yoghurt. To thicken it up you could add vanilla ice-cream or for the healthier option throw in a banana.       

Preserving jars make great milkshake containers

In a blender add 1 pottle of yoghurt, 2 pottles of milk, 1/2 -1 pottle of lemon syrup and blitz for a minute or so. To make the hundred and thousands stay on the jars, dip them into the shake (just the rims) and agitate in a saucer of hundred and thousands. I tried chocolate hail but it wasn't very successful, it just wouldn't stick!

Lemon Syrup

Lemons ideas part one...
Ingrid is away and I am in charge! She is sunning (fingers crossed) herself in the UK and Croatia whilst I am finally getting it together post baby. Its only taken 5 months to get my head around when my baby  sleeps, poops, eats and cries! Meanwhile our poor blog has been neglected...

I am getting the ball rolling with some spring ideas for using lemons.
I love "Roses lime cordial" and saw in my aunties fridge the other day a bottle of "posh" lemon cordial. I looked at the label and all it had in it was water, sugar and lemon juice. It came from a shop up the road from me so I popped in to get some but was horrified at the price $15.00 (It came in a beautiful bottle so that's probably what you are paying for) so with an abundance of lemons I decided to make my own.

What you need
1 1/2 cup lemon juice
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar

How to make
Bring to the boil and simmer until the liquid becomes syrupy. It will take about 20-30 minutes.

Other ideas for lemon syrup...
Drizzle over cakes and loaves
Mix with gin/vodka and lemonade
Mix with tonic water for a non alcoholic G+T
Pour over pancakes or piklets
Pour over vanilla ice-cream

     

Get Voting: Sister vs sister - Round Two

We go head to head in our second cook-off for New World Supermarket's Real Magazine. Our challenge: To create a dish using that wonderful spring ingredient – asparagus!

The competition is on!

Growing up with an Italian dad, asparagus was commonplace at the table. His regular offering at barbecues was a salad of asparagus and hard-boiled eggs dressed in olive oil and vinegar, seasoned with salt and pepper. It's a winner. 

While living in the UK in our 20s, we noticed that in spring, restaurants went crazy putting new-season asparagus on the menu, most often served with a luscious hollandaise sauce. They even peeled the skin! We always giggled that asparagus was elevated to "entrée" status and treated like a delicacy because in our family home, it was tossed nonchalantly into a myriad of meals.

The recipes we've compiled are in remembrance of our wonderful Italian Nonna. See what we came up with and tell us what tickles your fancy by voting. All New Zealand voters go in the draw to win $50 New World vouchers

TO VOTE

Vanessa's guest interview

Be My Guest: The KitchenMaid Interview

by Lucy Corry

      

I am currently caught in a frustrating battle to figure out what exactly has gone wrong with the connection between my camera and computer. I can't imagine anything so basic happening to Vanessa and Ingrid Opera, the sister act behind New Zealand food blog Foodopera.

These two juggle blogging with babies, magazine shoots, day jobs and photography - but Vanessa still found the time to fill in the blanks for this week's Be My Guest.

Who are your food heroes?
I know Ingrid quite likes Bill Graner, his simplicity and freshness. I used to be really into Nigella Lawson, I just loved her appetite for everything food. Rick Stein is also a bit of an old favourite too. However currently I am into anything Asian, I love Kylie Kwong, her books and TV show.
I own HEAPS of cook books so its actually really difficult to have just one hero. My aunty recently gave me the book Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi that has amazing ways with vegetables and I picked up "Dinner at Matt's" by Matt Moran at the library. It features fancy pants food that you could cook at home. The photography is great too.

Read the full interview here

Part 2: How to become published food bloggers?

Jake munching on a lemonade apple - the ingredient for the sister vs sister cook off

Continued from Part 1: How to become published food bloggers?

Getting the gig for Real magazine was actually the easy stage,  cooking, photographing and writing, although our passion, threw us a few challenges, mainly due to NEWBORN babies!!!


THE FOOD SHOOT 

Through trial and error we have worked out it's better to have a plan of how we want our images to look before we start. We scan magazines, cookbooks and google images for inspiration and either print out, bookmark or sketch a rough idea.  For this shoot we had some specific shots to get so that gave us some direction. 
We have worked out that doing it together is a lot easier than going it alone, there is always someone to brainstorm ideas with, check camera settings, angles and hold bits and pieces whilst the other, aims and fires. 
For this particular shoot Ingrid's dish required shooting straight away whilst mine could be made in advance. The dishes that require a fast shoot are so much easier with a second pair of hands.

We have spent quite a while now musing over our photographic style and that of the blog, there are so many inspirational ideas around its really difficult to hit the nail on the head.  For this particular shoot we stuck to a simple and tight shot for both, showcasing the food. In hindsight we would have liked to mess it up a bit and make the image look like people had just started tucking in. This ironically is quite hard to achieve. Firstly we should have taken slices and scoops out of the food, we didn't for my dish because cutting warm custard doesn't really work and for Ingrid's after a minute or so it had de-flated. I told you it ain't easy!!!

Make apple tea with leftover apple peelings

Another issue we always come up against is the lighting.
After doing lots of research it seems most food bloggers seek natural lighting for food. We always photograph on my back porch (I know, very unglamorous), but it has a transparent roof, so it filters the light, even on harsh sunny days, however when the sun greets us at about 11am its a mission to diffuse and reduce the harsh shadows. We have been known to hang a variety of bedding, sarongs and table cloths from the roof to diffuse and also use a collapsible diffuser that works well but requires a second pair of hands. We did purchase 2 different sets of lights the Lowel EGO and some cheap and cheerful lights with soft boxes to allow us to shoot larger settings or even people. This  also allows us to shoot at night although we do prefer the ease and look of natural light. 

Yep, the bags under my eyes are there, no gel in the kids hair and the kids clothes were what they chose, not what we wanted.

THE SHOOT of the CHILDREN

Never work with children or animals don't they say, and especially never try it when your sleep deprived, and you have angry newborns and ratty kids. We shot these at our parents house, one Sunday afternoon as we needed extra hands to rein in the kids, hold babies, rock buggies. We set up a bit of a scene outside with apples, bowls, golden syrup and cute apple tea drinks. The challenging bit was getting our big boys to cooperate and smile! Ingrid shoots me and I shoot her and the mantra is keep it short, sweet and simple. Both our boys are going through a "pulling face" stage and whilst it can be funny, it's not what a national magazine required. The sweetener for the kids was they thought they were actually baking (awww bless them) whilst we yelled (encouraged) instructions at them. On reflection the best shots were the ones where we weren't even looking at the camera and more natural. 


A tip for getting nice shots without the clutter of your home/venue is to diffuse the background. If you are reading this with a point and shoot camera, its unlikely you will be able to achieve this BUT if you own a Canon camera these are the two options we use. One is cheap and cheerful the Canon 50mm F1.8 lens and the other, our first major purchase with Foodopera $$$ is a 100mm f2.8 prime lens. 

Making it fun for the kids and keeping them busy also works well whilst the photographer is freed up to move around the scene getting a variety of shots. The kids shoot would have been no more than 10 minutes per kid whilst we are known to spend ages trying to get the food shots right!    

Like they say though practice makes perfect and every shoot we do, it gets easier and we feel less stressed and more satisfied. Now our next challenge is synchronizing the babies...  

READ Part 1: How to become published food bloggers?


Vanessa's apple custard tart 
as featured in Real Magazine

My tart looks café quality but is easy to make, as well as economical. Custard pies are so homely and comforting. Remember the ones you could buy at the school tuck shop or local bakery when you were a kid?

I love trying to re-create recipes at home that I have enjoyed out and about. I had assumed making custard was time consuming and tricky but now I know better. I would even go as far to say, this is a no fail, baked custard tart recipe.

With a newborn baby and friends around for afternoon tea I thought I would wow my guests with the impression I was coping better than expected. The pie was changed to a tart so I didn’t need dishes or cutlery, my guests could enjoy it straight from the tart tin and devour it with their hands. (The difference between a pie and a tart is that a tart is served out of the dish it's cooked in and a pie is served in the dish it's cooked in). My strategy worked, my friends posted Facebook comments about how well I was coping second time round!

Ingrid's tip: When lining your dish with pastry, allow it to go over the sides, as it will shrink when cooked. Trim excess pastry before adding custard. 

Vanessa's apple custard tart

What you need:

400g packet of frozen sweet short-crust pastry, defrosted
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Filling 
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon nutmeg or ground cinnamon
1 cup cream
2-3 large apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

Method 
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C fan forced (or 200˚C conventional).
2. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use to line the base and sides of a 23cm loose-bottom tart dish or flan tin. Trim off any excess.
3. Bake blind for 10 minutes. Remove baking blind material and brush the pastry with egg white. Return to the oven for a couple of minutes until the egg white has cooked. This helps seal the pastry so the custard doesn’t make your pastry go soggy. Remove from oven and set aside.
4. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and nutmeg or cinnamon. Stir in the cream.
5. Arrange the apples into the flan in a circular pattern. Pour over egg custard over, taking care not to disturb the pattern and to submerge the apples.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until custard is set. Check the tart half way through cooking and ensure the apples are still submerged. Set aside to cool.
7. Remove from the tart dish when it has cooled. Serve warm or cold with a dollop of Greek yoghurt or cream.

Prep time: 30mins
Cooking time: 30mins
Serves: 8

TIPS 
* Keep pastry cool when working – lest it becomes too warm and will shrink when baked.
* To bake blind, line a raw pastry shell with baking paper, pressing it firmly into the corners. Fill with baking blind material like dried beans or rice, or ceramic baking blind beans. Allow the beans to cool before storing in a lidded container for use again.

CHECK OUT THE NEXT SISTER VS SISTER COOK OFF IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF REAL MAGAZINE: 

On sale early August 

Cook Off #2: 

Sister vs sister: We take on Asparagus

Part 1: How to become published food bloggers?

WE WERE SO stoked to be featured in the latest Real Magazine, in a sister vs sister cook off and thought we would share with you the fruits of our labour and a bit of a run down of how we got to do it.Vanessa and I were both eight months pregnant when we managed to score a face to face with the Editor and Art Director of Real Magazine (New World's foodie magazine), we literally waddled in, to two very surprised faces when they both realized that we really did do things 'together'!


HOW TO SCORE A FACE TO FACE?

It really is a 'who you know' kinda senario, I used to work at Fairfax Media Magazines, designing and art directing lifestyle magazines. When Vanessa and I started getting serious about our blog and about our cooking, food styling and photographing, I started getting serious about trying to get us a foot in the door. I started with the Photo Editor at Fairfax, showing her our work, and wondered if she could advise us. Thankfully she quite liked our photo's, and the ball started rolling. She started to mention us to Editors, Art Directors and we sold a few pics that were published in some of the food, gardening and lifestyle magazines. Then we did a job for Life and Leisure Magazine, and finally we had some published work that we could use in our portfolio. (This is invaluable, so even if you have to do some jobs for free, or cheap to start with, your gain is getting a portfolio of published work to use to promote yourself).

Real Magazine - July/ August 2012

THE MEETING

We had about 20 minutes to show them our photography, food styling and we talked (rather frantically) about what we were all about (sisters who loved food, photography, like to write about it blah blah) but the clincher was when we started talking about our sister vs sister food fight - two sisters, one ingredient, very different results, and the faces lit up a bit, so we kept talking (again, way too fast) and we left feeling hopeful we might get a phone call in the near future.

THE BRIEF

A few weeks later the phone rang and Claire, the Editor said "hey girls, lets give it a go and see if it captures the reader's imaginations". Yep, we tried to act all professional, and not yelp....YIPPPPEEEE ! but lo and behold a wee little....yippee......left my lips and went down the phone line. So our brief was set.  Cook Off #1 was Apples. 


WHAT WAS EXPECTED?

• Intro's for each recipe explaining why we chose the dish
• 2 x Apple based recipes + photographs of the finished dishes
• Photos of apples on a light background with space for a heading
• Photos of the kids and us cooking (not as easy as it sounds!)
• Photos of us together (self timer) and profile shots of each of us
• Interesting facts about apples
• Tips for cooking our dish

How it all looked published in the magazine.

WORKING MOTHERS , NEWBORN BABIES

Even though Vanessa and I have two older children, we failed to remember the newborn stage, and kept uttering out loud, " It will be easy, newborns sleep a lot don't they?" even Claire, Real Mag's Editor emailed us saying sorry about the timing, she couldn't even achieve anything for the first six weeks when her son was born. But, with our blinkers shining bright, I had my baby daughter, Eliza a week before the brief was set, and Vanessa had baby Leo a week after,  and off we went  co-ordinating some sort of working life, and baby sleep sync program.

THE INTERVIEW
When we heard we were also going to be interviewed, we assumed it would be by telephone, so we thought, "Great, we can literally stay in the pj's and keep up appearances!", but NO.....that wasn't to be the case, they wanted to see us, and get off the cuff quotes. Thankfully, the journalist who turned up, was a woman called Katherine, who as a mother to young kids herself, was understanding to our chaos, and didn't seem to mind our half finished conversations. Somehow, she managed to fill in the blanks and make us sound like we had it all together.

Just like newsreaders we looked the part from the waist up.

THE COMPETITION

Little did we know the big plan with the Sister vs Sister concept was to get the public voting. And little did we know, sibling rivalry that has lay dormant for a few years, has returned with some gusto. What dish would you vote for? Vote here

JULY 24, 2012

Vanessa's Apple Custard Tart

51% (354 votes)

Ingrid's Sweet Apple Yorkies

49% (341 votes)

WHO's WINNING?

It's pretty close, but Vanessa has the edge with 51% of the vote, it seems voters love the nostalgia of a good custard pie, and the timings seem to be very important. The baked pancake requires resting, so that adds an extra 20 mins to the process, an issue for some time-poor cooks.

In our next post Vanessa goes into more detail about the food, the photoshoot and behind the scenes.

Ingrid's Dish: Sweet apple yorkies 

I love pancakes, but I hate waiting for them. With a new baby and a toddler, I haven't got time to stand over a hot element cooking them, making sure they don't burn. I also made the rule in my household that the one cooking them always gets the first pancake, however, the first pancake always seems to be the malformed, or the thinnest, the one that doesn't bubble. A stack of oven-warmed pancakes arriving on the table just so everybody can eat them together just doesn't cut it for me either. I want them straight from the pan, butter still sizzling and hot enough to melt my refrigerated golden syrup swirls.

This baked eggy puffy cloud packed with sticky gooey caramelised apples is about as close as I can get to my idea of breakfast heaven on a cold winter’s day. It's sort of a sweet version of the Yorkshire pudding (which appeals to my English Hull-born bloke) and also why I call my dish Sweet Apple Yorkies.

It has origins from the Apple Dutch Baby or the German Pancake and could be filled with just about any stone fruit or spice. Caramelised apples, however, are just perfect, and your whole family will get excited watching the magic of the custardy egg rising over the edges of the pan in the oven. One more rule however, these must be eaten immediately, or risk watching them fall.

Vanessa's tip: Top pancake with grilled bacon for a hearty brunch.

Ingrid's sweet apple yorkies

I used 2 x 20cm [pie tins but you could also use a large , 30cm wide, cast iron skillet or deep ovenproof  frying pan and divide the pancake into 4 when cooked – it would save on dishes!


What you need:
Caramelised apples 
25g butter
4 cooking apples peeled, cored and roughly chopped
¼ cup golden syrup

Batter 
¾ cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 eggs

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200˚C or 180˚C fan. Divide the butter between the pans and allow it to melt in the oven for a few minutes.
2. Place chopped apples evenly over the pan. Pour over melted golden syrup and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through, until the apples are caramelised.
3. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and gradually add the milk and vanilla , whisking to remove any lumps.
4. Add eggs one at a time. Lightly whisk the batter. Let it rest for 20 minutes. Pour batter over apples.
5. Bake for 20 minutes until the batter puffs up and the edges are golden. Serve with a dollop of natural yoghurt.

Preparation time: 30 mins + 20 mins resting time
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves 4

TIPS
* Resting the batter allows time for the starch to absorb the liquid and air bubbles to form making your batter light and fluffy.
* Don't over mix your batter as you will get rubbery pancakes.
* Remember to have your table set and plates ready, as the yorkies will sink a few minutes after you remove it from the oven.