About a week ago I tasked myself with the organising of a friend's birthday BBQ. I didn't actually plan anything until the day of (apart from making the carrot cake and cupcakes two days before - which were a hit!!) but it turned out that if you push yourself hard enough, you can make anything work.
I made Jamie Oliver's Sticky Kickin' Chicken Salad (I don't like radishes so I substituted with cocktail onions - thanks to my friend Karen for this genius idea!), Potato Salad (recipe below), Pasta Salad (recipe below), Fruit Salad (no one needs a recipe for this do they?) and Carrot Cake and Cupcakes (my variations below).
Sadly, I have no photos of the food except for the Carrot Cake but you'll just have to trust me that these are good. I love food, yo!
My Potato Salad Recipe
6 royal blue potatoes
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole egg mayo (or to taste)
3 sweet spiced gherkins
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Method:
1. Chop the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Cook in boiling water for 15 minutes.
2. Bring another pot of water to the boil and cook eggs for 15 minutes. Once cooked, quarter the eggs.
3. Thinly slice the gherkins.
4. Combine potatoes, eggs, mayo, gherkins and chicken stock powder in a bowl and serve. Simple but tasty!!
My Pasta Salad Recipe
1 Barilla Fusilli (Spiral Pasta)
1 Avocado
1 Small Bag of Frozen Veg (your choice - I like peas, corn and capsicum)
1/2 cup salad dressing (or to taste)
1 punnet of baby roma tomatoes
Method:
1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 15 minutes. The box says 11 minutes - ignore this unless you want to eat half cooked pasta. Add olive oil and salt to the water while boiling.
2. Cook the frozen veg in the microwave as per packet instructions.
3. Chop the roma potatoes in half.
4. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
Carrot Cake & Cupcakes
I tried (really, I did!) to follow the recipe linked above except for these teeny, tiny variations:
- 20% more grated carrots (~60 grams)
- A splash of extra oil to make sure its super moist
- I could not find "golden syrup" so took a guess and used Maple Flavoured Syrup - worked well!!
- For the icing, I basically ignored the recipe and went with my tried and tested cream cheese mixture (250 g cream cheese at room temperature, 150 g sifted icing sugar, 60 g butter at room temperature, and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence).
- I added a roasted nuts and seeds topping for the cupcakes (pepitos, almonds, walnuts, pinenuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, peanuts). I roughly crushed the almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in a mortar and pestle prior to roasting in the oven. Leave for 8 to 10 minutes in 190 deg oven.
- If you are making cupcakes using this batter, fill the cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Tip: I rotate my tray at the 10 minute mark to ensure even baking.
What a fun day!
Love
Cindy
I made Jamie Oliver's Sticky Kickin' Chicken Salad (I don't like radishes so I substituted with cocktail onions - thanks to my friend Karen for this genius idea!), Potato Salad (recipe below), Pasta Salad (recipe below), Fruit Salad (no one needs a recipe for this do they?) and Carrot Cake and Cupcakes (my variations below).
Sadly, I have no photos of the food except for the Carrot Cake but you'll just have to trust me that these are good. I love food, yo!
My Potato Salad Recipe
6 royal blue potatoes
3 eggs
3/4 cup whole egg mayo (or to taste)
3 sweet spiced gherkins
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Method:
1. Chop the potatoes into 1 inch cubes. Cook in boiling water for 15 minutes.
2. Bring another pot of water to the boil and cook eggs for 15 minutes. Once cooked, quarter the eggs.
3. Thinly slice the gherkins.
4. Combine potatoes, eggs, mayo, gherkins and chicken stock powder in a bowl and serve. Simple but tasty!!
My Pasta Salad Recipe
1 Barilla Fusilli (Spiral Pasta)
1 Avocado
1 Small Bag of Frozen Veg (your choice - I like peas, corn and capsicum)
1/2 cup salad dressing (or to taste)
1 punnet of baby roma tomatoes
Method:
1. Cook the pasta in boiling water for 15 minutes. The box says 11 minutes - ignore this unless you want to eat half cooked pasta. Add olive oil and salt to the water while boiling.
2. Cook the frozen veg in the microwave as per packet instructions.
3. Chop the roma potatoes in half.
4. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
Carrot Cake & Cupcakes
I tried (really, I did!) to follow the recipe linked above except for these teeny, tiny variations:
- 20% more grated carrots (~60 grams)
- A splash of extra oil to make sure its super moist
- I could not find "golden syrup" so took a guess and used Maple Flavoured Syrup - worked well!!
- For the icing, I basically ignored the recipe and went with my tried and tested cream cheese mixture (250 g cream cheese at room temperature, 150 g sifted icing sugar, 60 g butter at room temperature, and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence).
- I added a roasted nuts and seeds topping for the cupcakes (pepitos, almonds, walnuts, pinenuts, sesame seeds, chia seeds, peanuts). I roughly crushed the almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in a mortar and pestle prior to roasting in the oven. Leave for 8 to 10 minutes in 190 deg oven.
- If you are making cupcakes using this batter, fill the cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Tip: I rotate my tray at the 10 minute mark to ensure even baking.
What a fun day!
Love
Cindy
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