a night of firsts.

Now that I've moved down to Melbourne I don't have housemates (read: parents) to sample the deliciousness I so frequently love to create so I'm going to throw dinner parties for my Victorian family and friends!
The first dinner party was a very beautiful and intimate affair with my best-twin-cousin Beth. I was desperate to try out the new caste-iron pot my mummy dearest bought me during her last visit so I made a classic winter delight, Lamb Shanks!

A recipe I had never tried before but had the opportunity to devourer at a friend's house in the past, I was excited and slightly afraid to take it on.
The cooking process is surprisingly easy and the sauce that the shanks are cooked in was divine; it has a whole jar of cranberry sauce plus other yummies like red wine, rosemary and love (i.e. butter).
I served the shanks with mashed potato, baby honey-carrots and beans. My mashed potato philosophy is that the potato is really just a vehicle for butter to ride on into your mouth and fill you with happiness (and a few extra calories...).
The shanks were well received by my guest. Over dinner I asked Beth if she would be interested in being my new food guinea pig and she was stumped as to why I prefaced the request with "I have a favour to ask you".

My new food critic was then privy to the debut performance of the "Aliyah is trying to master the art of making creme brulee" tour.
The custard was delicious but could have been a bit firmer. I later discovered that the best way to achieve this is to chill the cooked custards overnight and serve them the next day. The dessert is warmed by the blow-torch when creating the toffee top.
The burnt sugar on top was absolutely wonderful! It was the first time I used my blow-torch and I got a little over excited and kept adding layers of sugar after the previous layer was adequately browned. The result was a delectably thick crust of burnt deliciousness which perfectly accompanied the creamy vanilla-dotted custard.

All in all I believe the night was a success and I am already planning my next dinner party.
Below are a few feast photos from the evening.

Til next cooking adventure.

-the goddess in training.

Well this is embarrasing......

Good evening.

Isn't it sad how life passes by and before you know it over a year goes past and you realise you haven't been informing your adoring blogger fans about your life!

Over a year ago I had the desire to start a blog about my journey towards domestic goddess-ness and have epically dropped the ball since then. It ends tonight!

So without further adieu.....

My name is Aliyah Booth and I am a domestic goddess....in training

This title was thrust upon me several years ago by boys at my school when they discovered my passion for cooking and home making.

So what is a domestic goddess? Well, Aliyah's personal dictionary describes a domestic goddess as a women who embraces all things wonderous. That is, cooking, sewing, gardening, decorating whilst wearing fabulous clothes, shoes, gorgeous hair and make up and a string of pearls!

Throughout the years women have fought for the right to hang up their aprons and hire a home make (i.e. nanny, cook, cleaner, decorator) in order to join their male counterparts in the work force.
This is a wonderful development and I thank my fore-mothers for fighting for my right however, I am ever-so-slightly terrified that in this endeavour women may lose the pleasures of the responsibilities they have had for several centuries.

I am in no way saying that women should remain in the kitchen or be stay at home mothers nor am I even hinting that men cannot enjoy the pleasure of creating a lovely meal, decorating a home or working in the garden that I will be discussing.

I am simply saying that I am a women who is striving towards a successful career but I also strive to excel in my home life as well.

Since my last post (a very very long time ago), I have moved to Melbourne to study a Masters so I have my very own (tiny) home to "make".

I have also decided I'm going to start my own domestic-goddess-inspired business in addition to my studies.

I'm also going to figure out how to upload photos of all the deliciousness I create whilst on my food journey.

Looking forward to sharing with you...whoever you are.

Til next post.

-the goddess in training.

a bit of a tart

My best friend Canns has had a terrible tummy bug for several days which has kept her cooped up in her house making her extremely stir crazy.

Finally, she felt well enough today to have a visit from her beloved (that's me!) and we watched Heston Blumenthal making the most amazing trifle which got us into baking mode!

We decided to make a lemon tart which was quite difficult considering my dear friend does not have a proper oven at her house! Despite this setback we persevered and made beautiful sweet pastry and zesty lemon/lime custard for the filling.

I was unable to taste the finished product as it was a dessert for Canns to take to a dinner party. I did however get to try some pastry and custard before it's assembly and they both were devine!

I hope to receive rave reviews from the dinner guests.

Meanwhile, I have decided to set myself a new challenge of cooking more regularly from my Masterchef magazines. I receive them every month yet struggle to attempt any of the delicious recipes. I need to set an achievable goal (i.e. 1 recipe per week/month etc) so that I can work my way through the stack of magazines on my bookshelf.

I also need to incorporate recipes from Julia Child's cookbook as well as our lady Ms Margaret Fulton.

I shall select a recipe and report back!

Til then,

a.

Lasagna update!

hello there!

The home made lasagna was an absolute hit!!

Although the pasta making process is a long one it is so gratifying to know that you've created a whole meal entirely from scratch.

I always under estimate the amount of béchamel sauce required so I made heaps today and it really helped the dish out.

I also topped the dish with tasty AND parmesan cheese for a little extra flavour which definitely paid off.

Dessert was chocolate fondants with vanilla bean icecream and whilst they were delicious they were terribly rich. The recipe recommended 70% cocoa chocolate which I used however I think I may need to try a 50% chocolate to make it a little less rich.

The icecream was also quite decadent so perhaps a softer flavour would have accompanied it better. I also drizzled over a little bit of dairy milk chocolate which did soften the flavour but perhaps I should also include some strawberries or raspberries next time.

All in all the guests were happy with the meal and left feeling a wee bit plumper which isn't always a bad thing!

I'm looking forward to trying the fondants again (once I've worked off the one I ate tonight!) and seeing if I can improve the flavour.

My next endeavour will be a recipe from Julia Child's cookbook or perhaps something from Margaret Fulton.

I'll keep you posted!!

til then.

a.

Getting back into the swing of things

My blog-less blog has been in existance for over 6 months now and after chatting to a dear friend I have been inspired to actually use it!

I was watching Julie and Julia tonight (one of my go-to feel-good movies) and began to wish for the witty prose Ms Julie Powell possesses alas I do not.

This does not however mean that I can't blog about things that interest me, and I hope one fateful day I will have readers who send me hot sauce (although I have no clue how these fans got her address).

Meanwhile, I cooked san choy bow for dinner tonight and it was an absolute smash hit.

I doubled the sauce quantities cause the sauce is delicious and it didn't seem enough through the mince. I also cooked spaghetti sauce as we had some mince that needed using. I'm using the meat sauce tomorrow to make lasagna and possibly will make a dessert should someone come over for dinner.

My housemates (mum and dad) aren't eating sugar because apparently it's poison which is fine because they own their bodies and can deprive themselves of whatever they deem unsuitable for consumption but it makes it very difficult when I'm super keen to make chocolate fondants for dessert but there is no one to eat them! except for me but I enjoy others eating my food rather than munching alone.

One day when someone comes for dinner (yes this is directed at you my dear sister) I will make chocolate fondants and they will be glorious. They better be glorious because I spent copious amounts of money on dutch cocoa powder to make the blessed things.

I'll let you know how the lasagna turns out. I'm hoping my oo flour hasn't gone stale as I am very keen to whip out my pasta machine tomorrow!

til then.

a.