Parmesan crumbed baked fish

It was Salmon's week off this week so I had to find someone to take their shift; orange roughy was the lucky winner. I haven't cooked orange roughy before, but my father assures me it is lovely. I didn't want to try anything weird or complicated so I thought I'd go for the classic parmesan crumb. Fingers crossed :).


ease: 5/5.
prep time: 5mins.
cooking time: 15mins
total: 20mins.

taste: 3/5. It was alright but I felt the crumb mixture actually made the flavour more mellow - couldn't taste much except for breadcrumbs. I made the following modifications for two people:

• 2 orange roughy fillets
• 1/2cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2tsp lemon rind
• 1/4cup Parmesan
• 1tbs parsley
• 1/2tsp lemon myrtle
• 2tbs oil
• salt and pepper

would I make it again: No.

recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8149/parmesan+crumbed+baked+fish

Mango lassi

Mangoes of my heart, how I love thee.

Mangoes are one of those fruits that I learned to appreciate later in life. As much as I love them raw and fresh, I love them even more in creamy ice creams, or strewn through yoghurt with a little honey. But my absolute favourite way of eating them is to turn them into a mango lassi. I've made a few variations of this before, but this one is special as it combines mangoes with one of my top three spices; the delightfully fragrant cardamom.


ease: 5/5. prep time: 4mins.
cooking time: 1min to blend.
total: 5mins.

taste: 4/5. I had to score it lower as Ryan does not share my love for cardamom - it seems I will still be searching for the perfect mango lassi recipe.

would I make it again: Sort of - I will have to tweak it a little, perhaps less cardamom, more mango and maybe a touch of honey?

recipe: http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/mango-cardamom-lassi-coconut-lime-lassi

Asparagus & triple cream brie pizza

I should name today Super Saturday, in honor of all of the errands I managed to tick off my list, and before 6:30pm I might add.

Along with the obligatory food shop, I felt like going to Jones the Grocer for my gourmet ingredient fix. Whilst there I picked up some truffle salt and some truffle oil. Eager to use them immediately I scoured my recipe files and found the perfect summer nights dish, complete with a sprinkling of truffle oil (and a dash of truffle salt for good measure).


ease: 5/5.
prep time: 6mins. I used a pre-made pizza base, as I am inherently lazy.
cooking time: 12mins.
total: 18mins.

taste: 4/5. I loved this, although the asparagus didn't cook through for me, you see mine are a little stockier than Not-Quite-Nigella's. Ryan on the other hand took one bite before pulling an 'icky' face and pushing his plate away. Yes, this is how a 24year old man let's me know he doesn't like something. Perhaps if the asparagus was a little more tender, he may have had two bites.

would I make it again: N0, only because I cannot eat a whole one myself.

recipe: http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/12/03/asparagus-and-triple-cream-brie-pizza/

Eggnog truffles

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."

Christmas is long past, and amongst all of the hustle and bustle of wrapping gifts and seeing family I completely forgot to make these truffles. Normally I would have relegated them to this year's Christmas folder, but I just couldn't bring myself to wait another 12 months to taste them. So here they are, a very belated Christmas gift from me to you (and apologies to my family members who missed out and tasting these little ivory beauties last Christmas).

I am not sure how I thought I'd make successful chocolate truffles when the house temperature was 27C - the filling melted as soon as it was out of the freezer, I've never seen anything like it. The white chocolate just slid right off the filling and pooled around it. Only the truffle I did first survived, so I apologise for the lack of truffles in this post.


ease: 4.5/5. These have a lot of chilling time so it takes a while before they are ready.
prep time: 25mins to make chocolate batches and assemble truffles
cooking time: 3hours & 2omins of chilling time
total: 3hours & 45mins.

taste: 2.5/5. Despite doubling the nutmeg and the brandy, these tasted only of sugary white chocolate. I couldn't eat more than one. Such a shame seeing as though they got rave reviews from so many people.

would I make it again: No. Maybe they would have tasted better had they not melted all over the place, but I just found them too sweet for me.

recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/2053/eggnog+truffles

Double delight peanut butter-honey cookies

Work started as usual, albeit a little late due to my freakish sleep patterns of the past three days. There weren't many orders today, which is both great (more free time) and not so great (less profit). I was finished by 12:30, so I threw a load of towels into the wash and hung them out to dry in the lovely much-more-efficient-than-a-dryer sunshine. I didn't feel like vacuuming, or cleaning for that matter, so I thought, why not bake something seeing as though the apricot cake is down to the last piece.

Shopping day for me is Saturday morning, so come Friday my shelves are looking pretty bare as I only buy what I need for each week. I have the bare essentials such as flour, sugar, eggs etc and I had a more than normal supply of peanut butter as my dog is currently taking some antibiotics and I find the best way to get them down whole is in a teaspoon of peanut butter.
Side note: I decided to try Dick Smith's PB this week rather than Kraft as it has 3% more peanuts and it actually tastes a whole lot better to me, so from now on, all PB dishes will be made using Dick Smith's PB.


This is a recipe I had been postponing as it is a little time intensive for a cookie recipe.

ease: 4.5/5. Takes time but isn't difficult.
prep time: 45mins to get to the cookies on a tray stage.
cooking time: 26mins for two trays.
total: 1hour & 11mins.

taste: 4/5. Ryan rated these an extra .5%, but I think 4 is enough. Surprisingly they weren't super peanut buttery. The soft center was lovely, the honey roasted peanuts on the top didn't mesh well, normal salted peanuts would have been nicer. Also a little more cinnamon perhaps.

would I make it again: No. They were lovely, but not so super duper that I would want to make them again.

recipe: http://www.visionsofsugarplum.com/2008/04/double-delight-peanut-butter-honey.html

New beginning

With the changing of a year, my life has undergone some dramatic changes. I felt it only natural that my blog also change with me.

Chanel's Couzina started in response to my partner's tendency to forget what I cooked him. As time progressed it became handy when family members asked for recipes for something they had eaten and liked. I liked being able to look back on my cooking accomplishments and it motivated me to spend even more time in the kitchen. Along with food, it also sparked my interest in a long forgotten hobby; photography. With my already-beloved Canon on its way be prepared for more pictures per post. Above I have taken some pictures from my garden and below I have posted some of my beautiful dog, Yoshi.


As for the name change, I submitted a list of potential names to a trusted few and Greedy Gourmand was the winner (by 1 vote). Let me know what you think about the new title and changes :).

Summer pizza

I spent so much time designing the new layout that I forgot about dinner! Before I knew it I heard 'when's dinner' grumbles coming from the lounge room. Scurrying around the kitchen I played with the idea of a large salad and then on second thought I turned on my laptop and scanned my bookmarked recipes. This super quick and easy Summer pizza recipe was the answer to my prayers.

ease: 5/5.
prep time: 8 mins.
cooking time: 20mins
total: 28mins

taste: 4.5/5. Ryan absolutely loved this - as it is a simple dish it really does rely on flavoursome fresh produce. The tomatoes were the stars whilst the zucchini and basil added to its summer taste. I made HUGE modifications to this recipe. I only used around 2tbs of mayonnaise, 1tsp dried basil, 1 punnet vine ripened cherry tomatoes, 1/2 a zucchini, 1/2 cup tasty cheese and 1/4 cup smoked danish cheese. I omitted the red pepper flakes and salt however I did mix 1/2tsp minced garlic with the mayonnaise. All of this fit decently on 1 sheet of puff pastry. I was a little hasty in getting it into the oven so my pizza was a little soggy due to partially defrosted pastry. Next time I will try to find some smoked mozzarella as I really think it would go well with this dish, I would also substitute the mayonnaise for garlic aioli.

would I make it again: Yes - super easy and really well liked.

recipe: http://www.bitofnutmeg.com/2008/07/so-fancy-so-easy-summer-pizza.html

Tuna & macaroni bake

Tuna in, tuna out. Tonight's dish was a last minute substitute. I had another dish meant for this evening, but upon a second look it no longer seemed appetising (hard boiled eggs, no pasta). I have made this particular dish before, it was liked but not overly so. Second time around I have limited the mustard (the most noted dislike previously) and increased the cheese (I have a cheese loving family).

ease: 5/5. prep time: 15mins to cook pasta and make sauce.
cooking time: 20mins.
total: 35mins.

taste: 3.5/5. Not bad, perhaps too much onion. I reduced the mustard to 1tsp which was enough for the boys. It definitely needs more tuna and perhaps cheese sprinkled on the top.

would I make it again: No - perhaps there is a better tuna bake recipe out there.

recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipe/view-recipe.php?id=1022&page=&mc=1#c

Apricot upside down cake

By the time I went back to save the apricots, only 3 out of 15 made it. Sadly I did not have enough to make a whole cake so I scrummaged up the last piece of pineapple and made a partial apricot upside down cake.


ease: 5/5. prep time: 10mins.
cooking time: 30mins.
total: 40mins.

taste: 4.5/5. Really dense buttery cake. I would have loved more apricots on the top I think they would really make it super delicious. I might try this with pear in the winter. Really great cake.

would I make it again: Yes.

recipe: http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2009/01/whb-166.html

Mushy roast garlic and cherry tomato pasta

Summer definitely made up for its late arrival with two days of 40C sweltering heat. Last night we ordered pizza as I just couldn't bear to turn on the oven or the stove top. Tonight, I also wanted to order in but I didn't feel like eating junk so I opted for something that would allow me to walk away into the cool lounge room while it cooked itself.

ease: 5/5.
prep time: 6mins.
cooking time: 30mins.
total: 36mins.

taste: 3.5/5. Everyone liked it, I found it a little lacking on the garlic front, will have to add more next time. I halved the amount of red onion.

would I make it again: Yes. As a last minute meal as all of the ingredients I usually have on hand.

recipe: http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com/2008/11/mushy-roast-garlic-and-cherry-tomato.html