White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

My son came bouncing into the room, he had just returned from a holiday with friends at Byron Bay.
 "I had a great time" he said, "we stayed across from the beach and had pancakes every day for breakfast with bacon and maple syrup.  We also had the best cookies I have ever had, here I brought you one" and promptly gave me a White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookie ceremoniously wrapped in a serviette. 
You can imagine, my heart somersaulted with love - and the cookie was good.

The cookie was so good I had to make my own.
That is, after we had pancakes - well crepes really but don't start me on what is a pancake or pikelet.
This is a much debated subject in our house.   My Other Half is convinced what I call a pancake is actually a pikelet, so I prefer to cook crepes and avoid the whole subject.  

We cooked crepes with crispy bacon rashers and maple syrup, topped with a  little sifted icing sugar -

apparently very Byron Bay.     After shopping for macadamias and white chocolate buttons I managed to contrive some White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies that were quite good.  In fact they were better than the original cookie after journeying 7 hours in a serviette to reach me.

I made two batches that day, each slightly different but totally acceptable. 

The orange rind helped soften the sweetness of the chocolate.

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

 

125g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 free range egg

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 cup white chocolate buttons or pieces

1/3 cup finely chopped macadamias

Beat butter, vanilla essence, orange rind, sugar and egg in a small bowl with electric mixer until smooth.  

 

Finely chop the macadamia nuts in a food processor 

or mortar and pestle.

Roughly chop the white chocolate buttons in the same food processor or mortar and pestle.

Stir flour, nuts and chocolate into the mixture.  Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls and place onto greased or baking paper lined baking trays placing them about 5cm apart.   Bake in a preheated moderate oven (180 C) for 15 minutes approximately or until firm and just starting to brown.  Cool on wire racks.

Store in an air tight container when cool.  They will last a week, if they are any remaining by then :D
White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies -  not just for kids.
Buon appetitio, Merryn.

Spicy Pickled Cabbage

Our family love to sit around the table, sharing a variety of dishes, both hot, savoury and sweet.
This winter our garden has been abundantly healthy and overflowing with cabbages.  Red, green, and almost white, much like the Italian flag!  You give away what you can to family and friends, but still, one day you pick six and think, 'by golly' what will we do with all of these?  We stir fry cabbage, make sauerkraut, add to soups, fried rice and curries.  There remains, on the bench, however, more cabbages.
The answer - spicy pickled cabbage, perfect for accompanying any stir fry or curry dish.
You could only use one chilli and add 1 tablespoon black peppercorns instead of the Szechuan peppercorns  if you prefer a milder dish.
This not only tastes great but it looks wonderful as well!

Taking one green cabbage, wholesome and round, weighing 800g I sliced it into large pieces, about 6 x 3cm and placed them into a bowl.

Add sea salt and brown sugar then mix well. 

Cover and leave to stand for 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
While it is resting, place oil, peppercorns and dried chillies into a pan and turn heat to med high.  Cook for  1 minute or until the chillies change colour.  Remove from heat.  Let cool then remove chillies and peppercorns.

Drain cabbage and squeeze out any excess moisture with your hands.
Pour the flavoured oil onto the cabbage, add vinegar and mix well.
Serve as a tasty side dish.

Spicy Pickled Cabbage Recipe

1 green cabbage, about 800g sliced into 10cm x 3cm pieces
3 level tablespoons fine sea salt
2 raised tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup rice bran oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
4 long dried chillies, whole
2 tablespoons malt vinegar

Buon appetito, if you have enjoyed this post, kindly tell me about it.  Cheers Merryn.