Friday Feast

Good morning and welcome to another Friday Feast. For those playing along at home ( or for those who want to ) Friday Feast is a fledgling link up ( which is so fledgling it doesnt even have a linky yet! ) where we each share a favourite recipe - sweet or savoury, dinner or dessert, budget or blue ribbon. It doesnt matter, as long as its delicious!

This week, i thought i'd go with something sweet:

Fruit and Nut Slice ( originally found in Recipes + magazine )
395g can sweetened condensed milk
125g butter, chopped
1tsp finely grated orange zest ( omit if you arent a fan of zest )
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
250g plain biscuits ( such as Arrowroots )
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 1/2 cups dried fruit of your choice
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts
1 1/3 cup milk chocolate melts

1. Grease 26x16cm base baking pan and line with baking paper, leaving over-hang at edges.
2. Combine condensed milk, butter zest and juice in small saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until butter melts. remove from heat.
3. Process biscuits into fine crumbs. Add biscuit, coconut,dried fruit and nuts to condensed milk mixture. Stir to combine. Press and smooth into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hr.
4. Melt chocolate in microwave on medium setting in 30 second bursts, removing and stirring in between, until melted and smooth. Spread chocolate over slice to cover evenly. Let cool for 30 minutes or until chocolate is almost set, then cut into squares to serve.
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I've made this slice quite a few times for my mums group meet ups or morning teas, and i gave my dad the recipe so he could make morning tea for his secretaries at work, and it always gets a great reception. Its moist and a bit chewy and nice and sweet with the fruit ( i usually use dried apricot and cranberries, but you could throw in sultanas or glace cherries aswell ) and the best thing about from the cooks perspective? Its no bake! Plus, it uses ingredients that most of us would keep in our pantries, or that we might have left over from something else. Plus, it keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge - although i'm sure it will be all gone by then!

What about you? Do you have a recipe to contribute this week ? Go, do your post, and then come back and leave a link to the post in the comments!

Friday Feast

So - i didnt have much of a response to my idea last week to start a Friday Feast link up. For anyone who missed it, i'd love to start a weekly link up where we contribute ( and thus exchange ) our favourite recipes, whether they be sweet or savoury, simple or gourmet. The budding chef in me would love to find more family and budget friendly recipes, but anything you like would be great! That being said, i didnt have many takers for the idea last week but that wont stop me starting it as a weekly post for myself. Who knows - perhaps it will evolve?

So, this week, i thought i'd start with one of my favourite quick, easy and fresh recipes: Sesame Crusted Salmon with Coleslaw.

Sesame Crusted Salmon With Coleslaw ( serves 2-4 )
* salmon fillets ( get one pieces for each person you'd like to serve )
* 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
* 1/2 small white cabbage, thinly sliced
* 1 large carrot, grated
* 2 sticks of celery, chopped finely

1. Putting the 1/2 cup sesame seeds on a small plate, coat both sides of each salmon fillet with seeds.
2. Heat a teaspoon of vegetable oil in frypan. Place salmon in, seeded side down.
3. Cook for 3- 4 minutes both sides ( or until cooked to your liking ).
4. In the meantime, mix chopped cabbage, grated carrot and chopped celery in large bowl.
5. ( This is where i alternate from time to time... ) Either dress coleslaw in store bought coleslaw dressing or mix 2 tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce with 1 tablespoon of lime juice, for a refreshing Asian style slaw.

And that be it - those proportions are all from memory. Because i only make this meal for Mick and myself, we usually end up with left over coleslaw for the next days lunch, but if you think you'll need more, than just up the amount of vegies by another half or so. Couldnt be easier!