AMEET BAINS, WESTERN BULLDOGS CEO
FB: How would you rate your cooking skills?
AB: Poor!
FB: What is your signature dish?
AB: Tuna pasta.
FB: If you could only have one more meal, what would it be?
AB: A range of dumplings for entrée followed by spicy chicken tikka with fresh roti (bread) for main, followed up with a hot choc fudge sundae for dessert.
FB: What is your favourite TV food show and who is your favourite TV food person?
AB: No Reservations with (the late) Anthony Bourdain.
FB: What is your favourite food?
AB: Chicken.
FB: What is your favourite drink?
AB: Hendrinks gin and tonic with a slice of fresh cucumber.
FB: Which five people would you most like to invite to dinner?
AB: Winston Churchill, Vince Lombardi, Robert De Niro, Viv Richards and E.J. Whitten.
FB: Do you have a kitchen tip for us?
AB: Check the expiry date of ingredients before you use them!
SWEET COMPANY
I’m not sure why, but I seem to have a serious caramel ‘thing’ going on at present. In the past few weeks, I’ve made a caramel cheesecake mousse and a salted caramel and chocolate tart. Just last weekend, I graduated to a caramel and apple sponge pudding. When I see the words ‘caramel’ and ‘apple’ in the same sentence, my mind harks back to the days of school fetes and toffee apples. Like lamb and rosemary, caramel and apple is a match made in heaven. And as the weather’s been so bitterly cold lately, you can understand why the words ‘hot,’ ‘sponge’ and ‘pudding’ also grabbed my attention! Thanks to Foodiful for this recipe. My family and I can attest that it’s the ultimate comfort food and the perfect company for cold nights in front of the TV.
CARAMEL APPLE PUDDING
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and grease a 25cm-wide baking dish. Peel and thinly slice 4 Granny Smith apples (I cut them into quarters first) and place in the bottom of the dish.
Place 1 and 2/3 cups of self raising flour, 1 cup of caster sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 200mls milk, 150g melted butter and 2 eggs into the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is pale.
Meanwhile, place 1 cup water, ½ cup of golden syrup and 1 cup brown sugar into a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until sugar has dissolved. Turn up heat a little and let the mixture come to the boil. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
Pour batter over the sliced apples. Pour about half of the sugar syrup over the top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the sponge is almost cooked through when tested with a skewer. Pour remaining syrup over the top and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving with ice cream or custard.
For more great winter recipes and to check out the latest Food Bytes podcasts, head to the Food Bytes with Sarah Patterson Facebook page. Recent guests include Rebecca Maddern, Shane Jacobson and Merv Hughes.
