Adults Only Tiramisu

With the amount of alcohol in this recipe, I had to warn my daughter not to drive after eating this luscious Italian dessert. Her probationary license stipulates zero alcohol content in your system, and I'm sure a breathalyser test would have registered way up there after only a couple of mouthfuls. Luckily only the biscuits are quickly "dipped" into this potent brew, otherwise we'd all end up happily tipsy, not that that would be an issue. I must confess I have only made Tiramisu once before, and that was due to a request from my eldest when she turned 16. Because she was "grown up" in her eyes, the customary birthday cake made way for this "adults only" dessert. Maybe it was her way of consuming alcohol right under my nose, instead of waiting for a party with her friends!! She is now 24, well and truly grown up, and I'm happy that I have an excuse to make it again. So are the dessert deprived members of this family. They all think HHDD is fabulous, because they can indulge in the rare treat of desserts after a meal. When I told my youngest what the theme for this month was going to be, she insisted we shop for the ingredients immediately. I wonder if her enthusiasm would have been the same had the theme been some savoury dish. I think not.

Alexandra, from Addicted Sweet Tooth, the deserved winner of the last round of Hay Hay it's Donna Day, a fun event now under the wing of Bron Marshall, has chosen Tiramisu for this months challenge. This is a no-bake (right up my alley when it comes to desserts), rich Italian dessert, that literally translates as "pick me up" or "make me happy/less sad". We all know the virtues of coffee, chocolate and alcohol, each providing a momentary state of euphoria. Combine them all together and what do you get? An exhilarating uplift with every spoonful, equally addictive as the individual ingredients can be on their own. Just don't drive for a while. Enjoy your happiness.

Tiramisu

Prep time: 30 minutes

2 hours refrigeration

Ingredients

300 ml espresso coffee

3 ½ tblsp Marsala

2 tblsp Kilkenny cream (coffee and chocolate liqueur)

2 tblsp brandy

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

3 eggs separated

75 g caster sugar

300 g mascarpone

Cocoa for dusting

100 g good quality dark chocolate, grated

Savoiardi biscuits

Chill six 300 ml glasses. Combine coffee, coffee liqueur, brandy marsala and vanilla in a large bowl and set aside.

In a bowl beat egg yolks with sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in mascarpone. Beat eggwhites intil soft peaks form, then fold into the mascarpone mixture.

Dust the base of each glass with a little cocoa and sprinkle with some of the grated chocolate. Add a spoonful of the mascarpone mixture to each glass. Quickly dip the biscuits, a few at a time, into the coffee mixture and arrange in a single layer on top of the mascarpone, breaking biscuits to fit if required. Dust with cocoa and chocolate and then repeat layers again, finishing with mascarpone. Leave to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge and then dust again with cocoa and grated chocolate.

Just Swanning Around with Chantilly Cream Puffs

When Suzanne from Home Gourmets announced the theme for this months Hay Hay it's Donna Day, I quietly cringed. Choux pastry....Aaarrgghh! I love eating the stuff, but successfully cooking it is another matter. My first and only attempt, up until now, was quite disastrous. After reading up a bit on how to make Choux, I realised now that I did every possible thing wrong in my first attempt. My pot was too small, the heat wasn't right, I felt that I had to stir it like a cement mixer...the list goes on. However, this event that is now nurtured by Bron Marshall and originally conceived by Barbara at Winosandfoodies is all about setting participants a challenge. And who doesn't love a challenge?

So with the assistance of Monsieur Larousse, who states " The first stage in making the paste is to heat the liquid (water or water and milk) and butter until the butter melts. This should be done slowly at first, without allowing the mixture to boil (if the liquid boils before the butter melts, it will reduce)". Wish I'd known that important little tip the first time. When referring to mixing the paste until a ball forms, Monsieur Larousse kindly points out "do not beat the paste at this stage or the fat will separate out slightly, making it oily". Yet another mistake I made first time round. Merci, Monsieur.

I decided to go ahead with Chantilly Cream Puffs, because I love saying Chantilly in French ("shahn-tee-yee "), and I have always put vanilla and sugar in my whipped cream, unknowingly making Chantilly cream all along. When he stated that these cream puffs are made to resemble swans, I nearly swallowed my tongue. Oh puhleese, can I just get the puffs right before murdering them with my lack of artistic abilities? Oh well, looks like I have more challenges on my plate than I expected.

The result? Not quite perfect (even a bit tacky) Chantilly Swans. Once again my family thanked Hay Hay it's Donna Day for allowing them to devour this indulgent pastry, which they have been deprived of in the past. You never know, I might even have another go at this satisfying paste. It's not as hard to make as I thought it was....once you know the secrets!




Chantilly Cream Puffs

Choux Paste
In a medium sized pot add 1 cup of water, or equal parts milk and water to make 1 cup. Toss in a large pinch of salt and 65 g (5 tblsp) of softened butter cut into small pieces. Add 2 tsp caster sugar. Heat gently until the butter melts, then bring to the boil. As soon as the mixture comes to the boil, remove the pot from the heat, add 125 g (1 cup) of plain or all purpose flour and mix quickly. Return the saucepan to the heat and cook until paste thickens, stirring (it takes about a minute for the paste to leave the sides of the pan). Don't overcook the mixture or beat it vigorously as this will make it greasy or oily. Beat in 2 eggs, the 2 more eggs one after the other, continuing to beat hard until a smooth glossy paste is obtained (I did this last step in the KitchenAid ...much easier).

Pipe or spoon onto baking sheet and place in a heated oven (220 C) for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to 200 C and continue cooking until golden and crisp. The initial warmer temperature is to create steam inside the bun, causing it to "puff". Pipe some backward "S" shapes (think of the number 2) onto the baking sheet. Obviously these "necks" won't need to be baked as long as the puffs, so I placed them on a separate small tray and put them in the oven towards the end of the cooking time.

Chantilly Cream
Place 400 ml (1 3/4 cups) of very cold double (heavy) cream, 100 ml very cold milk and 1 tblsp vanilla sugar in a chilled bowl and whip. When the cream starts to thicken, add 40 g (3 tblsp) caster sugar continuing to whip until thickened to desired consistency.

Split and cool the buns, then cut the top off each bun, cutting the top in half lengthways which will form the swan's wings. Fill the buns with chantilly cream . Place a "neck" at one end of the bun and stick the "wings" into the cream on either side. Dust generously with icing sugar.

Toffee Apple Clafoutis HHDD#19

Childhood memories bring to light many joyous moments, such as receiving my first Teary Deary Doll from Santa, or the feeling of jubilation riding my two wheeler, finally unassisted by Dad, and not crashing into the lemon tree in the backyard. Two memories really stick out though. The first is homemade toffees in patty pans, covered in hundreds and thousands or peanuts, which I could savour all day, wrapped in a handkerchief in my pocket when the sugar fix had wained. The second is autumn apples, Golden Delicious apples, the size of a softball on steroids, the juice running down to my elbows with every deafening crunch. These apples were straight from the orchards in King Valley, and a large box would always be sitting on the table of our back verandah, tempting us every time we walked past.

When Bron Marshall (the esteemed winner from last month) announced the theme for Hey Hey it's Donna Day #19 as clafoutis, I was a shattered woman. I'm not normally one who opts for desserts, and thought a savoury clafoutis, maybe baby tomatoes, prosciutto, goats cheese...something along those lines, would satisfy my savoury tooth. This is a popular monthly event founded by Barbara from Winosandfoodies. Check out both of these fabulous blogs.

Finally the penny dropped. Use what is in season. Tomatoes have finished...finito, kaput. Apples rule. So I have combined two of my childhood favourites, apples and toffee to make Toffee Apple Clafoutis.

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

60 minutes

Ingredients (serves 8)

• Melted butter, to grease
• 6 (about 1.2kg) golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, quartered
• 220g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 80ml (1/3 cup) water
• 100g (2/3 cup) plain flour
• 160g (2/3 cup) sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbs Cointreau liqueur
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 tbs vanillin sugar
• 500ml (2 cups) milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Brush a 10-cup (2.5-litre) ovenproof dish with the melted butter to lightly grease. Arrange apple pieces over the base of the dish.
2. Place caster sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until mixture is golden, occasionally brushing down side of pan with pastry brush dipped in water. Remove from heat, allow bubbles to subside. Pour toffee evenly over apples in dish.
3. Combine flour and sugar in a bowl. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time. Add the liqueur, oil and vanillin sugar. Gradually pour in the milk, stirring continuously, until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from oven and set aside for 10 minutes before serving.

Bountiful Coconut Chocolate Tarts

Marita Says, the deserved winner of last month's Hay Hay its Donna Day, has chosen simplicity as the theme this month, in the form of Coconut Chocolate Tarts. I love simple, I love chocolate with coconut and tarts are just so cute to look at. Congratulations also goes to Barbara from WinosandFoodies, who created this great event, as she renews her wedding vows today with her best friend and lover. I hope you both have a wonderful day.

Hmmm, chocolate and coconut screams of Bounty Bars. How simple is that? Tick. Now the hard part, because pastry frightens the hell out of me for some reason. How can I keep the pastry within the simplicity theme, and not have it taste like cardboard? Then I remembered an episode from The Cook and the Chef, where Maggie Beer made a sour cream pastry. It looked so simple and versatile, as it can be used for both sweet or savoury dishes. So Sour Cream Pastry it is. Only three ingredients. Simple. Another tick.

Ingredients

• 1 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
• 200g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
• 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream
• 125g milk cooking chocolate, roughly chopped
• 2 x 50g Bounty bars, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup thickened cream
• cocoa powder, to serve
• strawberry for garnish (optional)

Method

Place chocolate and Bounty bars into a small heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a large metal spoon, until melted and well combined. Remove from heat. Stir in cream. Place mixture into a bowl. Cover. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or until firm and thick.

For the pastry, process flour and butter using pulse button until the mixture resembles very rough breadcrumbs. Add ¼ cup of the sour cream and continue to pulse, adding rest of the sour cream if needed to bring dough together enough to feel it beginning to become a ball in the processor. Press the dough quickly and gently into a rectangle. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Roll dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 sheets of baking paper until 4mm thick. Cut out six rounds to fit into 10 cm tart tins. Refrigerate for 20 minutes or until firm.

Preheat oven to moderately hot (200°C/180°C fan-forced). Place aluminium foil and pastry weights into tart shells, and cook for about 12 minutes. The pastry will be flaky and about 2/3 of the way cooked. Remove foil and weights and cook for another few minutes until golden. With a clean tea towel, gently flatten pastry down whilst still hot, and then allow to cool.

Spoon chocolate mixture into pastry cases. Sprinkle with cocoa and pop a strawberry on top. Serve.

Slice of heaven

Round #17 of Hay Hay it's Donna Day closes today, with Joey from 80 breakfasts choosing the theme of pizza. My family thanks you, Joey. They rarely have pizza for a Saturday lunch, and if they do, it's normally left overs from Friday night, a la cardboard.

Pizza's are a passion of mine. I'm forever searching for that elusive crust, that OMG crust, that crust that is forever memorable. Well today I think I found just that crust. I normally like to rest the dough overnight in the fridge for a flavour boost, but this crust doesn't need that, plus I wasn't that organised. More importantly, the preparation time needs to be minimal, considering the record time in which the final product is demolished, I mean devoured.

Here is my take on a Pizza Margherita, named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, and is supposed to have all of the colours of the Italian flag. Bit like the Caprese salad...hmmm Caprese Pizza maybe?


Pizza Dough

1 1/4 tsp yeast
1 cup (8 oz) water at room temperature
1 3/4 cup (14 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface and peel
1 cup (8 oz) cake flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar

I just plonk all of the ingredients into my KitchenAid and mix for about 7-8 minutes.
Turn dough out into an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled.
I never roll the dough, I just poke my fingers gently into it until it reaches the desired shape.
Heat oven to 450 degrees F or as hot as it will go.

Topping

4 large, ripe and juicy tomatoes, diced
2 cloves of minced garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
Bocconcini (or you could use sliced mozarella)
Grated parmesan
Extra olive oil for drizzling
Basil leaves

Finely chop the tomatoes, add garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, and marinate for at least 30 minutes. Drain tomatoes, add to pizza dough, add sliced bocconcini or mozarella, grate parmesan cheese over the top and cook in oven until crust is browned on the bottom, and cheese is bubbly.
Place basil chiffonade on top and drizzle with more olive oil.

Slice and enjoy

And have a great Australian Day to all the Aussies out there!

Hay Hay it's Donna Day Terrines

Tammy, from Running With Tweezers is the host for this month's HHDD, an event born over at Winosandfoodies, and she has chosen terrines. Tammy is an old hand at hosting this event, as she has won it three times now! Her recipes are absolutely stunning.

My first instinct, when I read what the theme is going to be, was to phone Mum and ask her how she used to make brawn, but suddenly I had a nightmare-ish image return to me from my childhood, of a plate in the fridge, sporting an hideous cow's tongue being squashed under a brick. Big, purple and full of pimples.....just revolting. I protested, saying "who knows where THAT'S been?". After that discovery, I never ate brawn again, even though I must admit that it was delicious. I think that was the very moment I vowed I would never eat offal of any sort.

So, being the considerate person I am, I decided not to put my own family through such a scary ordeal, and I've turned my thoughts to Christmas instead.

Christmas in Australia has turned from the traditional roast turkey to seafoods and BBQ's. Because our weather on the 25th December can be extremely hot, who wants to spend all morning over a hot stove and oven? Then again, I can recently recall that we had to light a fire one year, whilst bushfires were raging around the country. Nothing is predictable for Christmas Day.


This terrine is called a festive terrine, adapted from Delicious magazine, December 2005. It's an ideal alternative to a hot plum pudding, without forsaking the traditional dish completely. As nobody in this house is a big fan of glace cherries, I substituted dried strawberries and blueberries.

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 180g caster sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 900ml thickened cream
• 200g Christmas pudding, crumbled
• 1/2 cup dried strawberries
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
• Silver cachous, to serve

Method

1. Line a 1.5-litre terrine with plastic wrap, leaving some overhanging to cover top.
2. Place sugar in a saucepan with 2 tablespoons cold water over low heat. Stir, with a wooden spoon, until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and cook for 5 minutes, without stirring, but brushing down sides of pan occasionally with a damp pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals forming. Be careful the syrup doesn't darken. Allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer, beat egg yolks until doubled in volume. Beating continuously, slowly add sugar syrup and continue to beat until cool.
4. Lightly whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold half the whipped cream with the crumbled pudding and half with the egg mixture. Using a metal spoon, carefully fold the two whipped-cream mixtures together with the strawberries, blueberries and pistachios. Spread the mixture into the terrine mould, pressing down well, then cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer overnight.
5. When ready to serve, remove the terrine, invert onto a platter and top with silver cachous.

Notes & tips

• Begin this recipe the day before.

Hay Hay its Donna Day #15

When I announced that I was going to make a tart today, my husband, who is notorious for having selective deafness, pricked his ears up immediately. He thought I said "I'm going to be a tart today". When I explained that I was making a tart for Hay Hay it's Donna Day, an event founded by Barbara at WinosandFoodies, he seemed quite disgruntled and went back to reading the paper with a profound look of disappointment on his face.

Trinigourmet, the winner of the last challenge with her faboulous knock your socks off gnocchi, has chosen sweet or savoury tarts as the theme for this month.

Tarts scare me however. I have yet to make a decent pastry without it crumbling before my eyes. Therefore I steer away from home-made pastry recipes. That is, up until now.

I FINALLY MADE A DECENT PASTRY AT LAST. I love these challenge events. It allows me to (a) go and buy a new longed for gadget, (b) try to learn new methods and techniques and (c) persist until I get things right or (d) completely abandon, abort, give up.

Option (d) was my initial thought with this challenge, however option (c) kept jumping into my head. And I've heard people swear, that any idiot can make pastry in a food processor. As I already have a food processor, option (a) sadly never got a look in. So with option (b) and (c) as the plan, with fingers crossed, a Chervil and Egg Custard Tart with Tomato and Capsicum Salsa was hopefully about to be born.

Voila!

The pastry was a cinch. All these years I've been avoiding it, and suddenly one time, everything turns out as it's supposed to.

Ingredients (serves 6)
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped chervil sprigs (you could use parsley if chervil is unavailable)
• 3 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 cup (185ml) pure (thin) cream
• Pastry
• 1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour
• 125g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 egg
• Tomato & capsicum salsa
• 1 small red capsicum, finely chopped (I used bought chargrilled capsicum)
• 1/4 cup semi-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbs salted capers, rinsed, drained
Method
1. For the pastry, process flour and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg, 1 tablespoon chilled water and 1/2 tsp sea salt and process until it comes together to form a smooth ball. Press pastry into a disc, enclose in plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes. Roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured surface until 2-3mm thick, then use to line a 12cm x 35cm rectangular loose-bottomed tart pan. Prick base with a fork and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove paper and weights or rice and bake for a further 5-8 minutes until the base is dry and pastry is golden.
3. Reduce oven to 170°C. Scatter chervil over tart base. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and extra yolk, then stir in the cream and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over chervil and bake for 20-25 minutes until custard is just set. Cool to room temperature in the pan.
4. Meanwhile, for the salsa, toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. Top the tart with salsa, then slice and serve.

And just to prove that it wasn't a fluke, I made this one from Donna Hay's cookbook, Modern Classics Book 2. I'm unstoppable now. Thanks Trini for allowing me to find my inner tart!

Gnock, gnock, gnockin' on heavens door

Lynnylu from Cafe Lynnylu is this month's host of Hay Hay It's Donna Day #14, and she has chosen gnocchi as this month's theme ingredient.

I've only made gnocchi once before, and although I was quite proud of myself, it tasted like the old home made "glue" we used to make as kids, referred to as "clag", which was just a mixture of flour and water. So when Linnylu decided gnocchi was the theme, I thought now is my chance to try again.

This time, however, I went for a ricotta based gnocchi, based on this recipe from Jaden's steamy kitchen. I'm not sure if it was the mouth watering picture that drew me like a magnet, or Jaden's hilarious explanation of how she learnt to cook. Either way, I had great fun making it, and the family (minus my recently converted vegan daughter) devoured them off the plate. So what was supposed to be a "light" meal, turned into an entree for three. Kudos to Jorj, who adores gnocchi and who used to demolish a wheel of brie or camembert in record time....she never had a single one of these luscious little pillows.

Pan-Fried Lemon-Ricotta Gnocchi

1 cup	whole milk ricotta
1/2 cup	freshly grated parmegiano reggiano (plus extra reserved for garnishing) (I used parmesan)
1 large	egg yolk
1 tsp	lemon zest (use a microplane grater) (plus extra reserved for garnishing)
1 tsp	kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp table salt) (I only had sea salt so used a good pinch of that)
3/4 cup	all purpose flour, sifted
1 tblsp	chopped parsley (plus extra reserved for garnishing)
1/2 tsp	finely minced chilli (or red pepper flakes) - adjust chilli based on your tastes
2 tblsp	clarified butter (or just butter, but the clarified butter works much better) (I used Ghee, which of course is clarifed butter)
1 tblsp	olive oil

Method
1. Combine ricotta, parmegiano, yolk, zest and salt in large bowl. Mix well. Sprinkle half of the flour on the mixture, gently turn with spatula a few times to incorporate. Dump mixture on clean, lightly floured countertop. Sprinkle remaining flour on top of the mixture. Gently knead with your fingertips, just bringing together the mixture until flour is incorporated through. This only should take a minute or two. Any longer and you will be over-kneading. *If you are using skim milk ricotta - you may have to use more flour, as there is more water content in skim ricotta.
2. Divide dough into 4 parts. Take one part and roll into a long, 1" diameter log. Cut gnocchi into 1" pieces. You may use your wooden doobie-bopper or tines of a fork to get those pretty grooves that will eventually disappear after frying anyways. (I happened to find a "doobie-bopper" at the local trash and treasure market last weekend. I'm pretty sure it's what's known as a butter pat, for making homemade butter, but I now call it my gnocchi groover)

3. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add butter and olive oil. when butter is just lightly browned, add gnocchi in single layer. Fry on one side for 2 minutes, flip. Add chilli. Fry other side for 1-2 minutes. Timing really depends on how big/thick your gnocchi is. Do a taste test - do you taste flour? Not done yet. Serve with a sprinkling of lemon zest, parmegiano and parsley.

GNT Sorbet

My all time favourite summer "slurp" would be a cool, refreshing gin and tonic, with a dash of lemon. It is a pique to the tastebuds.

So, what better way to have your sweets and drink it too, than a GNT sorbet? This is my entry into Hay Hay it's Donna Day for this month, hosted by Laura at Eat Drink Live. I've never made sorbet before, so this event was a great excuse for me to run out and buy an ice cream machine, that I had been secretly yearning for ;) As well as some new sundae bowls..oh, and a new ice cream scoop..ssshhh, don't tell my husband!

400ml cold water
300g caster sugar
300ml tonic water
50-60 ml gin
juice of 2 lemons
1tbsp glucose (this stops it from forming icy granules)

1. Put the sugar and water into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.
2. Add glucose and tonic water, chill in fridge until cold.
3. When cold add the gin and lemon juice to taste. NB: don't be tempted to add too much gin because when it is frozen the flavour intensifies.
4. Transfer to an ice cream machine and churn until set. Freeze for at least 2 hours after churning, then it is ready to slurp, I mean serve.

Seize the salad

I think it's time I dipped my big toe into the pool of blogging events. There are so many going on each week or month, that to be involved in merely half of them, I would have to give up my day job or even worse, heaven forbid, my social life.

Hay Hay it's Donna Day this month is hosted by Katie of Other Peoples Food and the theme is Caesar's salad. Even though we are staring Winter down the barrel here, a Caesar is always welcome at any time of the year.

My eldest daughter especially loves a Chicken Caesar salad, which she orders everytime we eat out at a restaurant...except she specifies "no bacon, no egg and definitely no anchovies"! The waiter/waitress usually raises their eyebrows at this request, so I put them at ease and say "just a chicken and lettuce salad please" $27 for a plate of lettuce, a few morsels of chicken and a couple of croutons...ouch.

Here is my version, with a few minor alterations to the original, depending on what ingredients I have on hand

CAESAR SALAD

3 eggs
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 anchovy fillets (I use the ones in tins covered in oil...there isn't much more than 3 in the tin)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
185 ml (3/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
3 slices of white bread (I didn't have any so sliced up one of these* that I had in the freezer)
20 g butter
1 tablespoon oil (extra)
3 rashers of bacon (I used prosciutto instead)
Cos lettuce leaves (I only had a butter lettuce on hand, not as crispy as the Cos sadly)
75 g (3/4 cup) shaved Parmesan cheese

Process the eggs, garlic, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and mustard in a food processor until smooth. With motor running, add the oil in a thin, consistent stream until a creamy dressing is produced. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Cut the crusts of the bread (in my case, slice it first), then cut into cubes. Heat the butter and extra oil in frypan over medium heat, add the bread and cook till golden, then remove from the pan. Add the bacon (or prosciutto) to same pan and cook until crispy, then break into bite size pieces.

Toss the lettuce leaves with the dressing, then stir through the bacon and croutons, topped with parmesan cheese.

* Marie from Breadbasketcase made the same loaves last weekend, and was clever enough to take a photo of hers. However her photo links are down at the moment, but should hopefully be back soon. My kids call this snail bread.