The Baker & The Curry Maker

Goodbye from Liz too...

2009-09-15T12:48:00.000+09:30

I will be leaving BCM also but I must say it has been so much fun doing this blog with Sathya for the last few years.

I will be moving to http://www.coupleskitchen.blogspot.com/ with my parter and Sous Chef Jared.

Come check us out sometime...

E.

Farewell

2009-09-14T16:06:00.000+09:30

Dearest BCM fans,

Sathya here, I just wanted to let you know, I have decided to move onto a blog of my very own - "Sathya's Kitchen Adventures". I have shared this wonderfull blog with my dear friend Liz for years, but want to have a fresh start and try a few different things on my own. If you want to share my journey, please add me to your favourites list, RSS feeds, etc on http://sathyaskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/"

Thai Pork Balls

2009-09-13T07:42:00.009+09:30

These little beauties are delicious. It's one of Jared's recipes that he just pulled out of nowhere. He didn't have a recipe, he just threw different flavours together, which is a skill I'm slowly learning. I'm always a stickler for wanting a recipe to follow. We made these on a Saturday afternoon when I had a huge craving for McDonald's and the last thing I wanted was a healthy Asian dish. But in the end I ate nine balls!! And the next day we flattened down the 3 that were left over and turned them into hamburgers with a big crusty roll, some rocket and the dipping sauce. We gave my mum the recipe to try and its now one of her regular dishes.

The dipping sauce can be made up of your favourite Asian style sauces but we are completely addicted to the sauces made by the Lloyd Brothers and always try to use them. Here's their website: www.lloydbrothers.com.au

Pork Balls
1kg pork mince
Spring Onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 chilis, chopped
zest & juice of one lemon (lime if you have it)
1.5 teaspoons minced lemongrass
2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 egg
1 bunch of coriander chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
S&P

Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/2 cup Wild Lime Chili & Ginger Sauce
1/4 cup Spicy BBQ Sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Mix all the above ingredients together and roll into balls (or hamburgers). Cover with glad wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Cook over medium heat until golden brown. Sprinkle with some left over coriander. Serve with the dipping sauce and some rice on the side. If you have made them into hamburgers, serve with your favourite roll, fresh rocket and some dipping sauce.

E.

Honey-baked Pumpkin Risotto

2009-08-31T10:00:00.004+09:30

Sounds good right? Looks nice as well, don't you think?

Well don't be fooled like I was, it was terrible. Actually, terrible might be too strong. It was bad. The combination of the mascarpone, ginger, parsley and honey did not work for me at all. As I've said here before, its always a disappointment when you go to some extra effort for dinner, then when you take that first hopeful mouthful you think, hmm not what I expected. Then the second and you realise yuk, its not good, I just waited time, money and calories.

I did that recently with this. We were off to a friends for a big birthday gathering and I announced I would bring nibbles as I made the yummiest dip. Sarah, the host, was disappointed when I turned up with 2 containers of store bought dip and some crackers as I had talked this cucumber and feta dip UP!

Funny how you look around a while later and see everyone's devoured the store bought crap and doesn't even know how you spent all morning peeling and chopping and soaking and mixing for them only to stick your little finger in at the end to check the seasoning and realise with enormous dread that somehow a cup of salt must have fallen in there or something! It was so ridiculously salty I needed a gallon of water after a tiny taste!

Anyway, back to this risotto. I found it on Taste and loved the sound of it, only to be sorely disappointed.

900g pumpkin, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
1/2 tbs honey, plus extra to drizzle
850ml vegetable stock
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2cm piece ginger, grated
1 cup (220g) arborio rice
2/3 cup (160ml) white wine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
2 tbs mascarpone, plus extra to serve

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Lay pumpkin in an even layer on a large baking tray and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon of honey, tossing well to coat each piece. Roast for a further 15 minutes until cooked and golden.

Place stock in a saucepan and keep at a simmer over low heat.

Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-based pan over low heat. Add onion and stir for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add celery and cook for 1 minute, then add ginger and rice and cook for a further minute, stirring to coat grains. Increase heat to medium-low, add wine and cook until absorbed. Add stock a ladleful at a time, allowing each to be absorbed before adding the next. Continue for 15 minutes or until rice is cooked but still firm to the bite. Add lemon juice, pumpkin and parsley. Season, then stir in mascarpone.

Serve with a dollop of mascarpone, a drizzle of honey and extra parsley.

Sathya-rating *

Banana Cake

2009-08-24T07:39:00.005+09:30

I bought a new camera recently. A DSLR and am trying to learn how to use it. I'm really enjoying all the new things I can do and am working out the best time of day as well as the best spots in the house for the right light etc.

One of the best spots is at the back of the house where the sun directly hits. I wandered out there recently to try and get a good shot of this delicious cake. I spread out a table cloth and got started. After a while I noticed our cat, Kurty had joined me as you can see here.

I continued to take photos and trying all the different tricks I've been learning and reading about. I'm not very good yet, hopefully I'll get there. The funny thing about Kurty is he's never been interested in our food. Only his fish. So you can imagine it's taken us by surprise to find him getting into food we've left out. This has never been a problem before so we're quickly learning we have to put everything away. I never thought he'd get into banana cake, but as you can see here he gave it a red hot go!

This delicious banana cake came from The LA Times, and is a recipe from The Clementine Bakery which shares their secret is using pastry flour. I stumbled across this recipe at Amateur Gourmet who says its his "dream cake". I must agree its fantastic!

2 2/3 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 large or 4 small very ripe bananas
3 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

frosting:
1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Into a large bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, mash the bananas. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, until each is completely incorporated, then mix in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Finally, mix the dry ingredients into the batter just until thoroughly combined.

Pour into a 9-by-13-inch greased pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden-brown on top, a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool on a rack.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and there are no lumps. Add the butter and whip until incorporated, then add the powdered sugar and the sour cream. Frost the top of the cooled cake, then slice and serve.

Sathya-rating *****

Peppermint Slice

2009-08-23T16:50:00.007+09:30

Jared and I went to Clare to stay with my parents for the weekend. Mum had a cookbook of Blue Ribbon Winning recipes! The prize winner from every country town in South Australia had featured. I chose the Blue Ribbon Peppermint Slice to recreate. And it tastes sensational. I can see why it received first place. I gave Jared a piece on the drive home from Clare and he said, "in all seriousness, this is quite possibly the best slice I've ever eaten!" I cant help but agree.

Since making the slice and deciding to buy the cookbook I found it in I have discovered the author has her own blog! The Blue Ribbon Cookbook. Check it out!

I also brought the slice to work and fed it to a friend of Jared's and this is the feedback I received: "have just eaten the slice. However the word eaten really doesn’t sum it up. It was more of a whole cuisine experience or a culinary journey. For god sake don’t ever make it again as Jared can’t possibly exercise more than he already does and he will make Jabba the hut look like a supermodel after 6 months of that. Of course I’ll be running again soon and could probably get away with a piece that size every 3rd day. Thanks".

I had to double the filling and I also used 75g more chocolate than in the recipe. The recipe below is what I did.

Base
125g butter
200ml sweetened condensed milk
250g milk biscuits
1 rounded tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 cup desiccated coconut

Filling
2 cups icing sugar mixture
80g butter melted
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon peppermint essence
3 drops green food colouring (optional)

Topping
200g dark cooking chocolate
30g copha

To make the base, melt the butter and condensed milk in a saucepan. Crush the biscuits and mix with the cocoa and coconut. Pour over the butter and condensed milk mixture and mix well. Press the mixture into a slice pan (about 20 x 30cm) lined with baking paper. Place in the fridge and chill well for an hour.

To make the filling mix together the icing sugar, butter, milk, peppermint and food colouring. Spread evenly over the chilled biscuits mixture and put it back into the fridge to set.

To make the topping, melt together the chocolate and copha. Spread the chocolate evenly over the filling and allow it to set before cutting the slice into squares.

E.

Can you see that cinnamon stick? And the cummin seeds? And the gorgeous juicy dates in amongst all that delicious goodness? Oh yeah, this is a lovely dish.

My sister, Sal and her boyfriend, Liam came over for dinner recently. It was hard to know what to prepare as Sal is vegetarian, and a fussy vegetarian at that and Liam is a big time meat eater. Like any real Aussie male. I've really enjoyed cooking lately and am trying lots of different ingredients and techniques. We never had stews when I was a kid so its a new thing for me. I made a beef stew for the boys and this yummy vegetable tagine (from taste.com.au) for Sal and I all served with mashed potatoes.

It's quite a sweet subtle flavour so its very different from dishes that usually come out of my kitchen but I enjoyed it.

2 tsp olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, cut into wedges
2 carrots, peeled, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground paprika
1 cinnamon stick
Large pinch of saffron threads
375ml (1 1/2 cups) vegetable stock
650g butternut pumpkin, deseeded, peeled, coarsely chopped
250g green beans, topped, cut into 6cm lengths
100g dried apricots
100g fresh dates, halved, pitted
1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
2 tsp finely grated lemon rind

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the carrot, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, paprika, cinnamon and saffron and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until aromatic.

Add stock and bring to the boil. Add the pumpkin, beans and apricots. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Add dates, chickpeas and lemon rind and stir to combine.

Sathya-rating ***

Tunesy Morns

2009-07-30T20:41:00.003+09:30

I never ate seafood growing up. Even now I only eat whiting. But I ALWAYS ate Tunesy Morns. Our family lived for it. I always stared through the oven door at the golden crust on the top asking mum "is it ready yet? Is it ready yet?". I love my tunesy morns.

When Jared and I first started dating I cooked it for him one night and he hadn't eaten it since his mum made it for him as a boy. He was well excited - and to top things off, he says my Tunesy Morns is the best he's ever had!! I've never shown him how to make it because that way he'll never leave me!

I have however, shared it with both of our neighbours and we all enjoy tunesy morns evenings regularly.

70g butter
4 heaped dessert spoons plain flour
1 litre milk
2 x 400g cans corn kernels
2 x 425g cans tuna in brine/springwater
Breadcrumbs
Grated cheddar
Freshly grated parmesan
S&P
Lemon

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once it starts to sizzle, add the flour and using a whisk, stir it around and let it sizzle for at least three minutes.
Take the pan off the heat and pour in half the milk. Whisk quickly to remove lumps. Add the rest of the milk and return to the hotplate. Bring the milk to the boil, stirring occasionally.

Once the sauce begins to bubble add the drained corn and tuna. Stir well and add S&P to taste. Wait until it begins to bubble again and pour into a ceramic dish. Cover the top with the grated cheese and parmesan. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top of the cheese.

Cook in the oven for at least half an hour, or until it is brown to your liking. Serve with a squeeze of lemon.

E.

Dengaku Tofu

2009-07-27T11:39:00.005+09:30

I love tofu. I'm not ashamed to admit it. For many reasons, its so versatile and delicious when you add good flavourings to it. I know many people out there hate it, if so, then go to the next post.

This little recipe comes from Serious Eats, an interesting place I regularly hang out. I liked the sound of it and it sounded healthy, all I needed was some tofu and off we went.

It was a tasty and healthy meal but it was a fair bit of work for something that wasn't amazing. The flavour wasn't great. I needed chilli paste when I was eating it. I like the idea of painting a yummy sauce all over tofu and grilling it though, so although I won't make exactly this again, I will make something similar and make it my own.

One block of firm tofu
1/3 cup of a miso paste
2 eggs yolks
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons dashi, or water

Toppings (optional):

Sesame seeds
Grated lemon

To make the miso sauce: put a bowl on top of a pan of simmering water, or use a double boiler if you have one. Put the miso in the bowl along with the egg yolks, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Over the simmering water, gradually add the dashi. Stir until thick, and adjust seasonings to taste if needed. At the last moment, some lemon rind if you like.

To prepare the tofu: Remove the tofu as a block from its packaging, and set it on a chopping board. Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel. Weigh the block of tofu down with something heavy.

Cut tofu into 2-inch blocks and lay on a tray and put under a hot grill it is browned and the tofu is heated through.

Remove generously lather one side with the miso sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and place back under the grill for one or two minutes, until the topping is browned. Serve immediately.

Sathya-rating ***

Soy Chicken

2009-07-22T11:15:00.003+09:30

I have a little something to tell you but I don't have a photo so you'll have to use your imagination. I'm hoping I can portray the deliciousness and ease with my words. I don't know if I can do it, but here goes.

I'm not sure where or when this started for me, but someone somewhere in my universe mentioned soy chicken. It may have been a blog, it may have been in a magazine, maybe it was a friend or someone I was eaves dropping on at my local coffee hang out (I know, I'm pathetic, I'll do anything for some adult conversation lately. Including going to a coffee shop with Austen, parking myself next to the most interesting looking people and listening in to what they're chatting about).

Anyway I Googled 'Chinese Soy Chicken' and this video came up. I fell in love with the lady who commentates the recipe while her her son pesters her in the background. Its gorgeous.

I noted down what I needed and found myself making it for friends a few nights later.

I had gone to the Adelaide Central Markets and gathered everything I needed hoping to make it for our fortnightly visitor Nikolas but it didn't happen so when my dear friend Hannah said she was coming to see Austen and I, I said, stay for dinner and whipped this up. We all loved it! I thought I'd made far too much but we demolished it with steamed broccoli tossed in oyster sauce and minced garlic. The chicken is tender and sticky and tasty and crunchy has no skin or fat left on it after the cooking process so it is wonderfully healthy, which I need at the moment (damn baby weight).

Hey, if just one of you out there makes it then I will have succeeded.

2kg chicken drumsticks
2-3 tbs miso paste
big bottle of soy sauce (I have no idea how much I used probably 1 to 2 cups)
2 tsp chinese five spice
fresh ginger, roughly chopped (I think I used about a 2 cm piece)
quite a few twists of the pepper grinder

Add all the ingredients together except the chicken in a large pot and stir to make a paste. Add the drumsticks and cover with water and more soy sauce so the water is quite black. Stir thoroughly. Place on the stove and bring to the boil. Once it is boiling, turn it down to a low simmer and cover.

After 30 minutes, turn the oven onto 180C and remove the chicken from the pot and place into baking dish.

Roast the chicken drumsticks in the oven for 20-30 minutes, remove from the oven and serve with streamed greens.

Sathya-rating ****

Chocolate Brownies

2009-07-19T17:43:00.004+09:30

This is a Jamie Oliver recipe for brownies that are on the dessert menu at Fifteen. They look amazing in his cook book so I baked them on a cold Sunday afternoon as dessert after a Roast Lamb lunch.

When they first came out I thought they were a failure because I'd taken them out too early. The entire centre was still really runny. It was more like a runny pudding when we ate it. I was so disappointed, although the flavour was UNREAL. I left them out over night and in the morning it had set! Exactly the way it was supposed to. I had perfect chocolate brownies. The entire tray was eaten within hours. I'll absolutely be baking these again. Such a decadent, moreish treat. And the orange zested creme fraiche was a sensational addition and created such a good balance between the rich chocolate and zesty sour tasting cream.

250g unsalted butter
200g best-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids) broken up
150g chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts)
80g coco powder
65g plain flour sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
350g caster sugar
4 large eggs
zest of one orange
250ml creme fraiche

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line a 30cm rectangular baking tin with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the nuts. In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray; and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don't want to overcook them so, you don't want a skewer to come out clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle. Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche mixed with some orange zest.

E.

Raspberry Cheesecake

2009-07-18T16:14:00.004+09:30

Recently we had a 'family weekend'. In Holland (where my family is from) this a a normal yearly occurrence with most families. Everyone goes away together for the weekend, we play games, watch movies, go for walks, cook, etc. Sometimes I love it, sometimes not so much. This family weekend was the first one in a long time and was great. We went to Victor Harbour, about an hour and half out of Adelaide and had a gorgeous penthouse apartment overlooking the ocean for 3 nights. The weather was terrible so we spent a lot of time in the apartment whale watching from the balcony. My parents were incredibly disappointed to return one afternoon and hear that we had spotted whales and they hadn't, while they had gone especially looking for them!

The deal was that my parents paid for the accommodation and my sisters and I looked after the food. As you can imagine, we ate like kings! The highlight was a raspberry baked cheesecake which I found on cuisine.com.au and is by Stephanie Alexander and is simply titled "Best-ever Cheesecake". Let me tell you, it was! Oh my Lordy! I studded raspberries on the top and made a coulis and it was amazing. Honestly one of the best things I've ever made or eaten!

100g butter, melted
300g wheatmeal biscuits
500g cream cheese, at room temperature
200g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
3 eggs
2 tbsp lemon juice
few drops pure vanilla, or vanilla extract to taste
pinch of salt
2 cups sour cream
200 grams of raspberries

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Brush the base and sides of a 22cm x 6cm deep springform tin with a little of the melted butter. Remove the base from the tin.

Cut a round of baking paper to fit the base of the tin, brush the paper with a little butter and set aside.

Tear off an 80cm sheet of foil and double it over so it measures 40cm in length. Lay the foil over the base of the tin, then put the buttered round of paper on top. Sit the springform tin over the base and lock the sides into place, leaving excess foil outside the tin. Draw up the excess foil around the tin and fold the top out of the way. You now have a watertight container.

Crush the biscuits in a food processor. Add the remaining butter and process. Press the crumb mixture into the base of the tin, tapping firmly with the base of a glass tumbler or similar as you go.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the cornflour, then add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating each time just until smooth. Add the lemon juice, vanilla and salt. Add the sour cream and beat briefly to combine. Pour the batter into the tin, sprinkle with raspeberries (pushing some into the mix) and stand the tin in a large baking dish. Pour boiling water into the dish to come halfway up the sides of the tin. Bake for 50 minutes, then turn off the oven but do not open the door for a further hour.

Lift the tin from the water bath and flatten the foil away from the sides just in case there is any water trapped inside. Cool completely in the tin on a wire rack and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.

Sathya-rating *****

Chicken Korma

2009-07-12T12:30:00.003+09:30

I won a copy of Jamie Oliver's Ministry Of Food cookbook. It really does have some fantastic recipes in it and they're never difficult because they were designed for those of us who have never really cooked.

I've heard many people say that Jamie Oliver's Chicken Korma recipe is bland and not that great - but after some investigating and reading a few forums I think it's actually his original, fancy recipe that people dislike; because this Ministry of Food Chicken Korma is DELICIOUS. Jared and I have cooked it and recooked it several times and it never lets us down.

800g skinless and boneless chicken thighs
2 medium onions
1 fresh red chili
1 thumb sized piece of fresh root ginger
1 small bunch of fresh coriander
olive oil
a knob of butter
290g jar of Patak's korma curry paste
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
1 x 400g tin chickpeas
2 heaped tablespoons desiccated coconut
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500g natural yogurt
1 lemon

Cut the chicken into approximately 3cm pieces. Peel, half and chop your onions. Halved and finely slice the chili. Peel and finely chop the ginger. Pick the coriander leaves and finely chop the stalks. Drain the chickpeas.

Put a large casserole type pan on a high heat and add a couple of glugs of oil. Put the chicken thighs into the pan and brown lightly on all sides for five minutes. Push the chicken to one side of the pan. Stir in the onions, chili, ginger and coriander stalks with the butter. Keep stirring it enough so it doesn't catch and burn but turns lovely golden. Cook for around ten minutes. Add the korma curry paste, coconut milk, the drained chickpeas and dessicated coconut. Half fill the empty tin with water, pour into the pan and stir again. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 mitues with the lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it isn't drying out. Add a little extra water if necessary. Remove the lid and cook down at a simmering heat for another 25 mins. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Serve with rice. Add a few spoonfuls of natural yoghurt and scattered coriander leaves. Service with lemon wedges for spooning over.

E.

Shepherds Pie

2009-06-08T21:22:00.003+09:30

Every second week the gorgeous Nikolas comes to hang out with his Dad. I enjoy spoiling him and introducing new things into his little world. Nik hadn't had crumpets for example and they are now his favourite.

Dinner is a little tough, he's a fussy eater so I am always searching for inspiration of what to cook. Shepherds Pie never fails however. Nik and his Dad love it. The crispy comforting mash potato and the meat filling served piping hot is such a wonderful winter meal. This recipe from www.taste.com.au is easy and perfect if you ask the three of us!

1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, halved, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, trimmed, finely chopped
500g lamb mince
2 tbs plain flour or gravy powder
500ml (2 cups) beef stock
1 dried bay leaf
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 tbs tomato paste
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
8 desiree potatoes, peeled, chopped
40g butter
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
Melted butter, to brush

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add beef mince and cook, stirring to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until lamb changes colour.

Add the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until combined. Add stock, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until sauce thickens. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile: cook potato in a saucepan of salted boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well. Return to the pan with the butter. Use a potato masher or fork to mash until smooth. Add milk and use a wooden spoon to stir until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Spoon meat mixture into a 2L (8-cup) capacity ovenproof baking dish. Top with mashed potato and use a fork to spread over meat mixture. Brush with butter. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until mashed potato is golden brown. Serve immediately

Sathya-rating ****

Lucious Lemon Cake

2009-06-01T17:23:00.005+09:30

I stumbled across this gorgeous coconut cake and decided to make it for an after dinner treat with the lovely Liz. I've been getting a little bored at home and enjoying being back in the kitchen so was excited to see how this cake would turn out, because Julie over at 'Dinner with Julie' made it look and sound delicious.

A few minutes into the process I realised I was screwed. I didn't have coconut extract. I did however have a few lemons in the fruit bowl so I mixed things up and used lemon zest and juice as the flavor for the cake and frosting. I'm glad I did, and so was Liz, cos it was perfect. Everything came together nicely and a delicious cake was enjoyed. Liz took a few pieces home for her and her new man and ate both of them, so it must have been good!

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 1/4 cups milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spray two 8” or 9” round cake pans or one 9”x 13” pan with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a larger bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer for about half a minute, until it’s pale and creamy. Pour in the sugar and continue to beat for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, and adding the lemon juice and zest along the way. Scrape down the sides of the bowl whenever it needs it.

Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir it in by hand or with the electric mixer on low speed, just until it’s combined. Add about half the milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the flour, mixing just until the batter is blended.

Divide the batter between the greased cake pans and tap the bottoms a few times on the countertop to remove any air bubbles. To prevent a domed top, spread the top of the batter with a spatula, creating a slight dent in the middle and a raised edge. This compensates for the way a cake tends to rise higher in the middle.

Bake for 30-35 minutes for round layers or 40-45 minutes for a 9-x 13-inch cake, until golden, the edges are pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the tops are springy to the touch. Let them cool for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pans and inverting them onto a wire rack. Cool completely before you frost them.

Lemon Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
3 cups icing sugar

In a medium bowl, beat the butter and extract with an electric mixer until creamy. Add about a third each of the icing sugar and milk; beat and continue to add each until you have a spreadable frosting. Makes enough for 1 cake or a batch of cupcakes.

Sathya-rating ****

All Day Breakfast

2009-05-31T09:16:00.003+09:30

Jared is golf obsessed. He plays several times a week and really is exceptionally good at it! I like to feed him a big hearty breakfast Sunday mornings before he heads off to the golfcourse for his day of comp golf.

Laura taught me this recipe. I once slept at her place and woke up to this for breakfast! I think I probably had too many wines the evening before so this would have put the fire out for sure!

I've been making it ever since and Jared is a massive fan of it!

8 rashers of short cut bacon chopped
2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped spring onion
5 eggs
1 dessertspoon butter
S&P
50ml milk
1/2 cup parsley finely chopped
Worchestershire sauce (or your fav breakfast sauce)
Toast

Chop the bacon into small squares and fry in a frypan. Meanwhile chop up the tomato and spring onion.

Whisk together the egg, milk, butter and half the parsley to prepare to scramble the eggs. Season to taste.

Add the tomato and spring onion to the bacon once the bacon is crisping up. Scramble the eggs.

Make the toast. Spread with butter. Arrange the scrambled eggs on the toast and top with the bacon, tomato and onion mix. Sprinkle with left over parsley. Season with salt and pepper and as much Worchestershire as you like.

Serves 2

E.

I'm Back! With Spinach & Ricotta Dip

2009-05-30T14:00:00.009+09:30

It has been 20 long months since I posted on the Baker & the Curry Maker and a lot has happened in that time! I have a perfect new man, a funky new home, a new exciting job and a brave new hairstyle plus a few new gorgeous friends. I've been itching to get back into the blogging lately. I almost made it back last weekend with a lemon slice but I was staying at my parents place in Clare and didn't have my camera. And so this is my returning recipe.... Spinach and Ricotta Dip.

I've had this at morning teas at work a few times and I actually get frustrated when staff bring it along. I want to pick it up and take it back to my desk where I can devour it all myself. This week another pesky staff member brought it in and I decided to make one all of my own today so I can sit in the comfort of my lounge room and inhale it. I so badly didn't want to share with my boyfriend that I made him one all of his own also!

It's simple and always a hit!

300g Ricotta
500g Frozen chopped spinach
100g Danish Feta
300g Sour Cream
1/3 cup chopped chives
30g Spring Vegetable Soup Mix
Freshly Ground Pepper
Cob bread

Squeeze and discard all liquid from thawed spinach. Place into a large bowl. Add ricotta, feta and sour cream. Stir until well combined and smooth. Add chives and dried soup. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Mix until well combined.

Using a serrated knife, slice a 3 to 4cm-thick slice off top of loaf. Set aside. Remove soft white bread from centre of loaf to form a bread 'bowl' and use this to scoop out the dip. Spoon spinach and ricotta mixture into loaf. Serve immediately.

E.

Slowcooked Butter Chicken

2009-05-27T19:59:00.002+09:30

I was very lucky to get a slow cooker for my birthday late last year. At the time I was five months pregnant, incredibly nauseous 24 hours a day and not really in the mood to go anywhere near the kitchen. Six months later the weather was much cooler and I had much less time to prepare dinner, what with a new baby and all, and so came my first attempt at using the slowcooker or crockpot as it seems the Americans call them.

I googled my way around the internet and stumbled across Stephanie over at A Year of Crockpotting (who literally used her crockpot for 365 days. Funny that). There are loads of recipes I am looking forward to trying but I started with Butter Chicken. Boy, am I glad I started with Butter Chicken. To be honest, I don't think I have moved away from Butter Chicken yet! I've made it several times and we're all loving it. I wonder how long till we get sick of it. No time soon, I hope because it is so incredibly easy to prepare and very tasty.

(I followed Stephanies recipe, however, I used 2 teaspoons of butter rather than 6 tablespoons and 3 tablespoons of tomato paste rather than a can).

900g boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, sliced
6 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tbs butter
15 cardamom pods
2 tsp curry paste/powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 can coconut milk
3 tbs tomato paste
2 tbs lemon juice
1 cup plain yogurt (to add at the end)

Carefully sew together the cardamom pods using a needle and thread ro put them in a little cheese cloth bundle. Put chicken in crockpot, and add onion, garlic, and all of the spices. Plop in the butter and tomato paste. Add lemon juice and coconut milk and stir. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. The chicken should shred easily when fully cooked.

Stir in the yogurt 15 minutes before serving. Discard cardamom pods. Season to taste and serve with rice.

Sathya-rating *****

Rice pudding

2009-05-16T20:20:00.004+09:30

I don't recall having rice pudding when I was a kid. The first time I had it was maybe a year or two ago when I made chocolate rice pudding (which it seems I didn't blog about). I enjoyed it but never made again. For some reason it popped into my head recently. Probably because I thought it would be easy to prepare, I wouldn't have to leave the house, it does not contain chocolate but would still be comforting.

Yes, poor, poor Sathya cannot have chocolate at the moment. Its devastating! Our gorgeous baby boy screams and screams for two days when I eat chocolate. You know, I think I'm struggling more with no chocolate than no alcohol. Big call I know.

Anyway, enough fantasising about booze and chocolate! I searched the web and found so many different recipes but Deb's (adapted from Gale Gand) over at Smitten Kitchen seemed best as I had everything at hand.

Its perfect. Creamy, sweet and absolutely delicious. I have made it a few times since finding the recipe. You can serve it with any fruit (we really like banana too), here I have served it with dried cranberries.

1/2 cup Arborio rice
4 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 pint raspberries, other berries or dried fruit (optional)

In a large saucepan, place all the ingredients, except the fruit. Bring it to a gentle boil and then turn it down to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom, for about 30 to 40 minutes. Taste the rice to check for doneness. The rice should be very soft and plump.

Take the pudding off the heat and pour into dessert bowls and stir in some fresh raspberries, or other dried or fresh fruit. Serve immediately.

Sathya-rating *****

Pumpkin Cannelloni

2009-05-13T15:08:00.005+09:30

For Mothers Day this year we decided to spoil Mum by cooking her a nice lunch. Straight away I knew what we should make, and thankfully my sister Sal agreed.

We went to the Adelaide Central Markets on Saturday and got all the ingredients. Sal roasted the pumpkin at home later that day, so this dish was pulled together easily on Sunday. Sal rolled the cannelloni, I prepared the white sauce and the boys did the salad and the garlic bread. It was a perfect lunch on a cold wintery afternoon with family in the warmth by the fire.

This recipe comes from Bill Grangers new book and is a winner. I will definitely be making it again, everyone ate their plates clean and commented on how much they enjoyed it. I found the recipe at Lorraine’s blog Not Quite Nigella. Lorraine made this with ricotta and stated that next time she would do it with feta to counter balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, which is what we did and it worked a treat.

6 large fresh lasagne sheets or 12-14 smaller sized ones.
35g/1 oz parmesan

Filling
1.25kg peeled, deseeded pumpkin cut into 3 cm cubes
1 large red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Cheese sauce
40g butter
3 tablespoons plain flour
750ml milk
1 bay leaf
240g feta

Simple tomato sauce
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat the oven to 200C. To make the filling, place pumpkin and onion on a large baking tray and drizzle olive oil on top. Sprinkle thyme, chili, salt and pepper on top and roast for 45 minutes until golden stirring occasionally. Cool slightly and mash with a fork ensuring to leave some texture.

To make the cheese sauce , heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until bubbling. gradually whisk in the milk then add bay leaf and cook. stirring until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the feta and season with salt and pepper.
Lightly butter a baking dish or use a non stick one ensuring you use one that will snugly hold the cannelloni. Pour 1/3 of the cheese sauce onto to base of the baking tray. then assemble the cannelloni by filling in each one with 2-3 tablespoons of filling and fold over to make a tube to enclose filling.

Place cannelloni in a single layer on top of cheese sauce and then sprinkle some water on the pasta. Pour the rest of the sauce on top ensuring that the cannelloni is covered with sauce. Cover with grated parmesan.

Cover and freeze at this stage. Or if cooking this now, bake in a 180C oven for 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbling.

While this is in the oven, prepare the tomato sauce - empty tomatoes into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat for about 15-25 minutes until reduced and thickened. Add remaining ingredients and cook for 1 minute.

Serve the cannelloni topped with the tomato sauce and a nice green salad.

Sathya-rating ****

Fijian Creamy Lentil Soup

2009-05-05T12:42:00.002+09:30

Summer must be officially over as it is cooling down and I am making lots of soups. The best so far was a chicken, corn and noodle soup by Karen Martini on Better Homes and Gardens which I forgot to take a photo of, but I'll defintely make it again and post it.

This lentil soup I made on the weekend is delicious. It was incredibly easy to prepare and was hearty enough with a bread roll for dinner. I love that, cos you can make a big pot and reheat it easily when you don't have time (ie, Austen the baby needs to be held). The caramilised onions were a nice touch, but I don't know if I'd bother next time. Although the cummin seeds through the caramalised onions were great, maybe I'd just dry roast and add them on their own at the end.

375g (1 1/2 cups) red lentils
1 litre (4 cups) vegetable stock or water
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
250ml milk
1 tsp sea salt
60g unsalted butter
1 brown onion, diced
1 tsp cumin seeds

Pick over the lentils, removing any stones or discoloured ones. Rinse thoroughly and place in a deep saucepan with the vegetable stock or water, turmeric, ginger and tomato.

Bring to the boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before transferring to a food processor and blending until smooth. Return the pureed lentils to the warm pan, stir in the milk and salt and simmer gently over low heat until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a frying pan over high heat. Add the onion and cumin seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, for eight minutes, or until the onions are brown and caramelised.

To serve, ladle the soup into warm bowls and sprinkle generously with cracked black pepper to taste. Scatter the caramelised onion and coriander over the soup and serve immediately.

Sathya-rating ***

Broccoli & Rice

2009-04-26T11:39:00.003+09:30

It's disappointing when you see a recipe that sounds tasty and you think to yourself, 'Yeah, that would be nice for dinner tonight'. You walk to the shop especially to get some ingredients, the baby has fallen asleep so you start dinner while you have a chance as dinner time is always crazy times. Baby wakes up so you quickly shut production down and settle him.

Hours later you find another moment to try and finish dinner off. Again, the baby is unhappy and you have to stop. Dad comes home and says something encouraging along the lines of 'that smells good', so you plant the baby on Dad's lap and finally finish off the dish and serve it.

Finally, you sit down, take the first bite and realise it is terrible.

This kind of thing breaks my heart. It happened to me with this Broccoli, Rice and Cheddar Casserole dish from Serious Eats. Boo hoo.

Pioneer Womans Chocolate Cake

2009-04-15T06:52:00.004+09:30

Another cake, I apologise! I shall try to make something different soon. However, this cake is fantastic! It comes from one of my personal favourite sites -
Pioneer Woman.

As you can imagine, we have had plenty of visitors coming to meet our gorgeous baby boy. I managed to throw this cake together without a special trip to the store or too much trouble. We got lots of pieces of cake an 'mmm's this is so good' which is exactly what we needed. Chocolate cakes are often dry I find, not this one, soft and moist.

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
225grams butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture. Pour into sheet cake pan and bake at 180C degrees for 20 minutes.

While cake is baking, make icing:
Chop 1/2 cup pecans finely.
Melt 200grams butter in a saucepan.
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa, stir to combine, then turn off heat.
Add:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
350grams icing sugar
Stir together.
Add pecans, stir together, and pour over warm cake.

Sathya-rating ****

Plum Cake & Welcome to the world

2009-03-25T17:39:00.005+10:30

Its been over a month since I have signed in or typed anything for you all. What a time it has been! On 1 March the moment we had been waiting for finally arrived and we welcomed our gorgeous little boy Austen Patrick into the world. After a crazy week in hospital we have spent the last 2 weeks getting settled in at home, and slowly but surely we're getting there. With this news I hope you can sympathise with how little I have been in the kitchen (what with 44C degree days here in Adelaide and a heavy load) and now trying to literally find time to do anything let alone cook and blog about it. Hopefully I will work it out soon and you will find me here more often.

Isn't he gorgeous? I think so haha.

Anyway onto the yummy stuff. A few weeks before Austen arrived my lovely friend Hannah had a dinner party and I offered to bring dessert. Coincidentally Mum left with me a bag of home grown plums, so I decided the dessert must use these plums. As a side note, let me say I hate plums, I find them sour and don't like the flavour, so I wasn't very excited about all this.

I was generously given "The Cooks Companion" by Stephanie Alexander for Christmas so I thought I'd start looking for a recipe there. I didn't have to look long as under the plum section there was this wonderful recipe. It was easy to make and the cake was gorgeous, the topping is the winner I think. I'd never made a cake like this before, the method was interesting, and I wasn't sure it was going to work, but it did. Give it a try, its delicious, everyone loved it, and some of them were outstanding chefs! Always nice to impress and receive compliments from chefs!

180g softened butter
150g castor sugar
135g plain flour
135g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
70ml milk
1/2 cup ground almonds (or fresh breadcrumbs)
10-12 ripe blood plums, halved and stoned

Topping:
60g butter
1/2 cup castor sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 200C and lightly grease a 26cm springform tin.

To make the topping, melt butter and stir in sugar and cinnamon, then allow to cool a little. Whisk eggs well and stir into cooled butter mixture.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in flours and salt. Mix eggs with milk, then add to flour mixture and mix to make a softish dough (it should drop easily from the spoon). Spoon batter into prepared tin (it should not fill more than a quarter of the depth, as the cake rises a great deal), smooth the top and sprinkle over ground almonds. Arrange plums on top, cut-side up, starting around outside edge and working towards centre. Spoon topping over and around plums on cake. Place cake in oven and reduce temperature to 180C.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a fine skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm with cream or ice-cream. Any leftover cake can be warmed, wrapped in foil, in the oven at 180C for 15 minutes.

Sathya-rating *****

Apricot Jam

2009-02-09T11:16:00.003+10:30

A friend of mine at work had an excess of apricots from her tree at home and passed them onto me. They were incredibly ripe and delicious and I realised straight away they wouldn’t last long so decided I would have my first attempt at making jam. Not just any jam, apricot, which is my favourite.

I typed ‘apricot jam’ into Google and found this very easy recipe on www.cuisine.com.au a great Australian recipe site and got straight into it. It was all very easy and the end result was incredibly rewarding and worthwhile, the jam was delicious! It didn’t last long here, so I am looking forward to the next bag of fruit and my next attempt.

The recipe is below, but please note, I didn’t add the apricot kernels.

1.2kg ripe apricots
570g sugar
4 apricot kernels, chopped
Juice of a lemon

Wash apricots well and pat dry. Pit them (keep the kernels) and dice flesh into 1cm cubes. Mix diced apricots with sugar in a large pot and let stand for at least an hour or preferably overnight in refrigerator. Add chopped kernels. Bring mixture to boil, stirring so it doesn't catch. It will rise in the pot with large bubbles. Skim off any scum that forms on top. Lower heat to a vigorous simmer until bubbles get smaller. Test for thickness by placing a few drops on a small cold plate (from refrigerator). When ready, remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and place in preserving jars following the maker's instructions.

Makes about a litre.

Sathya-rating *****

The best stuffed tomatoes - ever!

2009-01-15T12:01:00.004+10:30

One of my favourite blogs is Orangette written by a gorgeous woman called Molly. I have probably told you about her before, she takes wonderful pictures and every recipe I have made has become a favourite - like the eggplant curry.

I have a new favourite which Molly demanded everyone make, and if I may be so bossy, I think you all should as well! Rice stuffed tomatoes adapted from Luisa Weiss.

The photo isn't terribly exciting but the flavour (and the ease) of this recipe make them perfect! Yum. I made them a lot before it turned really hot over here in Adelaide. Now, I try to avoid using the oven as pregnancy + heat doesn't mix!

4 large, good-tasting tomatoes
1 small onion, diced
Olive oil
1/3 cup Arborio rice
1/3 cup water
5 fresh basil leaves
Salt
Breadcrumbs
baby potatoes, sliced into rounds

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Holding them over a bowl, scoop out their insides – flesh, seeds, and juice – and let it all fall into the bowl. Set the tomatoes in a lightly oiled 9”x13” baking dish. Then fish the flesh out of the bowl, and chop it. Return it to the bowl with the juice and seeds.

In a medium saucepan, warm a glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent. Add the rice, and continue to cook, stirring, for another minute or two. Add the tomato flesh, juice, and seeds – it may look like a lot, but add it all – as well as the water. Tear the basil leaves into small pieces, and add them too. Add a generous pinch or two of salt. Reduce the heat slightly, cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and if needed, add more salt.

Spoon the par-cooked rice mixture into the tomatoes. Top them with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs. Arrange the potato slices around the tomatoes in the pan. Give everything a good drizzle of olive oil. (You might want to flip and rub the potatoes a bit, to make sure that each has a nice coat of oil.) Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The tomatoes should shrivel a bit and release some of their juices, and the potatoes should cook through.

Cool for 15 minutes or so before eating, so that the tomato juices have time to settle.

Sathya-rating *****

December Daring Bakers Challenge - French Yule Log

2009-01-06T16:47:00.002+10:30

Its time for Daring Bakers! Yay!

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux. They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

I am a little late as I was in a rural part of Australia, Streaky Bay, without access to a computer and I couldn’t do it before we left on 27 December as posting day was 28 December. Hopefully I am not banished for this. We shall see though, as Daring Bakers has become much more organised and regulated in 2009.

This time last year the Daring Bakers made a Yule Log so when I first saw the challenge was a Yule log, I was a little disappointed as I thought it was the same, but I have since learnt that a French Yule Log is very different! I must say, however, that I enjoyed last years much more in taste and preparation.

This recipe took a lot of time and effort to prepare, so please don’t attempt unless you have those 2 things in abundance, which I didn’t at this crazy time of year plus being 7 months pregnant!

Thanks you to Hilda and Marion for hosting Decembers challenge. It can’t be easy to choose a recipe that both hosts are happy with and that they imagine all Daring Bakers will be happy with! Hats off to you ladies!

I think as Daring Bakers we need to be honest and open and give our feedback on these recipes so that is what I will do. I did not enjoy this challenge, preparing or eating it. Disappointing huh? I think it was partly the recipe, and partly me and my kitchen! Firstly, it was about 32C degrees (90F), my kitchen light had blown and I couldn’t change it as the ceilings are so high, my KitchenAid was playing up and finally the batteries in my scales ran out. Humph.

The taste testers enjoyed this though and it looks like many of my fellow Daring Bakers did as well so don’t take too much notice of me. I’m terribly hormonal!

FRENCH YULE LOG RECIPE by Flore of Florilège Gourmand

Element #1 Dacquoise Biscuit (Almond Cake)

80g almond meal
50g icing sugar
15g plain flour
3 medium egg whites
50g sugar

Finely mix the almond meal and the confectioner's sugar. (If you have a mixer, you can use it by pulsing the ingredients together for no longer than 30 seconds).

Sift the flour into the mix.

Beat the eggs whites, gradually adding the granulated sugar until stiff.

Pour the almond meal mixture into the egg whites and blend delicately with a spatula.

Grease a piece of parchment paper and line your baking pan with it.

Spread the batter on a piece of parchment paper to an area slightly larger than your desired shape (circle, long strip etc...) and to a height of 1/3 inches (8mm).
Bake at 180°C for approximately 15 minutes Let cool and cut to the desired shape.

Element #2 Dark Chocolate Mousse

2.5 sheets gelatin or 5g powdered gelatin
40g sugar
10g glucose or golden syrup
15g water
3 medium egg yolks
175g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
350g heavy cream (35% fat content)

Soften the gelatin in cold water. (If using powdered gelatin, follow the directions on the package.)

Make a Pate a Bombe: Beat the egg yolks until very light in colour (approximately 5 minutes until almost white).

Cook the sugar, glucose syrup and water on medium heat for approximately 3 minutes (if you have a candy thermometer, the mixture should reach 244°F (118°C). If you do not have a candy thermometer, test the sugar temperature by dipping the tip of a knife into the syrup then into a bowl of ice water, if it forms a soft ball in the water then you have reached the correct temperature.
Add the sugar syrup to the beaten yolks carefully by pouring it into the mixture in a thin stream while continuing to beat the yolks. You can do this by hand but it’s easier to do this with an electric mixer.

Continue beating until cool (approximately 5 minutes). The batter should become thick and foamy.

In a double boiler or equivalent, heat 2 tablespoons (30g) of cream to boiling. Add the chopped chocolate and stir until melted and smooth.

Whip the remainder of the cream until stiff.

Pour the melted chocolate over the softened gelatin, mixing well. Let the gelatin and chocolate cool slightly and then stir in ½ cup (100g) of WHIPPED cream to temper. Add the Pate a Bombe.

Add in the rest of the WHIPPED cream (220g) mixing gently with a spatula.

Element #3 Dark Chocolate Ganache Insert

50g sugar
135g heavy cream (35% fat content)
135g dark chocolate, finely chopped
45g unsalted butter, softened

Make a caramel: Using the dry method, melt the sugar by spreading it in an even layer in a small saucepan with high sides. Heat over medium-high heat, watching it carefully as the sugar begins to melt. Never stir the mixture. As the sugar starts to melt, swirl the pan occasionally to allow the sugar to melt evenly. Cook to dark amber color (for most of you that means darker than last month’s challenge).

While the sugar is melting, heat the cream until boiling. Pour cream into the caramel and stir thoroughly. Be very careful as it may splatter and boil.

Pour the hot caramel-milk mixture over the dark chocolate. Wait 30 seconds and stir
until smooth.

Add the softened butter and whip hard and fast (if you have a plunging mixer use it). The chocolate should be smooth and shiny.

Element #4 Praline Feuillete (Crisp) Insert

Note: Feuillete means layered (as in with leaves) so a Praline Feuillete is a Praline version of a delicate crisp. There are non-praline variations below. The crunch in this crisp comes from an ingredient which is called gavottes in French. Gavottes are lace-thin crepes. To our knowledge they are not available outside of France, so you have the option of making your own using the recipe below or you can simply substitute rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K for them. Special note: If you use one of the substitutes for the gavottes, you should halve the quantity stated, as in use 1oz of any of these cereals instead of 2.1oz.

60g of gavottes (lace crepes - recipe by Ferich Mounia):
80ml whole milk
8g unsalted butter
35g plain flour
15g beaten egg
3.5g sugar
½ tsp vegetable oil

Heat the milk and butter together until butter is completely melted. Remove from the heat.

Sift flour into milk-butter mixture while beating, add egg and granulated sugar. Make sure there are no lumps.

Grease a baking sheet and spread batter thinly over it.

Bake at 430°F (220°C) for a few minutes until the crepe is golden and crispy. Let cool.

Ingredients for the Praline Feuillete:
100g milk chocolate
25g butter
30g praline
2.1oz (60g) lace crepes(gavottes) or rice krispies or corn flakes or Special K (I used cornflakes)

Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler.

Add the praline and the coarsely crushed lace crepes. Mix quickly to thoroughly coat with the chocolate.

Spread between two sheets of wax paper to a size slightly larger than your desired shape. Refrigerate until hard.

Element #5 Vanilla Crème Brulée Insert

115g heavy cream (35% fat content)
115g whole milk
4 medium-sized egg yolks
25g sugar
1 vanilla bean

Heat the milk, cream, and scraped vanilla bean to just boiling. Remove from the stove and let the vanilla infuse for about 1 hour.

Whisk together the sugar and egg yolks (but do not beat until white).

Pour the vanilla-infused milk over the sugar/yolk mixture. Mix well.

Wipe with a very wet cloth and then cover your baking mold (whatever shape is going to fit on the inside of your Yule log/cake) with parchment paper. Pour the cream into the mold and bake at 210°F (100°C) for about 1 hour or until firm on the edges and slightly wobbly in the center.

Let cool and put in the freezer for at least 1 hour to firm up and facilitate the final assembly.

Element #6 Dark Chocolate Icing

½ Tbsp powdered gelatin or 2 sheets gelatin
60g heavy cream (35 % fat content)
60g granulated sugar
¼ cup water
30g unsweetened cocoa powder

Soften the gelatin in cold water for 15 minutes.

Boil the rest of the ingredients and cook an additional 3 minutes after boiling.

Add gelatin to the chocolate mixture. Mix well.

Let cool while checking the texture regularly. As soon as the mixture is smooth and coats a spoon well (it is starting to gelify), use immediately.

How To Assemble your French Yule Log

Depending on whether your mold is going to hold the assembly upside down until you unmold it or right side up, this order will be different.

THIS IS FOR UNMOLDING FROM UPSIDE DOWN TO RIGHT SIDE UP.

You will want to tap your mold gently on the countertop after each time you pipe mousse in to get rid of any air bubbles.

Line your mold or pan, whatever its shape, with rhodoid (clear hard plastic, I usually use transparencies cut to the desired shape, it’s easier to find than cellulose acetate which is what rhodoid translates to in English) OR plastic film. Rhodoid will give you a smoother shape but you may have a hard time using it depending on the kind of mold you’re using.

Pipe one third of the Mousse component into the mold.

Take the Creme Brulee Insert out of the freezer at the last minute and set on top of the mousse. Press down gently to slightly ensconce it in the mousse.

Pipe second third of the Mousse component around and on top of the Creme Brulee Insert.

Cut the Praline/Crisp Insert to a size slightly smaller than your mold so that it can be surrounded by mousse. Lay it on top of the mousse you just piped into the mold.

Pipe the last third of the Mousse component on top of the Praline Insert.

Freeze for a few hours to set. Take out of the freezer.

Pipe the Ganache Insert onto the frozen mousse leaving a slight edge so that ganache doesn’t seep out when you set the Dacquoise on top.

Close with the Dacquoise.

Freeze until the next day.

The next day...

Unmold the cake/log/whatever and set on a wire rack over a shallow pan.
Cover the cake with the icing.

Let set. Return to the freezer.
You may decorate your cake however you wish. The decorations can be set in the icing after it sets but before you return the cake to the freezer or you may attach them on top using extra ganache or leftover mousse, etc...

Transfer to the refrigerator no longer than ½ hour before serving as it may start to melt quickly depending on the elements you chose.

Sathya-rating **

Italian meatballs with tomato sauce

2008-12-05T15:34:00.002+10:30

Recently we went up to Queensland for a bit of a holiday and stayed with our gorgeous friends Polly and Shane. Polly and I are in our element in the kitchen, so there was plenty of cooking to be done, which was loads of fun.

One of my favourite meals during our time there were these meatballs. Mmm mm. Prior to this event I had never really like meatballs, they seemed pointless, why not just bolognese? I know, I know, silly of me huh? I totally understand why meatballs now! These are perfect! I've made them several times since, and they are very popular.

180ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
100grams pinenuts, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
handful of parsley, basil and rosemary, roughly chopped
2 tsp fennel seeds, ground
50g fresh breadcrumbs
250g ricotta
25g parmesan, grated
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
500g minced beef or pork

Sauce:
2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
100ml red wine
large tbs tomato paste

Start with the meatballs - fry the onion, garlic and pinenuts in half the olive oil until soft.

In a large bowl combine the herbs, fennel, breadcrumbs, ricotta, parmesan, lemon zest, egg and mince. Add the cooled onion mix and some salt and pepper. Leave the mixture in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before making into balls.

Form the balls with about 50grams of the mixture (about the size of a walnut) and then flatten a little to make it easier to cook on both sides. Make balls out of all the mixture and then you're ready to fry.

Fry the meatballs in a large pan with the remaining olive oil until golden brown. Cook in batches so the pan isn't too crowded.

For the sauce, fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil for a few minutes till soft and add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes and then add the meatballs gently to the sauce and simmer for a further 10 minutes, covered. Allow this all to stand for 10 minutes and serve with pasta of your choice.

Sathya-rating *****

Daring Bakers November Challenge - Caramel Cake

2008-11-29T23:23:00.003+10:30

It is that time of the month for many food blogs around the world to be taken over by the wonderful Daring Bakers - yay! I love it. I have missed some challenges unfortunately, and for this I apologise. Pregnancy has caused vomiting all day, every day for 6 months straight which hasn't helped my time in the kitchen (or anywhere for that matter!) but this month I managed to complete a challenge so here I am again.

This months task was set by Dolores with the help of Alex, Jenny and Natalie and is a gorgeous caramel cake recipe created by Shuna Fish Lydon.

As you can see, I decided to make cupcakes, which turned out successfully. I as worried I may have lost my touch with months of not baking but I was fine. I didn't find this recipe difficult at all, I don't know how others feel? My caramel syrup came up easily, the frosting mixed together nicely and the cakes were perfect. I prepared the syrup and frosting on a different day to the cakes and when realising just how sweet the frosting was halved the sugar in the cakes, which I am very happy about as they overall effect was still very sweet. I am a sweet tooth, so when I think something is very sweet, it really is!

I brought these along to a big family event this evening and one walk around the room on a tray and they all disappeared and seemed to be devoured just as quickly.

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 180C

Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy.

Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.

Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.

Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it.

CARAMEL SYRUP

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.

When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.

Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}

Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING

12 tablespoons unsalted butter
450g icing sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.

Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.

Sathya-rating ***

Tiramisu - David Lebovitz

2008-11-24T15:47:00.003+10:30

I don't know about you, but if Tiramisu is on the menu somewhere, I always order it. Therefore I think of myself as quite the connoisseur! There seem to be so many different ways for it be made and presented. I am rarely disappointed, but there are outstandouts among all these tiramisu's I have ordered, I can't think how to describe it other than nice and moist, juicy, boozy and chocolatey as well as the definite flavour of mascarpone.

So when I saw David Lebovitz' recipe recently and noticed how easy it all was to prepare I decided it was time to give it a go at home. The perfect occassion arose, when friends of ours came for dinner who both own successful restaurants with my favourite little girl, Indiah. I made delicious meatballs (coming here soon) and this tiramisu for dessert. I always get a little nervous cooking for people in the hospitality industry, they know so much and chances are they'll discuss it (often at length) on the way home. Everyone loved this though, I think I was actually the most critical - the balance wasn't quite right - too much boozy biscuit and not enough creamy goodness. There's an easy solution for that though, I'll just double the mascarpone/egg mix next time!

½ cup (125ml) espresso, at room temperature
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoon cognac
2 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
pinch of salt
90g sugar, divided
250g mascarpone
twelve ladyfingers
optional: 1 ounce (30g) bittersweet chocolate
unsweetened cocoa powder, for serving

Mix together the espresso, rum, and cognac.

Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Beat in half of the sugar until stiff. Scrape the egg whites into a small bowl.

Separately beat the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until stiff and light-colored, about three minutes. Beat in the mascarpone with a spatula or whisk by hand, until smooth.

Fold in half of the beaten egg whites, then the remaining half, just until fully incorporated.

Place a large soup spoon, of the mascarpone cream into each vessel (I used martini glasses).

Dip each ladyfinger in the espresso mixture for 5-10 seconds, until completely, utterly soaked. (Dried ladyfingers will take longer to saturate than softer ones.) Break the ladyfinger in half to be sure; they should be dropping wet, and can't be saturated enough. Then layer them over the mascarpone cream in each vessel. Use two ladyfingers per.

Grate a lots of dark chocolate over serve and top with remaining mascarpone cream. Cover and refrigerate at least four hours, or overnight.

When you’re ready to serve shake powdered cocoa generously on top.

Sathya-rating ***

Coconut Bread

2008-11-17T10:54:00.004+10:30

First and foremost, I'm sorry I haven't been giving this little blog much attention of late. I can give you many excuses, but I don't really like excuses, they're boring and don't really relate to the world of food, so please believe me its not because I don't love this blog and all that comes with it, its just been a full on time in my life (and will continue to be what with a baby coming in Feb)!

Anyhow, I'm here to tell you about a Bill Granger recipe I came across, mixed up and served when my gorgeous friend Anna came over for a cup of tea recently. Coconut Bread. YUM! It was delicious. I often make banana bread as its such an easy pull together recipe that is highly satisfying, so this appealed to me immediately. Everyone really enjoyed it and the loaf disappeared in one afternoon (hence the photo). It does take an hour to bake, but its defintely worth it. The house smelt sensational, we served it warm with lashings of butter and cups of tea and were all extremely content.

2 eggs
300ml (10 fl oz) milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 ½ cups plain (all purpose) flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
150 g (5 oz) shredded coconut
75 g (2 1/2 oz) unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F). Lightly whisk eggs, milk and vanilla together.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl, add sugar and coconut, and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre and gradually stir in the egg mixture until just combined. Add melted butter and stir until the mixture is just smooth, be careful not to over-mix.

Pour into a greased and floured 21 x 10 cm (8 1/2 x 4 in) loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.
Leave in the tin to cool for 5 minutes, and remove to cool further on a wire rack.

Serve in thick slices, toasted, buttered and dusted with icing sugar. Makes 8-10 thick slices.

Sathya-rating *****

Donut Muffins

2008-10-09T12:43:00.002+10:30

I spotted these little babies over at Dishing Delights and was sold. I made them a few days later, quickly and easily and they were delicious! Simple little cakes with a cinnamon sugar topping - how can you go wrong!

My sister, Sal remembered I was making them and dropped in and really enjoyed them as well. So much so, she made them herself.

This is the type of recipe I will use over and over as its easy and everyone will enjoy.

2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
55 grams butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Position oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don't overmix; batter should not be smooth.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 15-20 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt the butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffing are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Sathya-rating ****

Spinach pesto - easy week night dinner

2008-09-27T10:46:00.002+09:30

Once upon a time I lived in Amsterdam for a year to get to know my Dutch family and learn the language. I was a very poor young lady struggling to pay the rent every month while I did a traineeship in a gorgeous 5-star hotel in the city. This meal was cooked often in my tiny kitchen, as it would go a long way and didn't cost a lot to make. Its very tasty and easy and quick to prepare.

So, recently when I saw a luscious green bush of spinach on special at the store I remembered this dish and needed to eat it again. It was as good as I remembered. It must have been about 10 years since I last made it, but it was like yesterday and brought back lots of memories.

You can also prepare this with frozen spinach and it works fine. Just make sure you squeeze out all the excess water before you puree.

300g spaghetti
450g frozen spinach or a large bunch fresh spinach/silverbeet
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
large handful of parmesan, freshly grated
fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper

Defrost the spinach well and squeeze out the excess water. If using fresh spinach, wash thoroughly and remove the stalks. Pop the leaves in large pot, put the lid on and cook for a few minutes, stirring once or twice to cook the spinach.

Cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until smooth. You'll need a lot of freshly grated nutmeg and salt and pepper. Taste to check the seasoning. Depending on the water content of the spinach you may need to add a spoonful of pasta water to break up the pesto. Use your instincts.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and toss through the pesto and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan on top.

Sathya-rating ****

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-09-09T12:13:00.002+09:30

These little babies are meant to be the best chocolate chip cookies in the world according to the New York Times. Big call if you ask me. I noticed them when several bloggers were making them and decided they would be a good way to introduce a new little 9 year old who stays at our house occasionally to the kitchen.

They look good don't they? They were very but personally, the recipe took far too long (24-36 hours in the fridge) + my oven couldn't fit the cookies in one go for them to be the best ever plus I also like nuts in my chocolate cookies. Anyway, have a go, I don't know anyone who can say no to a chocolate chip cookie - yum!

2 cups minus 2 Tbsp. (240g) plain flour
1 2/3 cups (240g) bread flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. coarse salt,
2 ½ sticks (1 ¼ cups; 285g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups (285g) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. (8225g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ pounds (570g) bittersweet chocolate chips or chunks, preferably about 60% cacao content
Sea salt, such as Maldon

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk well; then set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Reduce the mixer speed to low; then add dry ingredients, and mix until just combined. (Unless you have a plastic guard that sits around the rim of the bowl, this will make a big mess at first, with flour flying everywhere. I found that carefully holding a dish towel around the top of the bowl helped a lot.) Add the chocolate chips, and mix briefly to incorporate. Press plastic wrap against the dough, and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. The dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat oven to 180°C. Remove the bowl of dough from the refrigerator, and allow it to soften slightly. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

Using a standard-size ice cream scoop – mine holds about 3 fluid ounces, or about 1/3 cup – scoop six mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, making sure to space them evenly. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt, and bake until golden brown but still soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool a bit more.

Repeat with remaining dough.

Yield: About 24 (5-inch) cookies.

Sathya-rating ***

Something silly

2008-09-07T18:25:00.002+09:30

I saw this on Peabodys blog and thought it was fun.

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam Chowder in Soudough Bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (fine Canadian food) - YUM!
60. Carob chips - gross
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cakd
68. Haggis (It’s not that bad people)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Daring Bakers August Challenge: Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs

2008-08-31T09:03:00.005+09:30

Yesterday was the last day I could possibly make August's Daring Bakers challenge. I had all the ingredients in the fridge, but had resigned myself to the fact I probably wouldn't make them. The kitchen hasn't been my favourite place since I found out I'm pregnant, the exhaustion and nauseous kills the fun, so I wasn't expecting to jump out of bed and feel like hours of whisking, beating, stirring and baking but I did! And, I am glad I did, these are so delicious! And it wasn't too complicated.

Tony Tahhan & Meeta set this months yummy chocolate-y challenge. Following our Daring Bakers forums this month, it seemed like a few people struggled so I was a little nervous but it all came together quite nicely. Now, I know my little creations don't look great, but I blame that on not having a big enough nozzle for my piping bag so I struggled to make the choux pastry into decent shapes (you should see the 'finger' style, eclairs ones - ha!). Yes, they don't look great but they tasted perfect if I may say so myself.

I was planning to make the pastry cream vanilla rather than chocolate but I had a visitor chatting to me whilst I was making these so I didn't pay close attention and suddenly realised I had made chocolate pastry cream! I'm glad I did to be honest, cos this component was my favourite - yum. Although this was my favourite, this pastry cream also annoyed me the most as I could not get it thick enough to pipe nicely into the choux pastries. Eventually I added some thick whipped cream which helped a little, but not enough. Its ok, people don't realise till they take a bite and yummy chocolate cream oozes all over them. Fun to watch if you ask me.

Please find the recipe below and if you want to check out my fellow Daring Bakers please do so here.

(Oh, I forgot to mention, I followed the recipe to the letter, but I halved the chocolate sauce ingredients at the end and it was plenty for the 7 tablespoons needed for the glaze).

Pierre Hermé’s Chocolate Éclairs
Cream Puff Dough (see below for recipe), fresh and still warm

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Divide the oven into thirds by
positioning the racks in the upper and lower half of the oven. Line two baking sheets with waxed or parchment paper.

2) Fill a large pastry bag fitted with a 2/3 (2cm) plain tip nozzle with the warm cream puff dough. Pipe the dough onto the baking sheets in long, 4 to 41/2 inches (about 11 cm) chubby fingers. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) space in between each dough strip to allow them room to puff. The dough should give you enough to pipe 20-24 éclairs.

3) Slide both the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 7 minutes. After the 7 minutes, slip the handle of a wooden spoon into the door to keep in ajar. When the éclairs have been in the oven for a total of 12 minutes, rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back. Continue baking for a further 8 minutes or until the éclairs are puffed, golden and firm. The total baking time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Assembling the éclairs:
• Chocolate glaze (see below for recipe)
• Chocolate pastry cream (see below for recipe)
1) Slice the éclairs horizontally, using a serrated knife and a gently sawing motion. Set aside the bottoms and place the tops on a rack over a piece of parchment paper.

2) The glaze should be barely warm to the touch (between 95 – 104 degrees F or 35 – 40 degrees C, as measured on an instant read thermometer). Spread the glaze over the tops of the éclairs using a metal icing spatula. Allow the tops to set and in the meantime fill the bottoms with the pastry cream.

3) Pipe or spoon the pastry cream into the bottoms of the éclairs. Make sure you fill the bottoms with enough cream to mound above the pastry. Place the glazed tops onto the pastry cream and wriggle gently to settle them.

Cream Puff Dough
½ cup (125g) whole milk
½ cup (125g) water
1 stick (4 ounces; 115g) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, at room temperature

1) In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, bring the milk, water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil.

2) Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough comes together very quickly. Do not worry if a slight crust forms at the bottom of the pan, it’s supposed to. You need to carry on stirring for a further 2-3 minutes to dry the dough. After this time the dough will be very soft and smooth.

3) Transfer the dough into a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using your handmixer or if you still have the energy, continue by hand. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough.
You will notice that after you have added the first egg, the dough will separate, once again do not worry. As you keep working the dough, it will come back all together again by the time you have added the third egg. In the end the dough should be thick and shiny and when lifted it should fall back into the bowl in a ribbon.

4) The dough should be still warm. It is now ready to be used for the éclairs as directed above.

Chocolate Pastry Cream
2 cups (500g) whole milk
4 large egg yolks
6 tbsp (75g) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
7 oz (200g) bittersweet chocolate, melted
2½ tbsp (1¼ oz: 40g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1) In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. In the meantime, combine the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together and whisk in a heavy‐bottomed saucepan.

2) Once the milk has reached a boil, temper the yolks by whisking a couple spoonfuls of the hot milk into the yolk mixture. Continue whisking and slowly pour the rest of the milk into the tempered yolk mixture.

3) Strain the mixture back into the saucepan to remove any egg that may have scrambled. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk vigorously (without stop) until the mixture returns to a boil. Keep whisking vigorously for 1 to 2 more minutes (still over medium heat).Stir in the melted chocolate and then remove the pan from the heat.

4) Scrape the pastry cream into a small bowl and set it in an ice‐water bath to stop the cooking process. Make sure to continue stirring the mixture at this point so that it remains smooth.

5) Once the cream has reached a temperature of 140 F remove from the ice‐water bath and stir in the butter in three or four instalments. Return the cream to the ice‐water bath to continue cooling, stirring occasionally, until it has completely cooled. The cream is now ready to use or store in the fridge.

Chocolate Glaze
1/3 cup (80g) heavy cream
3½ oz (100g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
4 tsp (20 g) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, at room temperature
7 tbsp (110 g) Chocolate Sauce (recipe below), warm or at room temperature

1)In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and slowly begin to add the chocolate, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula.

2) Stirring gently, stir in the butter, piece by piece followed by the chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce
4½ oz (130 g) bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup (250 g) water
½ cup (125 g) crème fraîche, or heavy cream
1/3 cup (70 g) sugar

1) Place all the ingredients into a heavy‐bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil, making sure to stir constantly. Then reduce the heat to low and continue stirring with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens.

2) It may take 10‐15 minutes for the sauce to thicken, but you will know when it is done when it coats the back of your spoon.

Sathya-rating ****

Fragrant Custard Apple Cake

2008-08-29T15:08:00.002+09:30

www.cuisine.com.au is a great Australian website linked to a local newspaper which I enjoy having a look at from time to time when I feel adventurous or like a challenge.

I found this recipe sometime ago and when my sister came over from Melbourne recently and lunch was to be at our house, I thought this would be the perfect dessert as she cannot eat chocolate.

I never really made up my mind about this cake, I didn’t really enjoy making it as there wasn’t enough batter to spread it on the bottom of the pan, then pour on the custard and then spread on more batter. Secondly, ‘spreading’ batter on runny custard is not easy with a thick batter. I ended up adding some of the left over egg whites into the batter to make it runny and just putting spoonfuls on top of the custard and hoping for the best. When it finally came out of the oven it looked perfect and delicious, the sliced apple and spiced sugar helped I think.

Once we let it cool a little and sliced it into chunks and served it with cream everyone was very happy and enjoyed it. Personally, I was expecting a layer of cake, layer of custard and another lay of apple cake, but the custard kinda went into the cake. You couldn’t differentiate the custard at all. Some bites were moist and custardy and others were just ordinary cake. If I make this again, I think I would add some of the spices to the batter and possibly put some apples slices on top of the batter before the custard goes in. Anyway, it lovely, and everyone enjoyed it and it was lovely to sit around the table with the whole family.

For the custard
1 cup milk
3 large egg yolks
55g castor sugar
30g plain flour
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the cake:
200g soft butter
110g castor sugar
2 eggs
225g self-raising flour, sifted
2 small unpeeled apples, cored and thinly sliced (about 140g each)
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp castor sugar, extra
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ginger
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp cardamom
½ tsp cinnamon

For the custard
Place milk in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a small bowl until thick then add flour and whisk until smooth. Pour hot milk onto egg yolk mixture and stir until smooth. Return mixture to saucepan and stir over low heat until mixture comes to the boil. Stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until thick then remove from heat, stir in vanilla and chill, covered in the fridge.

For the cake
Pre-heat oven to 180C.

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Fold in flour.

Spread half the mixture into a 22cm greased and base-lined cake tin, add custard and smooth with a spatula.

Add spoonfuls of remaining cake mix and spread carefully with a spatula to cover custard.

Arrange apples on top of cake mixture and brush with melted butter. Combine sweet spice mix with extra castor sugar and sprinkle over apples.

Bake for 60 or until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pan before turning out.

Sathya-rating ***

Cucumber & Feta Dip

2008-08-19T18:49:00.004+09:30

I've mentioned several other food bloggers on here, I think, many of them I admire and enjoy reading and seeing what they're up to. David Lebovitz is an amazing blogger, writer and chef who lives in Paris and keeps me regularly entertained with all sorts of interesting recipes and tales. A recipe he recently blogged about caught my eye, I printed it out and made it the next day for a big family lunch to celebrate my sister being in Adelaide for the weekend.

Now, David mentions how fantastic the cucumber & feta dip below is, and I was expecting a lot as all the ingredient are up there in my favourites list but you should have seen everyone wolf this dip down! It was sensational. I will be making this again and again!

I served Joanne Weir's cucumber and feta dip with triangles of pita bread brushed with olive oil and paprika and crisped them under the grill for a few minutes.

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced into pea-sized pieces
coarse salt
8 ounces (225g) feta cheese (see Note)
1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
2-3 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
freshly ground black pepper
1 small red onion, peeled and finely-diced
1 tablespoon (each) chopped fresh mint, parsley and fresh dill

Place the cucumber pieces in a colander, mix with a light sprinkling salt, and let drain 30 minutes to an hour, shaking the colander from time to time.

Crumble the feta into a bowl and mash together with the olive oil, lemon juice, water, and a few turns of black pepper.

Mix in the cucumbers, onions, and herbs. Taste, and add more salt if desired.

Sathya-rating *****

Easy week night dinner - tom yum soup

2008-08-09T13:41:00.003+09:30

I haven't been around much sorry, cooking and inspiration in the kitchen hasn't been the easiest thing for me at the moment. Hopefully one day soon I can explain. However, this is something I managed to whip up nice and quickly after a busy day at the office - tom yum soup. You can do the same with laksa (just use laksa paste and coconut milk instead of tom yum paste and stock). The ingredients don't matter too much, like most soups you can chuck in whatever you have in the house and think would suit. If you don't know tom yum its a sour spicy soup that is delicious!

(makes 2-3 serves)
2 tsps of ready-made tom yum paste
half cucumber, sliced
100g beancurd, cubed
handful bean sprouts
2 tbs fresh coriander leaves
500ml-1 lt stock
2 lime leaves, finely sliced
100 g oyster mushrooms, cleaned
spring onions, chopped
200g asian noodles, prepared according to packet instructions

Bring a large pot of stock to the boil, add the tom yum paste, lime leaves and mushrooms and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

Place the noodles in 2 large bowls and top with cucumber, bean sprouts and spring onions and ladle in the soup mixture to cover everything. Top with coriander leaves and serve.

Sathya-rating ****

July Daring Bakers Challenge - Hazelnut gateau with praline butttercream

2008-07-30T13:48:00.004+09:30

Its that time of the month for us to share our July Daring Bakers challenge with you! Yay. I love it when we get to share it, as it means the hard work is over and we get to find out soon what our next challenge is… Something without buttercream I hope!

July’s challenge, a hazelnut gateau with praline buttercream, was set by Melecotte and was awesome! Everyone loved it. I think this and the Danish Braid we did last month are my favorites so far.

I struggled with this challenge though. I think I went in too confident (as we as Daring Bakers have completed the genoise and buttercream a few times now). The cake part went fine, the glaze went fine, but the buttercream, (the blooming buttercream) wouldn’t work for me! The first attempt was lumpy as I tried to cut corners by not creaming the butter before adding it to the egg mix, so I started again. This time I followed the instructions to the letter and it just wouldn’t come together, it looked like it was curdled. But, I just kept on beating and it came together perfectly in the end. Sometimes you just gotta keep on beating. Thank goodness, as it was the best part. How could you go wrong with praline though, I ask you!

I made this cake for my youngest sister, Sals birthday and she loved it, which is the only person I really cared about. I packed ¾ of the cake up for her and she took it to work and she tells me everyone there loved it too and thought she’d bought it! That’s a compliment in my books. Or maybe not! Haha. Anyway, the recipe is to follow and if you want to look at what my fellow DB members got up to have a look here.

Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream
From Great Cakes by Carol Walter

1 Filbert Gateau
1 recipe sugar syrup, flavored with dark rum
1 recipe Praline Buttercream
½ cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1 recipe Apricot Glaze
1 recipe Ganache Glaze, prepared just before using
3 tablespoons filberts, toasted and coarsely chopped

Filbert Gateau

Because of the amount of nuts in the recipe, this preparation is different from a classic genoise.

1 ½ cups hazelnuts, toasted/skinned
2/3 cup cake flour, unsifted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar, divided ¼ & ¾ cups
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated lemon rind
5 lg. egg whites
¼ cup warm, clarified butter (100 – 110 degrees)

Position rack in the lower 3rd of the oven and preheat to 180C. Grease and flour a 25.5cm X 6cm round cake pan.

Using a food processor, process nuts, cake flour, and cornstarch for about 30 seconds. Then, pulse the mixture about 10 times to get a fine, powdery mixture. You’ll know the nuts are ready when they begin to gather together around the sides of the bowl. While you want to make sure there aren’t any large pieces, don’t over-process. Set aside.

Put the yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, and beat until thick and light in color, about 3-4 minutes on med-high speed. Slowly, add ¾ cup of sugar. It is best to do so by adding a tablespoon at a time, taking about 3 minutes for this step. When finished, the mixture should be ribbony. Blend in the vanilla and grated lemon rind. Remove and set aside.

Place egg whites in a large, clean bowl of the electric mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed, until soft peaks. Increase to med-high speed and slowly add the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, over 15-20 seconds or so. Continue to beat for another ½ minute.
Add the yolk mixture to the whites and whisk for 1 minute.

Pour the warm butter in a liquid measure cup (or a spouted container). * It must be a deep bottom bowl and work must be fast.* Put the nut meal in a mesh strainer (or use your hand – working quickly) and sprinkle it in about 2 tablespoons at a time – folding it carefully for about 40 folds. Be sure to exclude any large chunks/pieces of nuts. Again, work quickly and carefully as to not deflate the mixture. When all but about 2 Tbsp. of nut meal remain, quickly and steadily pour the warm butter over the batter. Then, with the remaining nut meal, fold the batter to incorporate, about 13 or so folds.

With a rubber spatula, transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the spatula or back of a spoon. **If collected butter remains at the bottom of the bowl, do not add it to the batter! It will impede the cake rising while baking.

Tap the pan on the counter to remove air bubbles and bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes. You’ll know the cake is done when it is springy to the touch and it separates itself from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Invert onto a cake rack sprayed with nonstick coating, removing the pan. Cool the cake completely.

*If not using the cake right away, wrap thoroughly in plastic wrap, then in a plastic bag, then in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If freezing, wrap in foil, then the bag and use within 2-3 months.

Sugar Syrup
Makes 1 cup, good for one 10-inch cake – split into 3 layers

1 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. dark rum or orange flavored liqueur

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add the liqueur. Cool slightly before using on the cake. *Can be made in advance.

Praline Buttercream
1 recipe Swiss Buttercream
1/3 cup praline paste
1 ½ - 2 Tbsp. Jamaican rum (optional)

Blend ½ cup buttercream into the paste, then add to the remaining buttercream. Whip briefly on med-low speed to combine. Blend in rum.

Swiss Buttercream
4 lg. egg whites
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
1 ½ -2 Tbsp. Grand Marnier or liqueur of your choice
1 tsp. vanilla

Place the egg whites in a lg/ bowl of a electric mixer and beat with the whisk attachment until the whites are foamy and they begin to thicken (just before the soft peak stage). Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 2 inches of simmering water, making sure the bowl is not touching the water. Then, whisk in the sugar by adding 1-2 tablespoon of sugar at a time over a minutes time. Continue beating 2-3 minutes or until the whites are warm (about 120 degrees) and the sugar is dissolved. The mixture should look thick and like whipped marshmallows.
Remove from pan and with either the paddle or whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and sugar on med-high until its a thick, cool meringue – about 5-7 minutes. *Do not overbeat*. Set aside.

Place the butter in a separate clean mixing bowl and, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter at medium speed for 40-60 seconds, or until smooth and creamy. *Do not overbeat or the butter will become toooooo soft.*

On med-low speed, blend the meringue into the butter, about 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, over 1 minute. Add the liqueur and vanilla and mix for 30-45 seconds longer, until thick and creamy.

Refrigerate 10-15 minutes before using.

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to 6 months. If freezing, store in 2 16-oz. plastic containers and thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for several hours.

Praline Paste
1 cup (4 ½ oz.) Hazelnuts, toasted/skinless
2/3 cup Sugar
Line a jelly roll pan with parchment and lightly butter.

Put the sugar in a heavy 10-inch skillet. Heat on low flame for about 10-20 min until the sugar melts around the edges. Do not stir the sugar. Swirl the pan if necessary to prevent the melted sugar from burning. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove sugar crystals. If the sugar in the center does not melt, stir briefly. When the sugar is completely melted and caramel in color, remove from heat. (160C) Stir in the nuts with a wooden spoon and separate the clusters. Return to low heat and stir to coat the nuts on all sides. Cook until the mixture starts to bubble. **Remember – extremely hot mixture.** Then onto the parchment lined sheet and spread as evenly as possible. As it cools, it will harden into brittle. Break the candied nuts into pieces and place them in the food processor. Pulse into a medium-fine crunch or process until the brittle turns into a powder. To make paste, process for several minutes. Store in an airtight container and store in a cook dry place. Do not refrigerate.

Apricot Glaze
Good for one 10-inch cake

2/3 cup thick apricot preserves
1 Tbsp. water

In a small, yet heavy saucepan, bring the water and preserves to a slow boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the saucepan, add water as needed.

Remove from heat and, using a strainer, press the mixture through the mesh and discard any remnants. With a pastry brush, apply the glaze onto the cake while the cake is still warm. If the glaze is too thick, thin to a preferred consistency with drops of water.

Ganache Glaze
Makes about 1 cup, enough to cover the top and sides of a 9 or 10 inch layer or tube cake

**Ganache can take on many forms. While warm – great fudge sauce. While cool or lukewarm – semisweet glaze. Slightly chilled – can be whipped into a filling/frosting. Cold & solid – the base of candied chocolate truffles.

6 oz. (good) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, like Lindt
6 oz. (¾ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, Cointreay, or dark Jamaican rum (optional)
¾ tsp. vanilla
½ - 1 tsp. hot water, if needed

Blend vanilla and liqueur/rum together and set aside.

Break the chocolate into 1-inch pieces and place in the basket of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer into a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Heat the cream and corn syrup in a saucepan, on low, until it reached a gentle boil. Once to the gently boil, immediately and carefully pour over the chocolate. Leave it alone for one minute, then slowly stir and mix the chocolate and cream together until the chocolate is melted and incorporated into the cream. Carefully blend in vanilla mixture. If the surface seems oily, add ½ - 1 tsp hot water. The glaze will thicken, but should still be pourable. If it doesn’t thicken, refrigerate for about 5 minutes, but make sure it doesn’t get too cold!

Assembling Cake

Cut a cardboard disk slightly smaller than the cake. Divide the cake into 3 layers and place the first layer top-side down on the disk. Using a pastry brush, moisten the layer with 3-4 Tbsp. of warm sugar syrup. Measure out 1 cup of praline buttercream and set aside.

Spread the bottom layer with a ¼-inch thickness of the remaining buttercream. Cover with ½ of the whipped cream, leaving ¼-inch border around the edge of the cake. Place the middle layer over the first, brush with sugar syrup, spreading with buttercream. Cover with the remaining whipped cream.

Moisten the cut side of the third layer with additional sugar syrup and place cut side down on the cake. Gently, press the sides of the cake to align the layers. Refrigerate to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Lift the cake by sliding your palm under the cardboard. Holding a serrated or very sharp night with an 8-ich blade held parallel to the sides of the cake, trim the sides so that they are perfectly straight. Cut a slight bevel at the top to help the glaze drip over the edge. Brush the top and sides of the cake with warm apricot glaze, sealing the cut areas completely. Chill while you prepare the ganache.

Place a rack over a large shallow pan to catch the ganache drippings. Remove the gateau from the refrigerator and put it the rack. With a metal spatula in hand, and holding the saucepan about 10 inches above the cake, pour the ganache onto the cake’s center. Move the spatula over the top of the ganache about 4 times to get a smooth and mirror-like appearance. The ganache should cover the top and run down the sides of the cake. When the ganache has been poured and is coating the cake, lift one side of the rack and bang it once on the counter to help spread the ganache evenly and break any air bubbles. (Work fast before setting starts.) Patch any bare spots on the sides with a smaller spatula, but do not touch the top after the “bang”. Let the cake stand at least 15 minutes to set after glazing.

To garnish the cake, fit a 12 – 14-inch pastry bag with a #114 large leaf tip. Fill the bag with the reserved praline cream. Stating ½ inch from the outer edge of the cake, position the pastry tube at a 90 degree angle with the top almost touching the top of the cake. Apply pressure to the pastry bag, moving it slightly toward the center of the cake. As the buttercream flows on the cake, reverse the movement backward toward the edge of the cake and finish by pulling the bag again to the center. Stop applying pressure and press the bag downward, then quickly pull the tip up to break the flow of frosting. Repeat, making 12 leaves evenly spaced around the surface of the cake.

Make a second row of leaves on the top of the first row, moving the pastry bag about ¾ inch closer to the center. The leaves should overlap. Make a 3rd row, moving closer and closer to the center. Add a 4th row if you have the room. But, leave a 2-inch space in the center for a chopped filbert garnish. Refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hours to allow the cake to set. Remove the cake from the refrigerator at least 3 hours before serving.

Leftover cake can be covered with foil and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Sathya-rating ****

Vegetarian Shepards Pie

2008-07-25T12:04:00.000+09:30

Its cold in my part of the world at the moment. Not as cold as its gets in many other parts of the world, but cold enough that you hate getting into bed at night ‘cos its like ice, hate getting out of bed in the morning ‘cos its just so cosy, shiver while you wait for the bus and time to eat nice comforting food like Shepards Pie.

I made this one recently for my dear friends Ehren, Kate, Tony and my sister Surya. Surya and I weren’t too excited about it and thought it could have used some tomato paste and more seasoning and more herbs but everyone else really liked it. I would like to make again soon and tweak the taste a little.

This recipe came from Delia, who is one of my favourite celebrity chefs, and I think was maybe one of the first whom I fell in love with many years ago. She’s got quite a reputation in the UK, but not so much here, but her books are like bibles of the kitchen to me. The recipe and amounts are very specific, I’m not that type of cook, so feel free to work with this one as you like. I didn’t note amounts of veges etc which is annoying, sorry. I also didn’t add goats cheese to the mash as Delia states, just some grated cheese and paprika on top.

110 g dried black-eyed beans, pre-soaked and drained
75 g green split peas (no need to soak), rinsed
75 g green lentils (no need to soak), rinsed
50 g peeled carrots
50 g peeled swede
50 g peeled celeriac
1 large onion, peeled
1 small green pepper, deseeded
50 g butter, plus a little extra for greasing
225 g tomatoes
2 heaped tbs chopped rosemary
2 heaped tbs chopped parsley
¼ level teaspoon ground mace
¼ level teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

For the topping:
700 g potatoes, peeled
50 g butter
2 tbs milk
25 g Pecorino cheese, grated
1 cup grated cheddar
Sprinkling of paprika
salt and freshly milled black pepper

Soak and drain the black-eyed beans overnight if you have time and think of it in 2 pints (1.2 litres) cold water. If you need them now, bring them up to the boil (using the same amount of water), boil for 10 minutes and leave them to soak for two hours before draining.

Next, put the drained beans into a saucepan with the split peas and lentils. Add 1¼ pints (725 ml) boiling water and some salt, cover and simmer gently for about an hour, or until the pulses have absorbed the water and are soft. Remove them from the heat and mash a little with a large fork.

Pre-heat the oven to 190°C, and put the potatoes on to cook. Once they are cooked, roughly chop all the vegetables, pile the whole lot into a food processor and process until chopped small. Next, melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat, add the vegetables and cook gently for 10-15 minutes, stirring now and then until they're softened and tinged gold at the edges.
After that, add the vegetables to the pulses mixture, along with the herbs, spices and salt and freshly milled black pepper to taste.

As soon as the potatoes are cooked, mash them with the butter, pecerino and milk, season well with salt and freshly milled black pepper and spread the potato over the rest of the ingredients in the dish. Finally, sprinkle over the cheddar and paprika and bake the pie on the top shelf of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned. If you want to prepare this in advance, it will need about 40 minutes in the oven.

Sathya-rating ***

Easypeasy Coconut Macaroons

2008-07-21T13:49:00.003+09:30

Here's something super easy, quick and tasty. Coconut macaroons. I never knew they were so easy. If I did I would probably be 20kgs heavier than I am now! My lovely sister Surya threw these together and we were shocked by how they came out. Perfect. A good last minute go to recipe.

1 can of condensed milk
450g shredded coconut

Mix all ingredients together.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto generously greased baking sheets.

Bake at 180°C for 8 minutes.

Cool coconut macaroons slightly; remove to rack.

Sathya-rating ****

Lemon Risotto with bacon & almonds

2008-07-15T11:20:00.004+09:30

Another busy weekend of unpacking and sorting out our new home. Its coming along nicely and I’ve managed to cook a few nice meals to make it feel more like home. I have also managed to burn to cakes in the oven, so I am yet to work that one out! I made this on the weekend, which was the perfect comfort food while Adelaide is so cold and we’d worked hard around the house. This recipe comes from the gorgeous Heidi Swanson over at 101 Cookbooks which I have adapted to suit out liking. I love lemon, and I love risotto, the creamy, tangy bowl full of rice is perfectly finished with the crunchy almonds and crispy bacon. Try it, its yummy!

3 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 cups arborio rice
Squeeze of half a lemon
4 cups stock (or water), almost at boiling point
Grated zest of 2 lemons
½ cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbs sour cream
3 big handfuls of greens, chopped (I used rocket)
3-4 rashers of bacon, roughly chopped and fried till crispy
Handful of toasted flaked almonds to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, , garlic, and salt and fry lightly, stirring constantly, for a few minutes.

Add the rice and stir until coated by the oil. Next add a squeeze of lemon juice and stir till it evaporates.

Add one ladle of stock at stock at a time to the rice mixture, stirring continually letting the rice slowly absorb the liquid. I have the heat on medium so there’s a little bubbling but doesn’t go to fast. Add all of the stock till the rice is just cooked.

Stir in the lemon zest, parmesan, rocket and sour cream and season. Cover and allow to sit for 5 minutes .Taste to check the rice is cooked and seasoning is correct and serve in warm bowls topped with the toasted nuts, crispy bacon and more parmesan cheese.

Sathya-rating *****

Easy week night dinner - Kheema with Peas

2008-07-09T06:43:00.002+09:30

We're settling into Adelaide well, but there is just so much to do! The house is coming together and we're getting used to our jobs, slowly. All of this means I don't give this site or my kitchen as much attention as I'd like, sorry. However, the internet was connected yesterday and the kitchen is pretty much done so that will change soon.

Here is a little something I threw together after work that was so easy and so delicious! Its saucy, tasty and comforting. The best part was the leftovers the next day which we put into toasted sandwiches, yum!

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
750g lean minced lamb or beef
2 tbsp tomato paste
250ml water or stock
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried red chilli flakes
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
200g podded peas, fresh or frozen
1-2 tsp garam masala
3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes until light golden. Add the ginger and garlic, stirring well, than add mince and fry for 5 mins until browned.

Add the tomato paste, water, coriander, chilli, turmeric, salt and pepper, and stir well. Cover and cook gently for 20 mins. Uncover, add the peas and garam masala and simmer until the peas are cooked and the kheema is thick and saucy.

Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with yogurt and breads or rice.

Sathya-rating ****

June DB Challenge - Cherry & Custard Danish Braid

2008-06-29T10:27:00.004+09:30

It's the end of June, which means time has come for the Daring Bakers to take over the blog-waves again!

This month we were set the enormous challenge of a Danish Braid with a filling of our choice.

Hours before I discovered this challenge, I was having lunch with dear Laura, who was telling me all about these amazing German custard and cherry pastries she devoured when she was working in Hahndorf, South Australia.

So by the time I'd finished reading the recipe for this latest challenge I knew I would use a cherry and custard filling and started thinking of how I could do that. I ended up finding a jar of morello cherries in juice at the supermarket, boiling them down with some sugar and mushing them to create a yummy compote. I glugged some custard on top and closed my braid and the end result was heavenly. Sour and sweet with flaky, sweet and buttery pastry.

The challenge took me a long time with all the resting (5 times + proofing) (one night and one morning which I didn't enjoy this time. I think because it was stopping and starting. The actual making of the braid part was fiddly but enjoyed it and the end result looked really special, which made it all worthwhile (as did the taste!). I made one large one and 1 small one, which I froze after proofing, defrosted in the fridge over night and then the next day took it out of the fridge for a few hours before popping it in the oven, and it worked fine, which is always good. Overall, I really enjoyed this challenge, I think the end result was my favourite out of all 11 challenges I have now completed, it was yum! I don't think the process was though, and I doubt I will be making Danish pastry from scratch again, although who knows!

If you would like to check out how my fellow Daring Bakers went with their Danish Braids this month you can do so here.

For the dough (Detrempe)
28 grams active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 1/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
225 grams cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour

DOUGH

Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer: Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well. Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain. Make sure that the "walls" of your fountain are thick and even. Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain. With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges. When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes. You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK

Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.

After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 45 x 33 cm and 0.5 cm thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 33 x 45 cm, 0.5 cm thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

Cherry compote
Makes enough for two braids

500 grams cherries, washed, pitted and halved (or 1 jar of morello cherries)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon kirsch, or orange flavored-liqueur

In a medium saucepan, combine the cherries, water, lemon juice, and sugar.

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and kirsch and add to the cherry mixture.

Return to a boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, about 4 minutes.

DANISH BRAID

Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients

1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups cherry compote
1 cup of thick vanilla custard
2 tbs flaked almonds (for decorating)
For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 38 x 50 cm rectangle, 0.5 cm thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.

Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 12 cm long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 2.5 cm apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you've already made.

Spoon the cherry compote onto down the center of the rectangle of the braid and then glug a little custard over the top of your braid.

Starting with the top and bottom "flaps", fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom "flap" up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash

Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking

Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 32 degree C environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.

Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 180 degrees C, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

Black Dhal

2008-06-23T19:12:00.004+09:30

Dhal is one of my favourites. For me, its a comfort food. As mentioned on this blog a few times by now , I assume, the Indian culture, and therefore Indian cuisine has been central in my life since I was born. Whenever I’m not well or down, I enjoy making dhal (or ordering it takeaway) and enjoying it with rice and yogurt. Dhal is an easy dish to prepare made with spices and lentils. Black dhal is, in my opinion, a fancy dhal. It originated in Punjabi, in the North of India and is creamy and has a very different taste to traditional (yellow) Dhal. I’ve tried to make it a few times but this last time was the first time I truly succeeded. It tasted as it should. The black lentils (urad dhal) take a very long time to cook in comparison to other lentils. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, then you’ll need to cook it gently overnight to get the same effect.

I’m looking forward to making this again. Its delicious. I usually make way too much as it freezes really well.

1 cup black urad dal
2 tbsp kidney beans
2 tbsp chickpeas
5 cups water
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
4 tbsp ghee
4 pureed tomatoes
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp butter
1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup
medium bunch coriander

Soak 1 cup black urad dal, 2 tbsp kidney beans and 2 tbsp chickpeas in cold water for 5-6 hours.

Drain water from soaked dals. Add 5 cups of water, 1.5 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic paste, 1/2 tsp ginger paste, 1 tbsp ghee and 1/4 tsp red chilli powder. Put these in a pressure cooker.

After first whistle, boil on low flame for 40-45 minutes.

Heat 3 tbsp ghee in a pan. Add 4 pureed tomatoes and cook till tomatoes become a little dry. Add 2 tsp coriander powder, 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp garlic paste, 1/2 tsp ginger paste and 1/4 tsp red chili powder. Cook till oil separates.

Add boiled dal to this tomato mixture with 1 tsp butter and 1-2 tbsp tomato sauce.

Mix and cook for 10-15 minutes on medium flame mashing some of the dal occasionally to create a nice thick texture.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and cream.

Sathya-rating ****

Gordon Ramsay

2008-06-22T21:44:00.003+09:30

I.

Saw.

Gordon Ramsay.

Today.

Yep.

Little ol' me.

He's perfect.

*swoon*.

I promise a recipe is coming soon, the move is almost complete.

Perfect Party Cake

2008-06-16T08:42:00.002+09:30

I made this again on the weekend.

Actually, would you beleive I made it twice! Once on Saturday morning for a dear friends baby shower which was demolished in under an hour and then just the cake party (no buttercream) last night. I'm having some people over for dinner tonight whom I want to spoil and as I was throwing around ideas for dessert I thought why not amke just that gorgeous cake and serve it with some berries and fresh cream. I'll let you know how it goes. I can't imagine any other way than brilliant.

The method of rubbing the sugar with the lemon zest before you get started is genius. The smell it creates is divine!

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share just how brilliant this cake really is!

Sathya-rating *****

Baba ganoush

2008-06-10T19:07:00.004+09:30

I don't like eggplants/aubergine. Nope, don't like it. Won't order it, cook it, serve myself some. For some reason this is changing. Its funny how things change. Everything does really, well, I think it does anyway. My tastebuds are ever changing and eggplant is one of the last things to cross the line. I made this eggplant curry a couple of months ago and loved it and now baba ganoush has come along. I love it. And, I love the eggplant curry. Does that mean I now like eggplant? Nah, I don't think so.

This is what came up when I typed baba ganoush in Google and its easy and delicious.

1 large eggplant baked then peeled
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup of tahini
blend in blender or
mix with mortar
mint or parsley for garnish
olive oil/cayenne pepper to top

Roast the eggplant for one hour in a hot even and then place a plastic bag to cool, then you can peel and remove top, place in a bowl. Add garlic, lemon juice and tahini paste, blend in a blender or with a mortar. Spread onto a deep plate and garnish with parsley or mint and top with olive oil and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper or paprika.

Serve with turkish bread, crackers or pita breads fresh or toasted under the grill with a little olive oil and salt and pepper.

Sathya-rating ****

Tiropita - Greek Cheese Pie

2008-06-02T19:45:00.008+09:30

Being back in my home town brings all sorts of feelings. One of my favourites is catching up and cooking a nice meal for someone I love and haven't seen much of in a long time.

Monday night was one of those nights. I'd had a hard start to a second week in my new job and had forgotten plans with a dear friend I'd hardly seen since being in Adelaide. I dragged my sorry bones home wondering where I was going to muster the energy to cook dinner and hang out. Our guest arrived as I did and the pure luxury of having her there gave me all the energy I needed. I had a great night, made this pie from what was in the fridge while catching up on the latest gossip and news and just hanging out with an old friend and too much wine - I was full of beans and feeling much happier!

80 grams baby spinach
4 eggs, lightly beaten
400 grams feta cheese
few shavings fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper
10 sheets filo pastry
6 tbs melted butter
1 tsp kalonji (black onion seed)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Place the spinach, eggs, cubed feta, nutmeg and salt and pepper and blend together with a bamix till just smooth.

Lay pastry on flat work surface, covered with a damp cloth to prevent it from drying out. Brush one sheet with melted butter and top with second sheet of filo. Repeat until filo is finished. Brush the remaining butter into the pie dish, line with the buttered filo and spoon the filling in and fold the sides onto the top. Cut pieces from the sides if too long and place over the filling to cover. Brush the top with butter and sprinkle on the kalonji or sesame seeds and place into the hot oven for 20 minutes or till golden and firm to touch.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving with salad (we chopped 1/2 cucumber, 1/4 red capsicum & 4 tomatoes into chunks and tossed them in glug of olive oil, juice of half a lemon & salt and pepper).

Sathya-rating ****

Lavender & White Chocolate Opéra Cake - Daring Bakers May Challenge

2008-05-28T08:07:00.010+09:30

Herewith I share with you my 10th Daring Bakers Challenge - Opéra Cake. Ta-da!

Do you know what that is? I didn't. I had to read up and look through Google images. I realised immediately this was something I had eaten at a glorious high tea at the Sofitel Wentworth a few months ago. According to Larousse Gastronomique "Opéra gateau is an elaborate almond sponge cake with a coffee and chocolate filling and icing." The founders of our wonderful Daring Bakers group, Lis & Ivonne set this months challenge with clear instructions to follow the recipe but adapt the flavourings to our likings as long as the overall appearance was light in colour.

I threw around many ideas for about a week and eventually decided on an old favourite flavouring, Lavender which I had mainly used for pannacottas (that reminds me, I don't think I've done them on BCM - I will soon!).

So Lavender and White Chocolate it was. I followed the recipe we were given to the letter, however I flavoured the soaking syrup with a few leaves of lavender, the white chocolate mousse with a few more leaves of lavender and several strategic drops of food colouring.

I hope you like the look of this - I worked very hard to complete this in one evening. It went down very well, but next time I share it around I will be cutting pieces half the size as it was incredibly rich! I enjoyed this recipe immensely. As I've said many times now, my confidence gets better every time I complete a challenge and this was no exception.

If you would like to see how my fellow Daring Bakers went, please head on over to the Daring Bakers Blogroll.

Here's what I did.

A Taste of Light: Opéra Cake

This recipe is based on Opéra Cake recipes in Dorie Greenspan's Paris Sweets and Tish Boyle and Timothy Moriarty's Chocolate Passion.

For the joconde

(Note: The joconde can be made up to 1 day in advance and kept wrapped at room temperate)

What you'll need:

2 12½ x 15½-inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans
a few tablespoons of melted butter (in addition to what's called for in the ingredients' list) and a brush (to grease the pans)
parchment paper
a whisk and a paddle attachment for a stand mixer or for a handheld mixer
two mixing bowls (you can make do with one but it's preferable to have two)

Ingredients:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 tbsp. (30 grams) white sugar
2 cups (225 grams) ground blanched almonds
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
6 large eggs
½ cup (70 grams) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. (1½ ounces; 45 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Divide the oven into thirds by positioning a rack in the upper third of the oven and the lower third of the oven.

Preheat the oven to 425◦F. (220◦C).

Line two 12½ x 15½- inch (31 x 39-cm) jelly-roll pans with parchment paper and brush with melted butter.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or using a handheld mixer), beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add the granulated sugar and beat until the peaks are stiff and glossy. If you do not have another mixer bowl, gently scrape the meringue into another bowl and set aside.

If you only have one bowl, wash it after removing the egg whites or if you have a second bowl, use that one. Attach the paddle attachment to the stand mixer (or using a handheld mixer again) and beat the almonds, icing sugar and eggs on medium speed until light and voluminous, about 3 minutes.

Add the flour and beat on low speed until the flour is just combined (be very careful not to overmix here!!!).

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue into the almond mixture and then fold in the melted butter. Divide the batter between the pans and spread it evenly to cover the entire surface of each pan.

Bake the cake layers until they are lightly browned and just springy to the touch. This could take anywhere from 5 to 9 minutes depending on your oven. Place one jelly-roll pan in the middle of the oven and the second jelly-roll pan in the bottom third of the oven.

Put the pans on a heatproof counter and run a sharp knife along the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Cover each with a sheet of parchment or wax paper, turn the pans over, and unmold.

Carefully peel away the parchment, then turn the parchment over and use it to cover the cakes. Let the cakes cool to room temperature.

For the syrup

(Note: The syrup can be made up to 1 week in advance and kept covered in the refrigerator.)

What you'll need:

a small saucepan

Ingredients:

½ cup (125 grams) water
⅓ cup (65 grams) granulated sugar
1 3 -5 cm piece of lavender leaves

Stir all the syrup ingredients together in the saucepan and bring to a boil.

Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

For the buttercream

(Note: The buttercream can be made up to 1 month in advance and packed in an airtight container. If made way in advance, you can freeze the buttercream. Alternatively you can refrigerate it for up to 4 days after making it. To use the buttercream simply bring it to room temperature and then beat it briefly to restore its consistency.)

What you'll need:

a small saucepan
a candy or instant-read thermometer
a stand mixer or handheld mixer
a bowl and a whisk attachment
rubber spatula

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
seeds of one vanilla bean
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1¾ cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons of melted white chocolate

Combine the sugar, water and vanilla bean seeds or extract in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat just until the sugar dissolves.

Continue to cook, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 225◦F (107◦C) [*Note: Original recipe indicates a temperature of 255◦F (124◦C), however, when testing the recipe I found that this was too high so we heated to 225◦F and it worked fine] on a candy or instant-read thermometer. Once it reaches that temperature, remove the syrup from the heat.

While the syrup is heating, begin whisking the egg and egg yolk at high speed in the bowl of your mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk them until they are pale and foamy.

When the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature and you remove it from the heat, reduce the mixer speed to low speed and begin slowly (very slowly) pouring the syrup down the side of the bowl being very careful not to splatter the syrup into the path of the whisk attachment. Some of the syrup will spin onto the sides of the bowl but don't worry about this and don't try to stir it into the mixture as it will harden!

Raise the speed to medium-high and continue beating until the eggs are thick and satiny and the mixture is cool to the touch (about 5 minutes or so).

While the egg mixture is beating, place the softened butter in a bowl and mash it with a spatula until you have a soft creamy mass.

With the mixer on medium speed, begin adding in two-tablespoon chunks. When all the butter has been incorporated, raise the mixer speed to high and beat until the buttercream is thick and shiny.

At this point add in the white chocolate and beat for an additional minute or so.

Refrigerate the buttercream, stirring it often, until it's set enough (firm enough) to spread when topped with a layer of cake (about 20 minutes).

(Note: The mousse can be made ahead and refrigerated until you're ready to use it.)

What you'll need:

a small saucepan
a mixer or handheld mixer

Ingredients:

7 ounces (200g) white chocolate
1 cup plus 3 tbsp. heavy cream (35% cream)

Melt the white chocolate and the 3 tbsp. of heavy cream in a small saucepan.

Stir to ensure that it's smooth and that the chocolate is melted. Add the tablespoon of liqueur to the chocolate and stir. Set aside to cool completely.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream until soft peaks form.

Gently fold the whipped cream into the cooled chocolate to form a mousse. If it's too thin, refrigerate it for a bit until it's spreadable.

If you're not going to use it right away, refrigerate until you're ready to use.

For the glaze
(Note: It's best to make the glaze right when you're ready to finish the cake.)

What you'll need:

a small saucepan or double boiler

Ingredients:

14 ounces (400g) white chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream (35% cream)
5 - 8 cm piece of lavender leaves

Melt the white chocolate with the heavy cream and the piece of lavender. Whisk the mixture gently until smooth.

Let cool for 10 minutes, remove the lavender and then pour over the chilled cake. Using a long metal cake spatula, smooth out into an even layer.

Place the cake into the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set.

Assembling the Opéra Cake

(Note: The finished cake should be served slightly chilled. It can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 1 day).

Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.

Working with one sheet of cake at a time, cut and trim each sheet so that you have two pieces (from each cake so you'll have four pieces in total): one 10-inch (25-cm) square and one 10 x 5-inch (25 x 12½-cm) rectangle.

Place one square of cake on the baking sheet and moisten it gently with the flavoured syrup.

Spread about three-quarters of the buttercream over this layer.

Top with the two rectangular pieces of cake, placing them side by side to form a square. Moisten these pieces with the flavoured syrup.

Spread the remaining buttercream on the cake and then top with the third square of joconde. Use the remaining syrup to wet the joconde and then refrigerate until very firm (at least half an hour).

Prepare the ganache/mousse (if you haven't already) and then spread it on the top of the last layer of the joconde. Refrigerate for at least two to three hours to give the ganache/mousse the opportunity to firm up.

Make the glaze and after it has cooled, pour/spread it over the top of the chilled cake. Refrigerate the cake again to set the glaze.

Serve the cake slightly chilled. This recipe will yield approximately 20 servings.

Sathya-rating ****

Stirfry vegetables with tofu

2008-05-22T21:49:00.008+09:30

So, I'm home in Adelaide, South Australia and its all good. Its so nice to be home and with all things familiar. We're housesitting for my parents who are in Holland at the moment. Its a gorgeous big house, just outside the city, on a gorgeous property. Its cold, dark, quiet, which means perfect sleeping weather! Mmm. Its great. We're here for a couple of months with my sister who's vegetarian.

I made this Kylie Kwong stirfry for us all just before Dad took off. He's on a special diet of only organic vegetables at the moment. With all the organic ingredients, this was a yummy dinner for all.

Here's what I did.

1 small Carrot, peeled
1 medium Zucchini
½ medium Red Capsicum
2 tablespoons Peanut oil
200g Tofu, sliced
1 medium Red Onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon Ginger, julienne
¼ cup Shao Hsing Wine (Or Dry Sherry)
2 tsp White Sugar
2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tsp Malt Vinegar
1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 tsp Oyster Sauce
½ teaspoon Sesame Oil
½ cup Spring Onion, julienne

Cut carrot and zucchini in half lengthways, then finely slice on the diagonal.

Remove seeds and membranes from pepper and cut into fine slices.

Heat oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly.

Add carrot, tofu, onion and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add wine or sherry, zucchini, pepper and sugar and stir-fry for 1 minute.

Pour in soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, 5 spice and sesame oil and stir-fry for a further minute or until vegetables are just tender.

Toss in spring onion, stir-fry for 10 seconds, then remove from heat.

Transfer to a large bowl and serve immediately.

Sathya-rating ***

One year on + Lemon Bars

2008-05-14T09:40:00.005+09:30

One year ago today, this little blog, The Baker and The Currymaker began. Yep, that's right. I survived a whole 12 months. I didn't know I had it in me to come here several times a week and tell you all about my kitchens goings-on all the while, taking pictures, trying new things, trying to keep it exciting as well as suitable for the mouths that needed feeding. I've loved it. Honestly, every single time has been fun. I've made friends, I've tried new things, my photography is very slowly getting better, I feel a little more confident in my verbal ramblings to you all and according to the traffic, theres quite a few of you who like it here even though, no matter what I do, I can't get you to comment much, apart from my favourite day of the month, Daring Bakers challenge reveal day when I get my dose for ages.

To celebrate all this I decided to try something from 2 ladies I love - Smitten Kitchen and The Barefoot Contessa. I came across these Lemon Bars on Smitten Kitchen's site and its a Barefoot Contessa recipe she's adapted and here's my attempt at it.

It was almost too easy. Strange thing for me to say really, as I still don't consider myself a baker, but there's a little more proof I am I guess. So you make an easy shortbread style layer and chill it and then mix a few things together and pop it in the oven, slice it up and you have little pieces of heaven. Yum! These are delicious. My sister, Surya, must be happy to have me home, as I swear she ate like 6 of them, if not more!

For the crust:
225 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the lemon layer:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease a 22 by 33 by 2-inch baking sheet.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (less if you are using the thinner topping), or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles and dust with icing sugar.

Sathya-Rating ****

Sathya-rating

2008-05-12T23:31:00.002+09:30

This evening I made the chicken curry I discovered last month for Liz.

I picked Liz up from work and made her dinner, as I was getting everything together Liz, who is unaware what I'm making, announces the chicken curry with the lemon you made recently looked great. Funny thats what I'm making. Liz loved it, which is always great and we were talking about how hard it is to portray to the people who read this blog who wonderful something is.

From this, comes the 'Sathya-rating' legend. I'm having trouble making it the right size, but I hope you can see it and understand where I'm going with this.

So, from now on I want to try to give each recipe a rating. We'll see how we go - whether you like it and I like it. Let me know what y'all think :)

Lemon, Pea & Proscuitto Risotto

2008-05-11T12:09:00.004+09:30

I'm back, sorry I've taken so long, as some of you may know I've just moved from Sydney on the Eastern border of Australia to Adelaide in South Australia. It was wonderful, I bought a new car just before we left and we drove to Melbourne and had a wonderful night night of Tapas and Sangria, and then took the Great Ocean Road stopping overnight in Lorne, on the river at Pt Fairy, Mt Gambier, the famous Australian wine region - the Coonawarra and then arrived in Adelaide.

Just before we left Sydney, I made this wonderful risotto for our friends Stacy & Will from the Delicious magazine (Australian gourmet food magazine). I love risotto, I love proscuitto and lemon is a known favourite, so I was pretty sure this would be a hit. You'll be happy to know it was! This is going to be my go to risotto recipe, it was fantastic. You should try it and let me know what you think.

70 grams unsalted butter
2 large leeks (pale part only), thinly sliced (I used 2 onions, as I didn't have leeks)
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups (330g) arborio rice
1.5 litres (6 cups) chicken stock, kept at a simmer
2 tsp olive oil
70 grams sliced proscuitto, cut into strips (I doubled this to 150g as the boys love it)
1 1/2 cups (180g) frozen peas
2 tbs parsley, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
1 - 2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs cream or 20g butter (I used butter)
2/3 cup (50g) parmesan, freshly grated, + shaved parmesan to serve

Melt the butter in a large deep pain over medium heat. Add the leek (or onions) and garlic and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring until soft.

Add the rice and stir to coat the grains for 1 - 2 minutes.

Add the stock, ladleful at a time, stir thoroughly allowing each addition to absorb before adding the next ladleful. Continue for 20 minutes or till the rice is cooked but still firm to bite. (I didn't need all the stock, I think I used about 4.5 - 5 cups, but it depends on the rice).

At the same time, heat the oil in another pan over medium heat, fry the proscuitto and cook for 2 minutes when it starts to get crispy, add the peas and toss until the peas are warm. Set aside and keep warm, by covering the pan.

When the risotto is ready, turn off the heat and add the parsley, lemon juice and zest and cream or butter and 2/3's of the pea mixture and stir. Season to your liking and serve with the remaining pea mixture on top with the shaved parmesan.

S

Taste & Create: Borani (spinach, feta & yogurt dip)

2008-04-30T07:51:00.002+09:30

I have noticed the festivities of Taste and Create around the traps but have never managed to join in time until this latest one. Taste and Create is a blogging event which a terrific event created by Nicole over at For the Love of Food Each blogger is paired up with a fellow food blogger and you each make something from each other's blog.

I was partnered with We [Heart] Food which is a lovely blog by Chris and Lisa in Seattle. As you may know, I am moving interstate at the moment, so it may not have been a great idea to join in this month, but by the time I realised this it was too late. Story of my life really!

There are many recipes I was interested in making on Chris and Lisa’s site, but I was most attracted to a Persian dish called Borani which is a dip or salad made up of spinach, yogurt, feta and dill. It came together quickly and easily and went down a treat with some Turkish bread. I will definitely be making this one again! Thanks guys!

1 bunch fresh spinach, well rinsed, stemmed, and chopped
1 cup chopped onions
3 spring onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced fresh dill
1/3 cup feta cheese
2 tbsp light plain yogurt
salt and ground pepper to taste

After rinsing the spinach, cook for a few minutes over medium heat in a covered sauce pan until wilted but still bright green. Drain the spinach and press in a colander or sieve to squeeze out the excess moisture.

Saute the onions, spring onions, and garlic in the olive oil. When the onions are soft and translucent, stir in the spinach and dill and heat for about 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to press out any extra liquid and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the feta and yogurt and add salt and pepper to taste. Chill for at least an hour.

Serve with bread or pita.

Makes approx. 2 cups

S

April Daring Bakers Challenge - Cheesecake Pops

2008-04-28T08:07:00.004+09:30

Its the end of April, which means it Daring Bakers challenge time. This month one of my favourite bloggers, Deborah from Taste & Tell joined Elle from Feeding My Enthusiasm choose the challenge - Cheesecake Pops. I was quite excited to see this recipe originally as I've never made a baked cheesecake and have not really 'played' with food like this to form it into something so fun.

We're moving back to Adelaide, South Australia from Sydney next week so I wasn't sure I'd be able to complete the challenge but things came together and I managed to make them this weekend for my gorgeous friends Stacy and Will who are kindly looking after us at the moment as we had to get get out of our apartment quicker than we thought.

I loved this challenge, the pops taste fantastic and I didn't struggle with any of the tasks. The only slight difficulty was the fact there are no beaters in this kitchen, so it took me a long time to combine everything to the right consistency. It made me realise how much I love my gorgeous red KitchenAid! I will definitely be making these again, maybe not us 'pops' but the cheesecake part for sure. It'll be a breeze with the KitchenAid.

Thank Elle and Deborah, this was a lot of fun. If you would like to check out my fellow challengers, please do so here.

Makes 30 – 40 Pops
5 x 225g packages cream cheese at room temperature
2 cups sugar
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp salt
5 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
Boiling water as needed
Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks
450g milk chocolate, finely chopped milk
2 tbs vegetable shortening
Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 160C. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it's shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

S

Double-Baked Gruyere Soufflé

2008-04-22T14:46:00.005+09:30

The news in our world is we are moving from Sydney, Australia to Adelaide, South Australia. For those of you who don’t know our wonderful country, that’s 2 days drive away or a few hours in a plane. In other words, a big move! Its all very stressful and we are in the midst of boxes, tape, bubble wrap and a few temper tantrums! (So, please bear with me, if there aren't too many posts up here in the coming weeks).

We had our last dinner party 2 weekends ago and I somehow convinced myself to make soufflés! I know, brave huh? Well, you’ll be happy to hear they went really well. The preparation was a little fiddly but they rose perfectly in the oven and tasted delicious along side a green salad of rocket, apple and toasted walnuts with a tart French vinaigrette. I used a recipe from a handy site called Cuisine, it makes 6 and is worth a try next time you would like to impress.

70g butter
65g plain flour
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
380ml milk
160g gruyere cheese, grated
3 egg yolks
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cup thickened cream

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease 6 x 200ml ramekins.

Melt butter over low heat. Add flour, nutmeg, cayenne and salt. Cook for eight minutes, stirring regularly, until mixture starts to foam and flour is cooked. Gradually add the milk, stirring to prevent lumps.

Cook further for 10 minutes, stirring. Stir through 80g gruyere cheese. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a bowl then add egg yolks. Combine. Whisk whites to medium peaks and gently fold through in three batches. Pour evenly into ramekins. Fill a roasting tray with hot water, one-third the height of the ramekins. Bake 20 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool. They will shrink. At this stage, you can put them to one side.

When ready to serve, remove from moulds and place upside down in six ovenproof dishes with sides. Pour cream evenly between soufflés. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown. Serve immediately with a well dressed green salad.

S

Chicken with Sliced Lemon and Fried Onions

2008-04-14T15:59:00.006+09:30

Do you love lemons? I do, they are my favourite, sweet or savoury, and honestly 9 times out of 10 a squeeze of lemon makes a dish better! In my book, anyway.

So, when I saw a Madhur Jaffrey on Serious Eats for a chicken curry focused on lemon I knew I'd love it. I organised a curry night with our newly wed friends, Merryn and Jamie and started this wonderful concoction.

It didn't take too long to prepare, but I did let it bubble away on the stove, on a low simmer for an extra 30 minutes to an hour. The end result is a delicious thick gravy with tender tasty chicken. It was devoured by all. Its not too spicy, or to Indian-ey either, like Robin Bellinger, I think this would be enjoyed even by those who think they don't like Indian food or curries.

Go ahead, give it a go, I will most definitely be trying it again.

1.5kg bone-in, skinless chicken pieces (I used all thighs; it’s easy to remove the skin yourself, if you can’t find bone-in, skinless parts)
3 medium onions
Ginger fresh, about 1-inch cube, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
6 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
2 tbs plain yogurt
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 whole lemon
1 tbs sugar
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper

If the chicken pieces are skin-on, remove the skin. Rinse and pat dry.
Peel the onions. Chop two of them coarsely and put them into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Cut the third one in half lengthwise, then slice it into thin half-rounds and set aside.

Add 6 tablespoons of water, the ginger, and the garlic to the onions in the food processor or blender and blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.

Heat 4 tablespoons of the oil in a 10-12 inch pot over medium-high flame. When hot, put in the sliced onions and fry them, stirring, until they are darkish brown and crisp, though not burned. Remove onions with a slotted spoon and leave them to drain on paper towels.

In the same oil, brown the chicken pieces on all sides until they are golden. Do this speedily over high flame so the chicken browns but does not cook through. I did the thighs about 2 minutes per side. You will need to do it in at least 2 batches. Remove the chicken with slotted spoon to a bowl or plate.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot. Pour in the paste from the blender (turn your face away!). Stirring, fry on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes or until the paste turns a nice golden brown. Now put in the coriander, cumin, and turmeric and fry, stirring continuously; after another 2 minutes add yogurt, a teaspoon at a time; after 2 or 3 minutes, the tomato sauce, a tablespoon at a time, continuing to stir and fry. Finally, add salt, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne pepper, and 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Cut the lemon into 4 or 5 slices, discarding the end pieces, and remove the seeds. Add lemon slices along with the chicken pieces, fried onions, sugar, and the ground pepper to the sauce, stir, and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat, and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is tender, turning the pieces every now and then. If chicken sticks to the bottom of pot, add a little more water. You should end up with a very thick sauce.

S

Roast Pumpkin Lasagne

2008-04-11T08:41:00.002+09:30

Between the 2 of us we've posted quite a few lasagne's and here is yet another one. I guess it shows how many different ways there are to do 1 dish! I made this one while I was at home in Adelaide recently for a large group including vegetarians. I found half a butternut pumpkin/squah in the fridge and sliced it very thinly and roasted it and included it as one of the layers. It worked so well! So many people have an infinity with roast pumpkin.

Note the empty plates and lasagne from a different angle at the bottom, everyone really enjoyed it.

½ butternut pumpkin/squash
2 sprigs fresh rosemary finely chopped
2 x 400g tins of peeled tomatoes
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 onion, diced
Handful fresh basil leaves, torn
1 packet of fresh lasagne sheets
Salt and pepper
½ tsp nutmeg
300g grated mozzarella
100g grated parmesan

Bechamel sauce
140g butter
3 tbs flour
5 cups milk
1 ½ tsp nutmeg

To begin preheat the oven to 200C.

Next peel the butternut pumpkin and cut into large thin slices. Place on a baking tray and sprinkle with olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Place in hot oven for 15-25 minutes till roasted and set aside till you build the lasagne.

In a large pan heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add the onion and garlic and fry on a medium heat till soft. Add the tins of tomatoes and season and stir. Allow to simmer, uncovered for 20 minutes till nice and thick. Add the torn basil leaves and stir through. Set aside.

To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter over low heat until foaming then add the flour. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened. When thick, simmer for 2 minutes. Season well with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Lightly oil a lasagne pan and start with a little of the tomato sauce spread over the bottom. Lay the lasagne sheets on top. Next pop the roasted pumpkin in one layer and top with more lasagne sheets. Then the tomato sauce with a sprinkling and mozzarella and parmesan then the lasagna again. Continue, in this order with the layers, finishing with béchamel, top with the parmesan and mozzarella and bake for 30-45 minutes or until golden brown. Leave for 10 minutes before cutting and serve with a well dressed green salad.

S

Banana Bread

2008-04-08T10:04:00.004+09:30

Here's a nice easy, comforting recipe for you when you have left over bananas, like we all do sometimes.

This recipe comes from Woman's Weekly cookbook collection, and is the only banana bread recipe I have ever used as it was perfect every single time.

1 ¼ cups self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
20g butter
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup milk
½ cup ripe mashed banana
Preheat oven to 170C.

Grease 14cmx21cm loaf pan.

Sift flour and cinnamon into a large bowl and rub in the butter.

Stir in the sugar, egg, milk and banana and mix. Do not over mix, the batter should be lumpy.

Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked when tested.

Cool and serve sliced with butter.

S

Eggplant Curry

2008-04-03T11:02:00.005+10:30

Molly over at Orangette posted a recipe for eggplant curry a few weeks ago and it sounded wonderful. I'm not overly keen on eggplant, but lately I've realised doing things a whole other way can make a difference. Certain things I did not like, I do now. Eggplant curry is the only way I can enjoy eggplant at the moment, although I have not yet made one myself. Here is my first attempt and it was wonderful. Molly is spot on, its not hard to make and it definitely gets better as each day goes by. The texture of the eggplants is like velvet and with all those spicing its my idea of comfort food. I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, however I finely chopped up the roots and them stems of the coriander (cilantro) and added them to the pan with the ginger and the garlic.

The smell the filled our place when the onions, cummin seeds, coriander roots, ginger, garlic and jalepeno was warm and tangy and spicy all at the same time.

Adapted from Food & Wine, March 2005

3 large eggplants
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small jalapeño, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 ½ tbs fresh ginger, minced
¼ tsp chilli flakes
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp turmeric
1 cup frozen peas
¾ cup coriander, chopped
½ cup plain yogurt
Salt, to taste
1 tsp garam masala

Preheat the oven to 260°C. Put the eggplants on a rimmed baking sheet, and pierce them all over with a paring knife. Bake for about 1 hour, or until the skins are blackened and the flesh feels very soft when pressed. Set aside to cool slightly. Slice open lengthwise and, using a spoon, scrape the flesh from the skin onto a large bowl. Using a potato masher or a large fork, mash the flesh coarsely. (This part can be done a day or so ahead, if you like. Refrigerate the prepared eggplant in a covered container.)

Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they begin to sizzle and pop, about 10 seconds. Add the onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and beginning to brown, about 5 - 10 minutes. Add the jalapeño, garlic, ginger, coriander roots/stems and chilli flakes, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, and stir well. Cook until all the liquid has evaporated, about 10 -15 minutes. Add the paprika and turmeric, and cook, stirring, for another 2 - 3 minutes. Add the eggplant, stir to combine, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Add the peas, and cook to warm through. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the coriander, yogurt, garam masala and salt.

S

March Daring Bakers Challenge - The Perfect Party Cake

2008-03-30T07:50:00.007+10:30

Well, well, here we are at my eighth Daring Baker Challenge. Can you believe it? I certainly can’t! When I first signed up, I honestly thought I wouldn’t last, and look at me now. Yes, March’s DB Challenge went well, that’s why I sound so pleased with myself. There have been some disasters over the last 8 months, as well as some mediocre moment and some great results. Although I managed to make the process of making this challenge much more complicated than it needed to be, this month’s challenge goes into the category of great results.

My gorgeous friend Kate bakes and decorates the most exquisite cake for everyone, so when I noticed her birthday coming, I decided all these Daring Bakers Challenges I’d done lately helped my confidence enough to bake Kate a cake for her birthday.

A few days later the March Challenge was set by Morven The Perfect Party Cake – how more perfect could it be! What timing. I was really looking forward tho this challenge. I read the recipe through and felt relaxed, I knew the buttercream from our December Yule Log Challenge

I got myself organised, music was blaring, the doors were open, it was a gorgeous day outside. I scrubbed my house and got into the kitchen. Once the amazing lemon-scented sugar and butter was whizzing away in my fire-engine red Kitchen-Aid I went to preheat the oven.

For those of you who haven’t figured out I am quite the bimbo at times, you’ll know for sure now – the oven door was missing. Oh no! That’s right they took it away to be repaired. I totally forgot! There I was standing in the middle of my kitchen, nearly in tears; I was that cross with my own stupidity. I contemplated asking neighbours I’d never met before or plain old giving up. Eventually I called Kate (yes, the birthday girl) and explained. How ridiculous! Can I bake your birthday cake in your oven!?

I jumped into a taxi, Kitchen-Aid mixer bowl filled with batter and drove 15 minutes to her place. The chubby cabby asked 100 questions and made me feel even more like the Dumb Baker I was.

In the end, the cake came out wonderfully. Kate’s house smelt like freshly bakes cakes and I returned home to finish it all off and everyone loved it! I had visions of the batter collapsing or curdling but it held up wonderfully. I will definitely be making this cake again. Now, I ask you, was all that daring enough for you!?

Here’s what I did:

For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour (I used plain flour and removed 1 tbs of flour from each cup)
1 tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
340 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2/3 cup raspberry jam stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups shredded coconut

Preheat the oven 175C and butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans, lining the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered baking paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light. Beat in the lemon extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centre’s should come out clean

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up.

Now for the buttercream - put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again. On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla. You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To assemble the cake, cut the cakes horizontally in half, using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion. Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of parchment paper. Spread it with one third of the jam. Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream. Top with another layer, spread with jam and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover). Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

The cake is ready to serve as soon as it is assembled, but it’s best to let it sit and set for a couple of hours in a cool room – not the fridge. Whether you wait or slice and enjoy it immediately, the cake should be served at room temperature; it loses all its subtlety when it’s cold.

If you would like to see what my fellow Daring Bakers did with this challenge please check out our Daring Baker’s Blogroll.

S

Apple Pandowdy

2008-03-25T16:47:00.000+10:30

Here’s another dish we whipped up while I was home in Adelaide. I don’t know where I found this, it was in my emails. I’ve never heard of a Pandowdy but basically it’s like a cobbler, yummy spiced apples with a cake topping. It looks pretty boring when it comes out of the oven, but it’s delicious! Everyone was very excited and there were no leftovers. That plus a few more compliments the next day means it’s a winner! I served this with ice-cream which worked perfectly. You could try this with any fruit really. I’d like to try it with some raspberries next time, mmm.

900g golden delicious apples
2 tbs golden syrup
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
175g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
115g sugar
115g unsalted butter, melted
150ml milk

Peel, quarter and core the apples, then thinly slice them into a bowl. Add the syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg, and toss gently to coat the apple slices evenly.

Spoon the mixture into a buttered 1-litre ovenproof, deep-sided dish. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre and add the melted butter and the milk. Stir to make a smooth batter, then spread it evenly over the apple slices.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 40-45 minutes or until the sponge topping has risen and is browned.

Serve from the baking dish or invert into a serving dish. It is, of course, highly improved with cream in generous dollops.

S

Warm Roast Vege Salad

2008-03-17T09:10:00.004+10:30

I'm happy to report I am in my home town of Adelaide, South Australia with my nearest and dearest. There's been been a few things going on, so we thought we'd take a few days off plus Easter to see how everyone's going on.

Its been 41C (106F) degrees, the air conditioner is broken, so you do not feel like doing much! We've swam in the ocean, had lots of ice cream and hours out the back of Mum and Dads overlooking the valley with about 50 lorikeets who come to bath and eat oatmeal from my Dad's little bird sanctuary he's set up. Pure bliss if you ask me.

Mum and Dad have a very nice little vegetable patch, so my sister and I set out to make dinner with what we had at home. It turned out really well. I must admit, during the process I didn't know whether beetroot and pumpkin would work together, but they did! Combined with cherry tomatoes, lemon, rosemary and garlic they were a marriage made in heaven.

1/2 butternut pumpkin, peeled and diced
1 small beets, scrubbed but leave on tops and tails so they don't bleed
4 large garlic cloves
2 sprigs rosemary
3 tbs parsley, chopped
1 lemon
2 big handfuls of cherry tomatoes
4 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 1/2 cups rice
1 tsp vegetable stock

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Place the pumpkin, beets,rosemary and whole garlic cloves in an oven dish with a couple of glugs of olive oil and salt and pepper and toss. Pop this into the oven for 45 minutes.

Cook the rice according the packet instructions, preferably the steam method so you don't have to drain all the flavour away. Before cooking add half the cherry tomatoes and the vegetable stock. Squash the tomatoes with your hands into the pot of rice.

Next prepare the dressing. In a small bowl add the rind of the lemon, the juice of the lemon 2 tbs of olive oil, lots of salt and pepper, chilli flakes and whisk. Remove the roasted garlic cloves from the oven and push the sweet flesh away from the garlic peel. Mash with a fork and add to the dressing and mix further.

Cut the remaining cherry tomatoes in half and finely chop the parsley. Next, top and tail the beets and peel and cut into quarters.

Now to assemble. Add half of the dressing, the cut cherry tomatoes and half of the parsley to the rice and mix and pile onto a suitable plate. Toss the pumpkin and beets in the remaining dressing and pile on top of the rice mix, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

(Serves 4)

S

Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with 2 Cheeses

2008-03-13T18:22:00.006+10:30

Here in Sydney, we have the Growers Markets on the first Saturday of every month on the banks of Darling Harbour. There are loads of stalls, people, dogs, chairs and umbrellas to guard us from the sun, live music and all sorts of nice things. I try to go every month, but you have to get there super early or the things you want will have run out, like the mushrooms I love.

In the week leading up to the recent markets, it rained and rained and rained here so I thought I wouldn’t be going. I woke up on the first Saturday of March and it was a gorgeous sunny day so we sleepily traipsed down there.

I got in the line for a breakfast roll and Tony got in the line for coffees. We met up a while later and sat in the sun and woke up over breakfast with the stunning water views and all sorts of happening around us. Right near us was the stall you can see above. I’ve never made zucchini flowers at home so I bought myself some, found the recipe below in the Sydney Morning Herald (our local paper) and whipped them up for us. They were great. Not as good as some restaurants I’ve been to, but from the old home kitchen, they were lovely. If you find your self with some zucchini flowers, they’re worth a shot.

Batter
200g plain flour
2/3 cup cold water
Salt and pepper to taste

Zucchini flowers
24 female zucchini flowers with the zucchini attached
100g grated parmesan
100g grated gruyere
100g breadcrumbs
Handful of chopped parsley
A few sprigs of thyme, finely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

First, make the batter. Mix the flour and the water together until they form a rough, lumpy mixture; don't work the batter too much. Rest this while you are preparing the rest of the dish.

For six people, get 24 female zucchini flowers with the baby zucchini attached. Mix 100g each of grated gruyere cheese and breadcrumbs. Add a few sprigs of finely chopped thyme and add salt and pepper. Open the ends of the flowers and fill them with as much mixture as can fit comfortably inside, while still being able to pinch the points of the flowers closed. Dip the filled zucchini in the batter, allowing any excess to run off and deep fry in olive oil until golden.

Take them out, drain, salt lightly and serve with salad.

S

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Cannellini Beans

2008-03-10T14:07:00.003+10:30

This pick may look simple and not at all exciting, but I tell you what, that pot of dinner up there was oh so good! Adam, The Amateur Gourmet also raved about it as one of his favourites, Lydia Bastiniach recipes. I hadn't tried anything from his site before, and thought this recipe looked simple and right up my alley so I made it a few days later. Half way through making it I wondered how good it could really be, but once I stuck my spoon in the bowl, scooped some out and out it in my mouth my tastebuds were satisfied. Actually, better than satisfied, they were mighty happy! Tony claims its one of the best pastas I've made, but I think we've all heard that before! To be honest, these broad comments haven't been coming as thick and fast lately, so that does mean he really enjoyed. Give it a go, you won't regret it.

500g macaroni
2 large garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped (keep the oil)
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I assume that's chilli flakes? That's what I used)
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 tsp salt
1 handful fresh parsely, chopped
fresh pepper
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large oan of water to the boil and cook pasta according the the instructions.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar to a large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or so. Next, add the chilli flakes and toast for another 1/2 minute.

Then add 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes and spread them out, let them sizzle, toast for a minute. After a minute, ladle in 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, keep it simmering, until the liquid reduces by half.

Finally, stir in the cannellini beans, 1/4 tsp salt and approx 1 and 1/2 cups more pasta cooking water. Bring it to a boil, stir together, and cook "at an active simmer" for 4 minutes.

When the pasta is done, drain and add it to the pan with the tomatoes etc. Add the parsley, then off the heat add about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and a final tablespoon of olive oil and fresh pepper before serving.

S

Blogging By Mail

2008-03-08T13:00:00.006+10:30

Stephanie over at Dispensing Happiness is holding a blogging event at the moment, called Blogging my Mail. We all signed up and then received emails notifying us to whom we have to send parcel to and then wait for ours to turn up. To be honest, I had kinda forgotten about it as it had been a little while. And, let me tell you she is well and truly dispensing happiness ladies and gentlemen - this week I came home after a miserable day at the office to find a huge parcel from the States, all for me! Check it out! Aren't I a lucky girl? (Hey, yes I'm still a girl, I'm 30 at the end of this year and I'm going to abuse that term well and truly till then!)

My parcel came from a blogger I hadn't come across yet, Angel who has a gorgeous site called Angel's Bento Box. Two things have come out of this event, one I have a new friend and blog I will be regularly keeping an eye on and two, I have a whole basket fully of goodies! Actually, make it three cos goddamn did all this make me grin from ear to ear and forget all about my horrendous day!

Angel spoilt me - I got kitten embossing pages, Victorian stationery thats so pretty, sweet stickers, sparkly green sprinkles in Angel's fav colour green, tea, a candle in my favourite scent, cinnamon, bento boxes, silicone cups that I will find countless uses for I'm sure, miniature cookie cutters and to top it off some yummy US chocolates, like Reese's Cups which we can't get here.

I am so spoilt!! Thank you very very very much to the two ladies, I've never met before, Angel and Stephanie at the Dispensing Happiness. I can't wait to see how my parcel is received.

S

Thai Basil Chili Chicken

2008-03-07T15:42:00.004+10:30

For me if its not Pad Thai when we go out for Thai its Basil Chicken. The flavour is big and unforgettable. I love it! If I’d have known how simple it and quick this was to prepare this would be my go to recipe, I would be making it all the time.
This is a Kasma Loha-unchit recipe. I have no idea how it ended up in my pile of recipes to try, but I will be attempting more of his recipe after this one was such a huge success. It taste exactly like my local Thai restaurant, which means perfect!

2-3 tbsp peanut oil, for stir-frying
10-12 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 shallots, thinly sliced
500g boneless chicken thighs, cut into small pieces 10 Thai chillies, cut into very thin rounds
2 small kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded (optional)
2-3 tsp black soy sauce (I used Ketchup Manis – sweet Indonesian soy sauce)
2 tbsp fish sauce, or to taste
1 cup fresh Thai holy basil, or Thai sweet basil leaves
Pepper

Heat a wok until its surface is smoking hot. Swirl in the oil to coat the wok surface. Toss in the garlic and shallots. Stir 15 to 20 seconds before adding the chicken. Stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes, or until most of the chicken has changed color on the outside and is no longer pink.

Toss in the chillies and kaffir lime leaves. Sprinkle black soy sauce over the mixture and stir-fry for another 15 to 20 seconds. Season to taste with fish sauce, then stir in the fresh basil. Toss well. Stir-fry another 1/2 to 1 minute, or until the basil is wilted and the chicken cooked through. Sprinkle with white pepper.

S

La Stracciatella

2008-03-05T15:53:00.002+10:30

Once upon a time, London was my home town. I lived in a suburb called Wapping, just down the road from what I consider to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, Tower Bridge. I loved London, it treated me very well. Any place gets the better of you though, and I swear, a walk over that magnificent bridge put it all in perspective. Every single time. I don't think I have that in Sydney. Maybe thats why I'm not so in love with this city...

Anyway, I digress, Tower Bridge has nothing to do with it. The point is there a restaurant in Wapping called Ill Bordello. Oh the memories! I used to go there all the time, and anyone who came to visit was taken there. Ill Bordello was one of those wonderful Italian neighbourhood restaurants, that when you walked in the front door, they knew your name and greeted all the pretty ladies with a big kiss. One of their specials was Straccitella soup, which I loved, and they always remebered I loved it and would make it esepcially for me.

I never tried to make it myself, I had no idea where to start and assumed it was difficult. Blake over at Serious Eats has had a bit of fascination with egg soups and recently he added my favourite, La Straciatella. It was bubbling away in my kitchen the same day, and I'm happy to report it was spot on! Its a simple broth with silky egg shreds, salty tasty parmesan and crusty bread. Thats my type of soup, and its way easier than the other eggy soups Blake's been sharing with us!

6 cups chicken stock
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons semolina flour
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper

Separate one cup of the stock and chill if not already refrigerated. Heat the remaining 5 cups in a large saucepan until it boils.

Meanwhile, combing the cold broth, eggs, flour, cheese, parsley, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and whisk until well blended.

Whisk the egg mixture into the boiling broth, stirring constantly. Turn the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, for 3-4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in warmed bowls topped with more grated Parmesan and parsley if desired.

S

The Cheesecake Truck

2008-03-02T17:42:00.006+10:30

The Cheesecake Truck is a song by a guy called King Missile who most of us probably know from the song Detachable Penis.

Elly over at Elly says Opa! is running a very cool blogging event closing today called Eat to the Beat.

As soon as I heard about it I had visions of making marshmallow pies from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. However, my oven door was not returned to me in time to do this, so I decided and unbaked blackcurrant cheesecake to match the Cheesecake Truck song would be my next bets option.

This is a super easy cake to make and its very tasty and looks pretty.

Thanks Elly, I look forward to seeing what others created for this event.

Half a packet gingernuts
50g butter, melted
250g Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tin condensed milk
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tbs jam (I used blackcurrant)
1 tbs water

Crush biscuits in a food processor. Mix in the melted butter and press down in a springform cheesecake tin. Place in fridge.

Using electric beaters, beat the cream cheese for a few minutes. Add the condensed milk and beat until it becomes a moussy creamy mix. About 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice and mix again. Pour into tin. In a separate bowl, mix the jam and the water so you have a runny consistency. Spoon on top of the cheesecake and swirl through. Place in fridge. It takes a few hours to set.

S

February Daring Bakers Challenge - French Bread

2008-02-29T09:01:00.008+10:30

I somehow landed a whole Saturday to myself. Sitting in front of the Saturday morning music clips with coffee and hot cross bun I wondered what I could do. After a few sleepy minutes I realised the next Daring Bakers Challenge – Julia Child’s French Bread!

The challenge had been set about 2 or 3 weeks ago at this stage by Mary from Breadchick and Sara from I Like to Cook.

As I looked through the Daring Bakers discussion site I noticed many people were bowing out because this month’s challenge was too hard… Hmm how hard could it be I thought.

I then read the recipe (which took a long time!) and understood why people had had such a thought! Maybe I should consider bowing out gracefully myself…

I walked into the kitchen at 11am and cleaned everything to have a fresh canvas, and with that the games began. Some people said it took them 9.5 hours. I assume because I was in hot and humid Sydney, Australia I lucky as it only took me about 4 – 5 hours start to finish. The dough rose much quicker than the recipe indicated, both times.

And so, with all that time kneading, waiting for the yeast to do its job, and brushing the rolls with iced water every 3 minutes during their time in the oven they came out great! They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I was very pleased. I was surprised they were so salty, but I’m not complaining! What a treat that all this effort and time produced gorgeous little French dinner rolls. Thanks Mary and Sara.

We don’t have a printer at home, so I went up to a local internet café and printed the recipe. It was 11 pages! Therefore I am not posting it here. If you would like to check out the recipe, please find it here.

And, of course, if you would like to check out my fellow Daring Bakers, please do so here.

S

Chocolate Peanut Brittle

2008-02-27T09:19:00.006+10:30

Please allow me to introduce you to Mister Peanut Brittle.

We became friends this weekend and it was love at first sight (or taste).

This recipe came from the American Gourmet magazine (December 2007) which featured a candy section. I thought it would be way too hard for little ol’ me, and put it aside. 3 months on, I came across it as I was cleaning out my drawer and thought ‘oh ye, I could do that, just need a candy thermometer’. I found a candy thermometer at House for $8 bought some peanuts and began.

What a wonderful process! I felt like I was in some sort of candy chemistry laboratory, watching the temperature rise as the butter and sugar boiled and bubbled away for 20 minutes and turned into thick glossy goodness. Once that was done, there wasn’t too much to it, stir in the nuts, spread it out, sprinkle with chocolate, sprinkle with more nuts, chill and then came the joyous sound of cracking it into pieces, taking some pics, packaging it to give away and sitting down with a cup of coffee and munching away on the hard candy around the salty crunchy nuts with the gooey chocolate on top. It is pure perfection. I love it, and so did everyone who gobbled it up as soon as they received it! I am definitely look forward to more time with my candy thermometer.

450g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 cups sugar
4 cups whole salted & roasted peanuts
1 cup chopped peanuts
225g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Butter baking pan, line with baking paper and put on a heat proof surface.

Bring butter, sugar and salt to a boil in a large heavy pot over medium heat, whisking until smooth, then boil, stirring occasionally until the mixture is deep golden and registers 300F on a candy thermometer (15 – 20 minutes)

Immediately stir in whole peanuts and then carefully pour hot toffee into centre of baking pan. Spread with spatula, smoothing the top. Let stand for 1 minute.

Then immediately sprinkle the chocolate on top and allow to stand for the chocolate to melt (2 – 4 minutes) then spread over toffee with cleaned spatula.

Sprinkle over the chopped peanuts, then freeze until chocolate is firm (about 30 minutes).

Break into pieces and watch it disappear!

S

Easy Weeknight Dinner - Comforting Pasta Bake

2008-02-25T09:01:00.005+10:30

Once upon a time, a girlfriend cooked us dinner while we were chatting and drinking wine. I didn't pay a lot of attention, but it was a nice and simple comforting meal. Pasta would have to be my all time favourite (aside from chocolate that is). You can do it in so many different ways and add anything like you like really. It always leaves you with a full belly and smile on your face (and yes, of course, the need for a good work out at the gym the next day).

This pasta bake is so simple, that part of me thinks I shouldn't even post it on here, but I'm going to anyway cos each of our kitchens does its own thing, from complicated to easy. If you want to see loads of pasta recipes go and check out Once Upon a Feast Presto Pasta blogging event.

1 500g jar of pasta sauce (I love Paul Newmans range)
500g frozen spinach and ricotta ravioli
Handful of grated cheese
Salt and pepper
Basil

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Spray an ovenproof dish with oil and spread a little of the pasta sauce on the bottom (about 1/2 a cup). Add the frozen ravioli on top and pour over the remaining pasta sauce. Tear over a few basil leaves and roughly stir through trying to make each piece of ravioli have some sauce on it.

Top with grated cheese and place in the hot oven for 20 -30 minutes till bubbly and golden. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes and serve with green salad and bread.

S

Neil Perry's Grilled Squid Salad & Thai `Son-In-Law' Eggs

2008-02-22T10:06:00.004+10:30

Here is the final installment of the ladies lunch I have mentioned previously with the Thai Sweet Pork Salad and Thai Egg Nests.

The last 2 dishes were a grilled squid salad and ‘son-in-law’ eggs. They were not my favourites, but I think to be fair if these were the only dishes served I would have raved about them, they are still wonderful The eggs have a gorgeous texture with a sweet and sour dressing and the squid works really well with the peanuts, ground rice and fried garlic and shallots to make it crispy and smoky along side the sweet and crunchy cos lettuce and the juicy squid.

Neil Perry's Grilled Squid Salad

2 cloves garlic
2 green chillies, deseeded
2 coriander roots
1 tsp sea salt
6 tbs palm sugar
3 tbs lime juice
5 tbs fish sauce
250 grams squid, cut into rectangles and scored inside
vegetable oil
3 shallots, thinly sliced
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup fine julienne of ginger
1 cup mint leaves
1 cup coriander leaves
1 cup Thai basil leaves
2 red chillies, deseeded and cut into julienne
1 baby cos lettuce
fried shallots
fried garlic
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
1 tbs rice, roasted and ground to a powder

Pound together the garlic, chillies, coriander roots and salt and then add the palm sugar and mix in the lime juice and fish sauce.

Brush the squid with oil, and sear it quickly on a char grill.

Mix the shallots, red onion, ginger, mint, coriander, basil and chillies with the dressing and toss with the grilled squid.

Arrange the cos lettuce on a platter, place the squid on top, and sprinkle with the fried shallots, fried garlic, peanuts and rice.

Thai `Son-In-Law' Eggs

6 eggs
¼ cup peanut oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 chillies, seeded and sliced
2 tbs palm sugar
3 tbs water
2 tsp tamarind pulp
1 tbs fish sauce
coriander leaves

Place the eggs in boiling water and simmer for 8 minutes.

Run under cold water and peel. Dry the eggs on paper towels and pierce several times with a toothpick.

Fry the eggs in the oil until golden and crisp and drain on paper towels.

Pour off most of the oil and stir-fry the onions and chillies until the onions are golden and slightly crisp and remove from the pan.

In a separate pan, mix the palm sugar, water, tamarind and fish sauce. Stir over low heat for a few minutes until slightly thick.

Serve the eggs with the onions spooned over, followed by the sauce and garnish with the coriander leaves.

S

Crumiri (Italian Polenta Cookies)

2008-02-19T18:37:00.002+10:30

There’s a few food websites I check regularly, one of which is Chocolate & Zucchini. I like it for Clotilde’s writing style and the recipes I don’t really see anywhere else. I haven’t made anything from this site until recently.

Crumiri are Italian cookies, and they’re made with cornmeal according the recipe, which I assume it Polenta. I hope I’m correct! Well, they worked with polenta anyway! They’re very easy to bring together and take a short time in the oven and produce gorgeous tasty corn type shortbread. Well worth the effort, thanks Clotide.

180 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
140 g sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract, or 1/8 teaspoon seeds scraped from a real vanilla bean
240 g all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
110 g polenta

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix again.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and polenta. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until just combined. The dough will be thick.

Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a 2-cm (3/4-inch) star-shaped nozzle, and pipe onto the prepared baking sheet to create the shape of your choice (such as a horseshoe, a stick, or a small "V", "S", or "O"). Make sure you keep the cookies small and give them a little room to expand.

If you don't own a piping bag or worse, if you own a shoddy one, plop rounded teaspoons of the dough onto the baking sheet.

Slip into the oven and bake for 12 to 16 minutes (depending on the size and shape of the cookies), until pale golden around the edges. Let stand on the baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep for about a week in an airtight container.

S

Roast Tomato Soup

2008-02-18T08:10:00.003+10:30

Tomatoes were something like $18/kg here in Sydney a few months ago and recently a fruit and vegetable grocer was giving them away for free! He said it was cheaper than dumping them! Well as the saying goes, if life give you lemons...

I had intentions of making ketchup, but time slipped away from me so I roasted all the juicy, sweet tomatoes and made soup. It was delicious, simple and hit the spot on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

1.5 kg tomatoes
500ml vegetable stock
handful basil leaves
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
several big glugs of olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Begin by preheating the oven to 160C.

Quarter and de-core all the tomatoes and put on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

In a large pan fry the onion and garlic gently in some olive oil till clear. Add the roasted tomatoes and all their juices to the pan with the stock.

Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.

Blend approximately half to two thirds of the soup and return to the pan. Add the freshly torn basil, the balsamic and taste to check the seasoning. Add more salt and pepper if needed and serve with fresh bread or toast.

S

Nigella's Love Buns

2008-02-14T08:36:00.005+10:30

Happy Valentines Day everybody. I whipped these gorgeous pink Love Buns for today. The recipe is from Nigella’s book, “Feast”.

The recipe was easy to follow, didn’t take too long and produced gorgeous fluffy light vanilla cupcakes and the rich topping which is very similar to the frosting we made at Christmas with the Daring Bakers – the Yule Log. Everyone went nuts for that icing then, so I’m hoping all the recipients today will too!

My only addition was pink food colouring to make them even more cutesy. Here is Nigella’s recipe:

For the Buns:
125g soft butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbs milk

For the Topping:
2 egg whites
4 tbs golden syrup
100g caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ tsp pink food colouring

Take everything you need out of the fridge in time to bring it to room temperature - this makes a huge difference to the lightness of the love buns later - and preheat the oven to gas mark 6/200C.

Put all of the ingredients for the buns, except the milk, into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Pulse while adding the milk down the funnel, to make a smooth dropping consistency.

Divide the mixture into a 12-bun muffin tin lined with muffin papers or heart-patterned cases, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. They should have risen and be golden on top; you want a little peak if possible.
Let them cool a little in their tin on a rack, and then take them carefully out of the tin to cool in their papers, still on the wire rack.
Now for the topping.

This is a topping that has a kind of meringue base, by which you whisk egg whites over heat until they're stiff and gleaming. Think Mr. Whippy. So make a double-boiler with a bowl that will fit snugly over a saucepan of barely simmering water, and put all of the ingredients for the icing, except for the vanilla and the sprinkles, into the bowl. Whisk everything with an electric beater until the icing becomes thick and holds peaks like a meringue. This will take about 5 minutes, so be patient.

Take the bowl off the saucepan and on to a cool surface and keep whisking while you add the vanilla (and pink food colouring). Then keep whisking until the mixture cools a little. You want a proper peaked and whipped covering here, so spoon some icing over each bun, and then dollop another spoonful over in a swirly fashion. Immediately shake over your choice of sprinkles, as the icing will set very quickly. Indeed, these look rather like stage prop buns or the fake ones that some bakeries use to keep in their windows, so plasticky and gleaming are they.

S

Nigella's Carbonara

2008-02-13T14:43:00.004+10:30

Nigella’s latest TV shows are on here in Sydney at the moment. She is gorgeous. I love her. Best of all, her recipes have always pleased me. I cannot recall one that has ever failed me.

That means a lot, as I could tell you several others whose recipes often fail! I’m not sure why this is. I think it’s because she’s my type of woman! She writes her recipes like you’re standing there with her in the kitchn. I’ve always thought the 2 of us would have a great time over a bottle of wine with something nice to nibble on.

Several things she is creating in this latest series have me interested but carbonara is the first one I’ve made. Mainly because I had everything at home, and it was exactly what I felt like. I consider myself quite a carbonara expert as an old friend used often requested it. It’d been a few years though, but it all came flooding back. I don't I used wine or vermouth in the one I used to make, but this works really well and is a welcome addition.

Nigella’s recipe works nicely and there’s no chance of scrambling the eggs if you follow her instructions. Nigella didn’t use mushrooms BTW, that was my call. I know there's lovers and haters so do as you please, it'd be tasty with out them too.

500 grams fettuccini
2 cups diced bacon
1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)
2 tsp olive oil
¼ cup dry white wine or vermouth
4 eggs
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
¼ cup cream
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly ground nutmeg

Put a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta and cook the according to the packets instructions.

In another large pan that will fit the pasta later, cook the bacon and mushrooms in the oil until crispy but not crunchy. Pour over the white wine or vermouth and let it bubble away so that, after a few minutes, you have a small amount of salty wine-y syrup left. Remove the pan from the heat.

In a bowl, beat together the eggs, Parmesan, cream, and pepper.

When the pasta is done, remove approximately ½ cup of the pasta water before you drain it.
Put the pan with the bacon cubes back on the heat and add the drained pasta, tossing well to coat with the syrupy bacon and mushrooms.

Remove the pan from the heat again and add the eggs and cheese mixture, swiftly tossing everything to mix. Thin with pasta water, if you feel like it needs it. Grind over some more pepper and grate over the nutmeg to serve.

S

Thai sweet pork salad

2008-02-11T15:21:00.000+10:30

And with this miserable Monday I have the second instalment of our ladies Thai lunch I mentioned the other day with the gorgeous Egg Nests.

This was my second favourite dish of the day. The caramel process is a little hard, but I must say these Daring Bakers challenges have taught me to persist with caramel. I did have to add a splash of water to the pan and resist stirring it continuously and it worked a treat.

The cute story that goes along with this dish is it is the hostess’ favourite. Sophia, her daughter-in-law helped her make it a few months ago and loved. Sophia’s not too kitchen savvy but decided to try and remake this for her parents without the recipe! (Something I would never dare with dish like this). When she was plating it she was confused that it lacked the gorgeous look and texture from the caramel and so covered it with barbeque sauce! And yes, our hostess was horrified when Sophia admitted this!

500 grams pork neck (Scotch fillet)
125 grams sugar
2 tbs water
fish sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
2 star anise
5 cloves garlic
3 tbs chopped coriander root and stem
1 green chilli, deseeded 1 tsp sea salt
1 tbs palm sugar
½ cup lime juice
10 shallots, finely sliced
1 cup coriander leaves
1 cup mint leaves
2 tbs roasted peanuts, crushed
2 tbs fried shallots bean sprouts, picked

Slice the pork into 1-inch strips, place in a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil, and then strain and set aside

Heat the sugar and water until the sugar dissolves, and then boil rapidly until the sugar turns golden brown.

Add 2 tablespoons fish sauce, the light and dark soy sauces, and the star anise.
Add the pork and simmer until tender and coated with the caramel syrup, about 15 minutes, and then cool.

Pound the garlic, coriander, salt and chilli to a paste.

Dissolve the palm sugar in 3 tablespoons fish sauce, and then stir in the lime juice, shallots and paste.

Combine the coriander leaves, mint leaves, bean sprouts and pork and toss through the dressing.
Serve sprinkled with the peanuts and shallots.

S

Chunky Chocolate Mudcake

2008-02-08T16:22:00.000+10:30

Now, here is a nice and easy deliciously rich, dense and moist chocolate cake. I used this as a dessert for a dinner party served with blueberries and strawberries, dessert wine and espressos. Perfect!

The recipe needs 300g of dark chocolate, but I only had 200 grams. The recipe says to melt 200g for the batter and sprinkle the further 100g at the end, so I just used white chocolate for the last 100grams. At the time of making it I was disappointed with myself I hadn’t taken care to have the right ingredients but in the end it worked out great as it looked and tasted special.

200g butter, chopped
300g dark chocolate
¼ cup hot water
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ cup self-raising flour
icing sugar, to serve

Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a deep cake pan and line with baking paper.

Start by melting the butter, 200g of the chopped chocolate and hot water together gently until smooth. To this add the cocoa and stir. Stir in vanilla, caster sugar and eggs.

Add the sifted flour to the chocolate mixture and stir gently.

Pour half the batter into cake pan and sprinkle half the remaining chopped chocolate over batter.
Top with rest of the batter and finish with the last of the chopped chocolate.

Bake cake for 55 - 60 minutes (until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging).

Allow cake to cool completely in pan. Serve dusted with icing sugar and mixed berries.

Thai Egg Nets

2008-02-06T10:47:00.000+10:30

I was recently invited to a gorgeous ladies lunch overlooking the Sydney harbor. There was great company, a paddle in the swimming pool, gorgeous wines, beautiful view, delicious food and a few hours of fun preparing in the kitchen.

Over the next few weeks I'll drip feed you the various recipes, but this one was my favourite for the pure enjoyment of making the fancy egg part. My first few were dodgy but I got into the swing of it and the pan got nice and hot and I was on a roll. They were quite the novelty on the table and they tasted yummy too.

4 coriander (cilantro) roots

2 cloves of garlic

10 peppercorns

salt

vegetable oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

115 grams minced pork

75 grams shalled raw prawns, chopped

50 grams roasted peanuts, ground

1 tsp palm sugar

fish sauce

3 eggs

coriander leaves

spring onions

2 red chillies, finaly sliced

Pound together the coriander roots, garlic, peppercorns with a pinch of salt to a paste.

Stirfry the paste in a little oil till fragrant. Add the onion and cook further till softened.

Add the pork and prawns and continue to stirfry until the meat is cooked. Add the peanuts, palm sugar, and the salt and fish sauce to taste and sontinue to cook until it becomes sticky.

Beat the eggs and pour into a squeeze bottle (makes it all much easier).

Heat a small frying pan, add a little oil, and make a lattice with the eggs into the pan using the squeeze bottle. When the net is set, remove and repeat until all the eggs have been used.

Lay a net on a board, lay a few coriander leaves on the holes of the net, spoon in some filling - form into a neat square (like folding a spring roll or cold roll) and repeat with the remaining nets.

Garnish with more coriander leaves, the spring onion and sliced chillies.

Cheese Please!

2008-02-04T16:02:00.000+10:30

You. Must. Try. This.

I'm sure I've probably said this before, and I suspect I shall say it again, but, this little dish I tried out on the weekend is sensational.

Matt over at Matt Bites, raved and ranted about it recently on his site and I had an inkling it would be right up my alley.

Its not expensive (I'm broke and used the cheapest Feta cheese I could find at the supermarket $2.50 or something) it takes 10 minutes and the flavour? Oh, heaven! Its soft and sweet and salty and I could go on and on.

Just try it, ok?

Here's Matts recipe, the way I did it:

1 x 250g slab Greek feta, blotted dry
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Freshly ground black pepper
Pita bread, toasted and cut into wedges
Tomatoes, nuts or pickled vegetables (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Select a small oven-to-table earthenware dish or a small ovenproof sauté pan lined with aluminum foil to help transfer the cheese to a plate after roasting. Place the feta in the dish and cover with the olive oil. Bake until the cheese is soft and springy to the touch but not melted, about 8 minutes.

Preheat the grill and drizzle with honey. Grill until the top of the cheese browns and just starts to bubble. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve immediately with pita wedges and, if desired, sliced tomatoes, nuts or pickled vegetables.

Serves 4 to 6. Adapted from Sara Dickerman.

S

Sweet Chilli Sausage Rolls

2008-02-02T13:07:00.000+10:30

We celebrated Australia Day here last weekend, which is always a lot of fun. I was embarrassed when an American informed me (and 2 trusted Aussies agreed) its to celebrate Captain Cook first arriving in Australia. Google tells me this is not the case however, and its to commemorate the establishment of the first European settlement in Australia. Ha!

Something I find rather Australian is sausage rolls. They're Tony's favourites and when I saw this recipe in the newspaper I noticed just how easy they are to make. We were off to visit some dear friends and their gorgeous new baby girl, so I had the perfect reason to make them and bring them along. I cant imagine its easy to try and get food together with a newborn in tow! Of course, I couldn't go the traditional route, thought I'd try something different with the addition of sweet chill sauce. You couldn't taste the sweet chilli, I guess it add moisture though. They didn't last long, which means they worked well!

2 tsp vege oil

1 onion, grated

1 carrot, grated

500g pork mince

3/4 cup sweet chilli sauce

1 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg, separated

salt & pepper

4 sheets of puff pastry, cut in half

Sesame seeds

Your sauce of preference to serve (sweet chilli/tomato)

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add to grated onion and carrot and gently fry for 5 minutes till soft and golden. Allow to cool.

Mix the mince, sweet chilli, breadcrumbs, egg white, fried onion and carrot and salt & pepper.

Put approx 1/2 cup of this mix on each piece of puff pastry and roll up to enclose the filling, sealing the edges with a brush of the egg yolk.

Put the rolls on a tray lined with baking paper and brush the tops with the egg yolks and a sprinkling of sesame seeds if desired.

Bake for 30 minute till nice and gold. Cut into pieces (3 or 4) and serve with sauce.

Mexican Feast – Carnitas!

2008-01-31T14:14:00.000+10:30

My inspiration for this Mexican Feast was David Lebovitz, who posted this wonderful story and recipe recently. As soon as I read it, I invited some folks over, bought the pork, salted it and started planning a wonderful Mexican evening for us all. We had a lot of fun!

The Carnitas was simple, a few spices, and it basically sat in the oven for an afternoon. I then took up the kind offer of one of our guests to pull it apart, which made my work even easier!

So we had delicious frozen margaritas, guacamole with pita chips, the soft and tasty Carnitas (which seemed a lot like pulled pork to me), spicy corn relish, chunky tomato salsa, tortillas, sour cream and a little shredded lettuce. Can you taste it? Oh ye all together, it was glorious! The margaritas must have been filling as I could only fit in one tortilla with all the trimmings. I was the only one though, as most of it disappeared before me eyes followed by many moans and groans and belly rubs throughout the night of because they were so full! I knew what was for dessert you see! Hehe – Lemon Meringue Pie, ye I know it’s not Mexican, but it was the January Daring Bakers Challenge.

Carnitas is a Spanish/Mexican tradition of braising meat in lard and roasting it. David’s recipe was with water and spices and then roasting, and it worked perfectly. I still thought it was very fatty! I can’t imagine what it’d be like preparing it in the lard!?

This recipe (or evening) is well worth it, the gorgeous mixture of flavours and textures combined with some good company makes for a memorable evening.

Here's what I did:

2.5 kg boneless pork should, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat
1 tbs coarse sea salt
2 tbs canola or neutral vegetable oil
water
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
2 bay leaves
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly-sliced

Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Refrigerate for 1 to 3 days. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat in the next step.)

Heat the oil in a roasting pan set on the stovetop. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

Heat the oven to 180C.

Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot and blot away any excess fat with a paper towel, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan with a flat-edged utensil to release all the tasty brown bits. Add all the spices, garlic etc.

Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd's submerged in liquid.

Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, about 7 cm, discarding any obvious big chunks of fat if you wish.

Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them. Mine took about 45 minutes and left it crispy and nice and brown.

January Daring Bakers Challenge - Lemon Meringue Pie

2008-01-29T08:11:00.000+10:30

Jen the Canadian Baker is the hostess with the mostess whom set January's Daring Baker's challenge. This is my sixth challenge with the wonderful group of supportive and inspiring bakers from all around the world.

Jen set us a Lemon Meringue Pie as something lighter after all the holiday treats. It was great. I didn't struggle with this challenge, which means this scary dare I set myself to join this awesome group has taught me something. I think the main reason I am having more success in the baking department, is to do with confidence and following the instructions to the letter. I'm one of those eh, I'll throw a bit f this or that in, so baking was never my forte.

We had people over the night I made this and I managed to make each part at different stages through my day in the kitchen and then assembled it as we sat down for dinner, set the timer jumped up 15 minutes later, allowed it to cool and served it about 2 hours later and it was a hit! Everyone loved it. So, thank you Jen for the gorgeous recipe and challenge and thank you fellow Daring Bakers for all your help and support in the last 6 challenges.

For the Crust:
180 grams cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups plain flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup iced water

For the Filling:
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
½ cup cornflour
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup butter
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extrac
t¾ cup sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with the iced water, let rest 30 seconds and then process very briefly just until the dough begins to stick together and comes away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch. Cut a circle about 2 inches larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch. Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

S

Pizza Scrolls

2008-01-23T09:29:00.000+10:30

Here’s something easy and fun and really tasty. Watch out when you take them out of the oven - they’ll burn your mouth!

You can obviously use whatever fillings you prefer to please the crowd at your place.

4 sheets of ready-made puff pasty
6 tbs tomato paste
150g sliced ham
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Dried oregano
½ onion, finely diced
Red capsicum, finely diced
2 tomatoes, sliced

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Spread each pastry sheet with the tomato paste, sprinkle with a little grated cheese, oregano, next top with a little of the chopped onion and capsicum. Place the ham and tomato slices on top and sprinkle with a little more grated cheese.

Starting from a long side, roll up firmly to form a log. Brush the edge with a little extra milk and press down firmly to seal the log. Cut crossways into equal portions, about 3cm thick.

Place scrolls on a baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Beef Vindaloo

2008-01-21T10:25:00.001+10:30

Yep, that's the really hot one. This recipe goes out especially to Liam, the chilli challenger. On a recent curry night at our place, I wanted to make a curry I’d never made before and thought the spice tolerance of the invitees was high, so why not. The vindaloo was great! It was easy to prepare and the flavour was spot on. I struggled to add the amount of cloves and pepper, but I did and it paid off. Vindaloo is actually a Portuguese dish. The Portuguese introduced it to Goa, India, so yet again I learnt something new about curries. Food knowledge is never ending!

1 kg diced beef
200 mls white vinegar
2-4 tsp dried chillies (depending on how hot they are)
1 heaped tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs cloves
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
1 tbs black peppercorns
4 red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
10 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger
1 tbs tamarind pulp
1 rbs brown sugar
3 tbs vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
300 mls water
salt

Marinate the beef in 100 mls of the vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt for 20 minutes and then drain and dry well.

Grind the cumin seeds, cloves and peppercorns to a fine powder.

Add the ground spices, cinnamon stick, fresh chilies, garlic, ginger, tamarind, vinegar, chilli flakes and sugar and process to a smooth paste.

Brown the beef in some oil and then set aside.

Fry the onions in some oil for 20 – 30 minutes.

Add the spice paste and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the beef back to the pan with the water and 1 ½ teaspoons salt.

Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer and cover and allow to cook for1 ½ - 2 hours, stirring from time to time, until the beef is tender.

Scrumptious Chicken Wings

2008-01-18T09:15:00.000+10:30

Recently, we were steered in the direction of a particular café that had sensational bbq rolls. They were so good we went back again! Long story short, it came up in a discussion with another friend and they had the recipe! The recipe listed barbeque sauce, which I’d never made from scratch before. I did a bit of research and mixed and matched and added the spices from the café’s bbq rolls recipe and hey presto – we had ourselves some finger-licking good wings. You must try, they’re highly addictive!

2kgs chicken wings
3 teaspoons chilli powder
1 onion, finely diced
1 ½ cups water
½ cup tomato paste
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup brown sugar
3 ½ tbs honey
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp paprika
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tbs Dijon mustard

Cook the onion in the oil for 5 minutes. Stir in the water, tomato paste, vinegar, brown sugar, honey and Worcestershire.

Season with 2 teaspoons salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, garlic and 1 teaspoon chilli powder. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 ¼ hours, uncovered, or until sauce thickens.

Preheat 200C and cut the chicken wings into 3 at the joints and discard the wing tips.

Toss the wings with approximately ½ cup of the bbq sauce. Arrange chicken in roasting tray in a single layer and roast in the oven for 25 minutes, turning at the half way point.

Remove from the oven and toss again with more bbq sauce ad serve.

Another take on Lasagne

2008-01-16T10:30:00.000+10:30

There are so many ways to make lasagne and everyone has their own personal favourite. Being a true Libran, I sway and sometimes like my lasagne with this style cheese sauce and sometimes the traditional béchamel. I like béchamel as it creates such a gorgeous silky texture, but sometimes I cannot be bothered with all that stirring in the preparation.

This recipe includes the way my Mum does the cheese component in her lasagne. Its quick, its easy, and its really tasty and especially cheese. Mmm.

2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
700 minced beef
2 cans of tinned tomatoes, diced
½ cup red wine
1 tsp dried oregano
Dash of worcestershire sauce
375g fresh lasagne sheets
300 grams cottage cheese
1 large handful of grated cheddar cheese
100 grams grated parmesan
2-3 tbs milk
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onion over medium heat until softened. Add the mince and brown well, breaking up any lumps with a fork. Add the tins of tomatoes, wine, worcestershire and oregano, and season. Bring to a simmer for 15-30 minutes.

In a bowl mix the cottage cheese, cheddar, parmesan, milk, parsley and salt and pepper to make a cheese spread.

Preheat the oven to moderate 180.Start with a thin layer of meat sauce over the base and top with a thin layer of cheese spread. Lay the lasagne sheets on top, gently pressing to push out any air. Continue the layers, finishing with cheese spread. Bake for 30-45 mins or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting.

Streusel topped Blueberry Muffins

2008-01-14T10:36:00.000+10:30

A dear friend of mine was in hospital recently and not having a great time. I decided those blueberries I had in the fridge would be put to good use and transformed into fantastic blueberry muffins. The crunchy streusel topping is what made them fantastic!

1 ½ cups plain flour
¾ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
¼ cup butter, cubed
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200C and line a muffin tin with muffin-cups.

Combine 1 ½ cups flour, ¾ cup sugar, salt and baking powder.

Measure out 1/3 cup of vegetable oil and pout into a 1 cup measuring cup on top of this add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture and then gently fold in blueberries.

Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.

For the Streusel Topping - Mix together ½ cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, ¼ cup butter, and 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

S

Special Beef with Balsamic Glaze

2008-01-11T09:06:00.000+10:30

By the time I made this I was full of gorgeous French champagne and delight of seeing a long lost girlfriend, plus setting the tea towel alight and all the mayhem that goes with that, this beef is all a haze. I’m surprised I remembered to take a photo! Thankfully it’s a half decent one.

What I do recall was the delicious flavour and texture as well as many comments around the table of how good it was. My first beef ever. Not bad really!

1kg beef eye fillet, trimmed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/4 cup oregano leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons thyme leaves, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons brandy or beef stock
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C. Season the beef fillet and add to a pan with 2 tablespoons for hot oil and seal each side.

Mix the parsley, oregano and thyme and press into the top of the fillet. Mix 2 more tablespoons of oil with the brandy and pour over beef. Cover the pan with foil, tightly and roast beef for 20 or till it is cooked to your liking. Remove from oven and set aside for 1 hour (keep it covered).

Remove the fillet from the frying pan onto a warm serving plate and add the balsamic and sugar to the frying pan. Bring to the boil, stir and turn the heat to create a simmer. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes (so the sauce becomes thick). Slice the fillet and pour over the balsamic sauce and serve.

Homemade Bounty Chocolates

2008-01-09T11:07:00.000+10:30

After using the coconut to decorate the mango cheesecake I made recently, I had a ¾’s left over and decided to try to make these gorgeous chocolates with fresh coconut. I have left the recipe as I found it as I think it would work better with desiccated coconut. Everyone loved them when they were served and they looked great but I think the fresh coconut made the mix a little too wet and therefore hard to handle. I just dipped them in the chocolate for a second coating! They’re very easy and a huge success compared to chocolates I have made in the past.

200 gram unsweetened desiccated coconut
100 ml double cream
70 gram icing sugar
70 gram unsalted butter
200 gram dark chocolate

In a bowl, combine coconut with icing sugar. Heat cream and butter on low heat until the butter has melted. Mix well with the coconut and icing sugar off the heat.

Form small balls, approx 1 tbsp, with your hands. Place on a tray lined with baking paper and allow to firm in the fridge for at least an hour.

Melt the chocolate and dip each coconut ball in the warm melted chocolate and cover it completely. Allow all excess chocolate to drip back in the bowl and return the chocolate covered coconut ball to the baking paper lined tray. Cover all the balls with chocolate and return to the fridge for approx 30 minute and serve.