The Owl in the Kitchen

Cinnamon coffee buns with a twist...

2010-06-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

Speaking of the Finns, let's talk coffee buns. And coffee.

Finns drinking the most amount of coffee per year per capita. Yep, more than Italians, more than the French. They drink it black, they drink it often. They drink it alone, they drink it when friends come to visit. First thing in the morning, until late into the night, Finns have a pot of liquid black gold on the boil. It is part of the nature of being a Finn.

My mother in law started drinking coffee before the age of 10. My sister in law who despised coffee learnt to love it on a five week adventure there. Previously I've always taken milk with my coffee, but after a visit there when I was repeatedly offered black coffee around four times daily I learnt that the stuff is not so bad. In fact, a black coffee is refreshing. And is perfect with a pastry.

Mmm, pastry. Finnish pastry. Filled with berries, or sugar, or cardamom. Sweet and oozing with syrup. A great off set to a strong, somewhat bitter black coffee. The pastry that I believe trumps them all also happens to be the most common. Pulla. But say it with a soft p sound, more like "bulla". Cinnamon, cardamon and sugar. Rolled into a log of dough, sliced into wedges and squeezed somewhat. So the lays of spices poke out. In Finland, you have it served on planes, it can be bought from a 7-11. Bakeries make dozens of them daily, and your neighbour will have a few stashed away in the freezer for when coffee and company needs to be had.

These are fiddly to make. And they take time. But you make so many. And they are so delicious. A little taste of Finland.

Pulla

Makes up to 3 dozen

250 mg milk

100 g caster sugar

2 small dsp dried yeast

1 egg, lightly beaten

125 g butter, softened

2 tsp cardamon seeds, ground (ideally in a mortar and pestle)

1 tsp salt

650 g flour

2 tsp ground cinnamon

50 g caster sugar, extra, plus a little more

80 g butter, softened

1 more egg, lightly beaten

Warm your milk gently in the microwave until tepid. Add the sugar and yeast, whisk to combine and set aside for 10 minutes to get the yeast going. It will get frothy and foamy. Add to this the egg, butter, cardamon and salt. Slowly add the flour, bit by bit. You can do this process in your mixer (as I do) if that's easier.

Kneed the dough until it is smooth and soft, for around 5 minutes. Place into a greased bowl, cover with gladwrap and leave to prove for around an hour in a warm place, until doubled in size.

Mix together the cinnamon, sugar and butter. Set aside. This will be your sticky filling between layers of dough. Yum!

Punch down the leaven dough, divide into quarters. Using a rolling pin, roll out quarter of the dough into rectangles a few millimetres thick. Spread a quarter of the cinnamon mix over the rectangle of dough, before rolling it up to a log. This will be a spiral that has cinnamon butter between each layer. Using a knife, cut the log into pieces. But cut on an angle, so you get a good surface area of layers revealed. Make your cuts so that each little pulla is shaped like a "v" or a triangle. Place the pulla larger surface down onto a lined baking tray, and push your thumb into the point of the bun. This will push your layers of dough out encouraging the ooze of filling. Repeat this process with remaining dough and cinnamon butter. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for a further thirty minutes or so.

Mean while pre-heat the oven to 180* C.

Once your pulla have risen again, brush them with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the oven for around 15-20 minutes, until golden and risen. Set aside to cool a little and enjoy with coffee. Store once cool in an air-tight container for a few days, or freeze for later.

From Tessa Kiros's Falling Cloudberries: A World of Family Recipes
.

One for the Fins...

2010-06-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

Finnish grandmas have been making this bread for years. Years and years. And between loaves of this bread, they don't wash out the bowl. Consequently real Finnish rye bread is dark in colour. As dark as a gloriously intense 75% cocoa chocolate bar. And fragrant. Full of yeast and rye smells. That knock you out. That are perfect with cheese, or jam, or cheese and jam. Perfect with smoked salmon, with herrings, with boiled egg. Dense chewy bread, that you rip when you bite into. That lasts and lasts and improves with time.

At least, this is what the fella told me. "You should try real Finnish bread," he informed me, "but this is pretty good".

Finish-Style Rye Bread

Makes a solid loaf

225 g rye flour

300 g white flour

7 g dried yeast

1 tbs dark brown sugar

2 good pinches of salt

300 ml warm water

1 tbs melted butter

Using either a bowl or a mixer (such as a KitchenAid with dough hook attachment) combine the flours, yeast, sugar and salt. Slowly add the water until the mixture begins to come together. Add the melted butter to make a cohesive dough.

Now either kneed by hand for around 10 minutes, or mix in your mixer for half of that time. Your dough will be smooth but really heavy. This is not white bread, it won't stretch and be luscious rather be compact and solid.

Oil a bowl, turn the dough over in it and cover the bowl with gladwrap. Leave in a warm place to prove. This could take a while, so be patient and maybe wait overnight even. You won't get a puffy glorious rise, cause there is little yeast to the heavy flour, but you will get a rise to around twice the original size of the dough.

Pre-heat oven to 190* c. Line a baking tray with paper.

Knock down the dough, shape it into a loaf and leave to prove for a further 30 to 45 minutes. The loaf should again puff up a little and become lighter.

Bake in your heated oven for 45 or so minutes, until cooked through. Leave to cool and eat with joy.

From Nigella Lawson's How to be a Domestic Goddess.

Choc chip cookies continued...

2010-05-28T04:46:00.000-07:00

Previous posts have documented a quest for the choc chip cookie to be perfected. Perhaps my problem with this quest starts with the fact that in Aus, I should be searching for a choc chip bickie not cookie!

These are pretty good though. Initially whipped up by the fella when we went away for a weekend. Currently they are my go-to staples when it comes to choc chip biscuits. Are they that good though that experimenting with recipes will cease? I think not. The mix can be temperamental at times. With flat, fuzzy edged biscuits. Or hard as little frisbees if given a few minutes too long. But when they work, oh they are good!

I hope you have success with these.

Choc Chip Biscuits Take 2
Makes around 3 dozen small biscuits

125 g butter, softened
1 c brown sugar, gently but firmly packed
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
200 g choc chip bits
100 g nuts, diced (walnuts, hazelnuts, etc)

Pre-heat oven to 180* C fan-forced. Divide oven shelves into thirds. Line three baking trays with paper.

Beat butter with brown sugar. Using a mixer is ideal - give it around three minutes to be light and fluffy. Add vanilla, milk and egg, beat briefly to combine. Gently stir in the flour and baking powder. Turn off the mixer and add the choc chip bits and nuts. Stir to combine.

At this point, your biscuit mixture may benefit from a rest in the fridge to firm things up. Even 15 minutes could be good. But if it is not too soft, get on with the baking. Using a spoon, heap small rounds of mixture onto your prepared trays. They can be any size really, but I find balls around 3 cm in diameter or so work well - more than a mouthful but not a complete meal.

Cook in the oven for around 8 minutes. Check at this point and give the biscuits more time if needed. Remove and cool on the trays for 5 or so minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy with a cup of tea. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week. Alternatively, once the balls of dough have been formed and placed onto the trays, freeze. Once frozen, place in bags of around a dozen. Then when you need a snack, there are biscuits that only need to be cooked (or dough eaten from frozen).

Adapted from Michele Cranston's Marie Claire: Kitchen, the Ultimate Recipe Collection.

Parmigiana if you please...

2010-05-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

Recently a friend commented that parmas are a Melbourne thing. And indeed I think that she is right. Sure, they are done in other cities but not with the passion that comes from Melbourne. Pubs routinely have parma and pint (pot if stingy) nights. For very little money you get a warm meal and cool drink. With a few chips and a limp salad on the side. The fella finds it hard to resist a parma and pint deal, so when I found this Jamie recipe I simply had to make it.

Not that I've not made parmas before. But it looked so enticing. And the fella was hanging out for one, in fact longing for one, refusing to eat at places that don't serve it (thus rejecting both Subway for a quick feed and the local pizza place). What else could I do but make one? To quieten him at least! And I am glad that I did. For this recipe is a winner. I will make it again any day. Thank you Mr Oliver!

Chicken Parmigiana

Serves 2, double for 4.

Splash of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 anchovies
2 red chillies
400 g tin diced tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 handfuls breadcrumbs, freshly made in a processor
1 handful grated pecorino
Zest of 1 lemon
100 g plain flour
1 egg, beaten
2 small chicken breasts
few basil leaves
small amount of mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 200 * C.

Place a frying pan over medium heat, add a slosh of olive oil. Add the garlic and anchovies, cook until fragrant. Add the chillies, smoshing them in the sauce a little, along with the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes or so until thickened. Season to taste. Remove mixture to the base of an oven-proof dish in which you will cook the parmigianas. Wipe out the pan.

Meanwhile, mix the breadcrumbs with pecorino and zest. Place this onto a plate. On another plate place flour and season it. On another plate (this one with some lip) add the egg. Beat the chicken breasts with a meat cleaver until flattened. You want them around 5 mm thick, and even all over. Coat the chicken with flour, dip it into the egg and then into the breadcrumb mixture. Press it down and ensure that the entire breast is covered with crumbs.

Heat the frying pan again over a medium heat and add another slosh of olive oil. Cook the chicken until golden and generally cooked through - around 3 minutes per side. Place the chicken on top of the tomato sauce mixture in to oven-proof dish. Place a few basil leaves on top of the chicken, then cover the leaves with cheese. I cut the cheese from a large round into small disks and placed them on top of the chicken, leaving some surface area cheese-free.

Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted and the dish is cooking together. Enjoy with a salad or side of corn on the cob.

From Jamie Oliver's Jamie's America.

A healthy breakfast considered...

2010-05-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

Quick and easy breakfast solutions. I have searched for them, have you? Toast on the run, done. Cereal when you arrive at work. Fruit smoothy with some muesli thrown in. Pancakes on weekends. Bacon and eggs. Bagels, etc, etc.

Muffins though, are just an excuse to eat cake first thing. And sometimes I feel guilty about this. Surely I should maintain and promote healthy eating. Surely I should make wise, considered choices about what I eat. I should look after myself now for the longer term. Maybe these muffins count towards this... maybe.

Made with breakfast cereal, these muffins could be considered healthy. Bran and sultanas, super healthy. With fresh fruit also! I try to convince myself... I originally considered making these when I found a recipe posted by Joy the Baker for a similar creation. She made up the batter at the beginning of the week and then cooked fresh muffins each morning. Would it work with this recipe? Perhaps the fresh pear would render it undesirable. Oh well, simply make up a dozen, refrigerate and heat each morning in the microwave to enjoy with coffee.

Sultana Bran & Pear Muffins

Makes 12

Around 1 3/4 c sultana bran, or similar cereal

1 1/2 c flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon powder

1/2 tsp all spice

1 pear, cored and diced finely

3/4 c milk

1 tsp white vinegar

75 g butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line a muffin tray with papers.

Combine dry ingredients with the diced pear in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk and vinegar. Leave to sit for around 5 minutes. This will sour the milk and make it thicken. For some reason, muffins often call for buttermilk or this soured milk. The theory is that the end product is light due to this process. Add the butter and eggs, stir to combine.

Mix the wet ingredients gently into the dry ingredients until just combine. Scoop into the muffin tray.

Cook in the oven for around 15 minutes, until golden, risen and cooked. Enjoy either warm for breakfast or as they are.

Adapted from the Coles brand Sultana Bran equivalent cereal box.

Knocking on about gnocchi...

2010-05-24T03:30:00.000-07:00

Simply years ago I made gnocchi. When I was a girl and dreaming of falling in love with an Italian man and living in Florence. The gnocchi was copious in abundance, stodgy and lumpy. The Italian man never eventuated.

While at boarding school I ate my share of gnocchi. It came from a packet and was served on Friday nights with an out-of-a-can tomato sauce. While I thought I loved it, in reality it tasted ordinary.

Occasionally when we go out for a meal, I will order the gnocchi. With a basil pesto and cream sauce. Never am I impressed as I expect to be.

The other day, I made gnocchi. And it was amazing! Why have I put up with ordinary gnocchi for years? The fella loved it also, and ate and ate and ate until all six serves was gone. As some would say, this recipe "is going straight to the pool room".

Gnocchi with brie

Serves up to 6.

1 kg potatoes

1/2 c parmesan, grated

2/3 c plain flour, sifted, plus extra

salt and pepper, to taste

2 eggs yolks

40 g butter, diced

small wheel of brie, diced

extra parmesan, grated

Pre-heat oven to 180* C.

Line a baking tray, place potatoes on it and roast for 45 - 60 minutes, until the insides are soft and the skin is crispy. Remove and cool some what.

Scoop flesh out of potato skins, mash until smooth. Add parmesan and flour, stir to combine. Season to taste. Add the yolks, stir to make a smooth, cohesive mixture. Turn out onto a floured bench. Kneed for two minutes until smooth. Divide mixture and roll into logs a centimeter thick. Cut into lengths of three centimeters or so.

Bring a pot of water to the boil. Increase the temperature of the oven to 200 * C. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water a few at a time. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon when they rise to the surface of the water. Place in a greased oven-proof dish and continue to cook the pasta pieces.

Top the gnocchi with the butter and brie (or other soft melting cheese). Bake in the oven for 15 -20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden. Sprinkle with a little extra parmesan. Enjoy!

Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 50.

Whole oranges for afternoon tea...

2010-05-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

Afternoon tea just demands a little mouthful of goodness, doesn't it? Something that is light but sweet, that slips down with a cup of something hot. That gives you a little energy to get through to your evening meal. But does not send you off into a siesta.

In keeping with these ideas, I turned a cake into cupcakes recently. And I don't think I'll be heading back to cake world with this one. Cupcakes it is. Easy to snaffle down. Less mess than a whole cake. Very transportable, to work for afternoon tea say...

This recipe has come together from a variety of sources. It is intended to be a quick, whip up sort of cake. But no matter how much you process whole oranges I have found it still get chunks of peel. And peel puts people off. So I followed the Jewish/gluten free ideas of boiling your oranges first until sumptuous and soft. Until the whole house smells clean with citrus scent. This does extend the cooking process by a few hours. But it effectively uses up some sorry fruit you may have lying around. And I often boil the fruit the night before and leave them sitting in their water until I'm ready to cook. Or boil up a few oranges, stash them in the freezer and simply defrost whenever the need for cupcakes arises. Hurrah!

Whole Orange and Raspberry Cupcakes

Makes 28 or so

2 whole oranges

1 3/4 c plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar

3 eggs

150 g butter

3/4 c raspberries (frozen is fine)

A good few hours before you want to eat your cupcakes, place the oranges whole into a saucepan of water. Ensure the oranges can be fully submerged. Cover and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for an hour or so, until soft but still holding their shape. Cool.

Pre-heat oven to 170* C. Place cupcake papers into an average sized cupcake/muffin tray.

In a food processor, blitz the oranges until they are smoosh. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar and eggs. Pulse until combine. Melt the butter and then add it to the batter with the motor running. Turn off the processor and fold in the raspberries.

Spoon mixture into the cupcake papers, until 3/4 full. Bake in your oven for around 15-18 minutes, until golden and lovely looking. Cooked through helps too. Leave to cool in the tray for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat the baking process until all the mixture is transformed into cupcakes.

Serve dusted with icing sugar, or with a touch of cream along side. Or simply as they are.

Inspired to be a better cook...

2010-05-08T15:03:00.000-07:00

Meat, glorious meat. So far most of the carnivore recipes that I've posted have been pork. Strange. It is not as though we eat only pork, or that we have it all that often. But when cooked with some consideration, it sure is good. Something about the sweet flesh and salty fat. Oh, tasty.

As I've been watching more than my fair share of MasterChef, I've been encouraged to consider cooking a little more than usual at the moment. The question the judges on the show often ask is, "how does it look on the plate?" While I've not gotten too fussed about this question, I have tried to experiment with techniques and tastes. Such as rhubarb and pork. Such as pounding up some herbs, rubbing them over meat before making a passel by wrapping in bacon. And this worked. It looked interesting, it had depth and variety of flavour. Plus it didn't take too long to make, perfect for a fancy meal mid-week.

Pork passels with rhubarb.

Serves 2

Handful of herbs - I used garlic chives as they are growing in the garden

1 clove garlic

2 tbs olive oil

2 pork loin chops

salt and pepper to taste

2 rashes middle bacon, thinly sliced

two handfuls diced rhubarb

In a mortar and pestle, combine the herbs and garlic, pounding to form a smooth paste. Add the olive oil to loosen the mix. Season with a little salt and a good grind of pepper. Rub over your pork chops and leave to marinate for around an hour.

Pre-heat oven to 220* C. Wrap a rash of bacon around each pork chop. Heat a frying pan over low heat with a little extra oil. Gently fry the bacon-wrapped chops until they get a little colour. This is simply to start the cooking process and ensure your bacon is not too pastey.

Line a roasting tray with baking paper. Heap the rhubarb in the centre of the tray and place the pork passels on top. Wet a piece of baking paper and scrunch it up. Open out and place over the top of the pork. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and bake for a further 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with super fresh veggies. Enjoy!

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

Crackers for crackers...

2010-04-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

Some times you just need a snack, a little bit of something to see you though. Right? But what if your fridge has only a scrap of cheese? Or if your bread is stale? Or if there is no fruit? Or if someone bought the wrong crackers from the shops on their last shopping adventure? What do you do?

Given that we love a pre-dinner snack, with a drink too, I've come up with these babies. Home made crackers. Am I crackers? Cause they are cheap to buy from the supermarket and come in so many varieties. Recently I found some fig and seed crackers, that's how diverse the range is. So why make them? Cause they come together in a pinch, and are out of the oven after 10 minutes. Cause they are great to whip up when someone unexpected arrives. Cause they are great warm with cheese. But also great a few days old with dip. And indeed they do keep in a biscuit tin for at least a week, if you can stop eating them that is.

That's why I'm crackers for these crackers. And the fella is too.

Home Made Crackers.

Makes a tray full - maybe 24 or so

1 c plain flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder

30 g butter, softened

up to a tbs flavours of your choice - dried herbs, salt and pepper, sesame seeds, etc!

chilled water

small amount of milk

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line a baking tray with paper.

In a bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Add the butter, mixing it in until the butter is combined with the flour. I recommend using your finger tips. When combine, you will have no lumps, rather more textured flour than you started off with. Add the flavourings.

Slowly add a little cold water, until the mixure comes together into a soft dough. Don't add too much water, as you don't want a sticky mess. Once combine, kneed briefly to form a smooth dough. Roll mixture out onto a floured surface, until a few millimetres thick. Cut into shapes as you please - uniform squares, rough bits, anything really. Place crackers onto prepared tray. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the crackers with milk. This will help them to brown. If you want, sprinkle some salt on the top.

Bake in oven for around 8 minutes, giving a few minutes more as needed. Cool on a wire rack before devouring with your chosen additions - cheese, dip, pate, olives, etc, etc.

Inspired by a few recipes, including one from Joy the Baker and also the Preserve It cookbook

The fella whipping up some savoury crackery goodness.

Daiquiri ice cream if you please...

2010-04-21T15:48:00.001-07:00

One of my principles of make-it-yourself extends to ice cream. The flavours simply can't be compared to what comes out of a tub from the super-chilled isle of the supermarket. Think of home made ice cream more as a trip to Trampoline or your local little ice creamery, where things are churned by hand, made with love and the staff will occasionally break into song when Michael Jackson is played over the speakers.

But what if you don't have the goods? Cause to make good ice cream, you really do need a makers. Once of those frozen bowls that has a mixer inbuilt. That makes your ice cream smooth and soft and cold. So what do you do?

Try this recipe silly! No churn ice cream. Still luscious and creamy. No chunks of icy shards. Just smoothness. I think the alcohol stops this from getting to hard. And the cream whipped helps too. I'm planning on experimenting to find out what freezes and what keeps your mixture smooth. But until then, daiquiri ice cream if you please.

Daiquiri Ice Cream

Serves 6

1/2 c lemon juice

2 tbs white rum

3 tbs cointreau
3/4 c icing sugar

600 ml cream

Combine together the lemon juice, white rum, cointreau and icing sugar until sugar is dissolved. In your mixer, add the cream to the lemony, groggy, sugary goodness and whisk until firm peaks form. Spoon into a container for freezing, cover and place in your freezer overnight.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Nigella Express.

Duck for dinner...

2010-04-21T14:52:00.000-07:00

I embarked on a cooking challenge recently. A little beyond my previous level of experience. Something I'd been wanting to make for a while. A duck. Yep, that's right, roasting a duck. The fella loves duck you see. Given the chance it is what he will order when out and about. Particularly if we find ourselves in China Town. Crispy skinned duck, cooked for hours, hanging in a shop window. When you order, language is a barrier so simply pointing and making enthusiastic noises gets you what you want.

As for me and my duck...

Well it sat in the freezer for some time while I read recipes and compared processes. Did it really need to be cooked for hours? After all, isn't it really just a chicken? And if a chicken was roasted for three hours it would be as dry as a bone. And all that fat that the recipes keep talking about. Surely there can't be that much fat ensuring I need to drain it every half an hour? To stuff or not to stuff? Sauce along with or along side? Vegetables?

Well, this wasn't going to be a post about duck. It was to be about ice cream. But I'll save dessert for later. In the end I chose to go with Jamie. I find that his recipes work. Certainly his meat ones anyhow. And he doesn't mind trying interesting flavours also. Plus the particular recipe of his I stumbled across stipulated rhubarb. One of my favourite ingredients. I had to make it. And it was moreish. With gravy. And potatoes basted with duck fat... very lip smackingly good.

Try it if you will. But I do have to apologise for the pictures. The duck came out of the oven, and before it could be neatly presented was snapped up. So odd looking awkward bird, you were tasty, really you were.

Roast Duck with Rhubarb and Garlic Gravy

Serves 3 (or 4 at a pinch).

1 whole duck, around 1.8 kg

Salt and pepper

1 stalk rhubarb, diced

Half a head of garlic, peeled and cloves cut into thirds

1 onion, thinly sliced

Handful basil, torn

1/3 c red wine

2/3 c vegetable stock

Pre-heat oven to 180* C.

Prepare you duck by washing it and removing any juice from it. Pat dry and season the skin and cavity well with salt and pepper. Combine the rhubarb, garlic, onion and basil in a bowl. Stuff it inside the duck's cavity, then close the duck up modestly.

Place the duck on a rack, place the rack into an oven tray and bake for an hour. Drain the fat off half way through, and make sure you have lots of fans going in your home. Or else the smoke detectors are likely to be set off. So much fat comes out of this bird. So much!

After an hour, reduced the oven's temperature to 150* C. Cook for a further hour and a half, until the drumsticks pull off easily. You may not need this long, you may need longer. Remove the duck from the oven, scoop out the stuffing, cover the duck and let it rest.

Place the stuffing in the oven tray. Put the tray onto the stove top and heat over a medium heat. Scrape off the sticky bits on the tray, smooshing up the rhubarb and garlic as needed. Add the wine and stock, bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for around 10 minutes. Strain the gravy through a sieve into your gravy boat.

Carve up the duck, or just hack into it as I did. Serve with gravy poured over and also some roasted potatoes what were lovingly brushed in duck fat while they cooked in the oven. Some peas are tasty too.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Happy Days with the Naked Chef.

Takeaway alternatives...

2010-04-14T17:44:00.000-07:00

"Can we please have pizza for tea?" we both silently cried.

After all, we were going out for drinks after work. To our little local bar the Banff. It sells a good amount of pizzas with simply, delicious toppings. And has happy hour. With cheap, cheap drinks. A variety of reds, with a local brew on tap. And tonight would be beer night. A jug if you please. The plan was to sit outside, sip away at our drinks and discuss the important things in life. Needs to be done at least once per week I would think.

So should we give in and get pizza with our drinks? Should we eat out for the nth time this week? Oh, the smell of olives and peperoni... The squid and chili topped pizza... The special of the week being mushrooms and mozzarella... How did we resist?

By looking forward to a quick-fix, super tasty eggplant pasta. But the vego/eggplant rule of our house has to pervade - cheese must be included for it to be a meal that satisfies the fella.

Tempted not to cook? Thinking of dialing for a pizza? Or perhaps strolling across the park to your local for a quick bite to eat? Make this instead. Then snuggle down in front of the telly with a cool drink and watch some trash (e.g. Make Me a Supermodel).

Eggplant and Tomato Pasta
Serves 3 - 4.

Splash of olive oil
1 large eggplant, diced into 1 cm cubes
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, smooshed and diced
400 g tin diced tomatoes
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
good pinch of salt and grind of pepper
bag spinach leaves
good amount of cheese, such as danish feta
200 g dried pasta of your choice

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the eggplant and give it a good stir. Cook for around 8 minutes, until the eggplant is starting to soften. Add the onion and garlic, cook until they begin to brown a little. Add the tomatoes, vinegar and seasoning, reduce the heat and simmer for around 15-20 minutes. The sauce will thicken and flavours will intensify.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the pasta and cook for the recommended time. Once cooked perfectly, drain and set aside.

Just before combining the sauce and the pasta, tip in the packet of spinach leaves and crumble through the cheese. Serve warm, with optional chili if you so wish. Any thoughts of pizza will be banished for the evening.

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Dinners.

The Banff bar

Old and faithful crumble cake...

2010-04-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

I had a simply lovely baking day recently. We had gone to the markets, so there was plenty of fresh produce around. We had large fresh free-range eggs in abundance. There was so much autumnal fruit, with the last of the plums and plenty of pears. Simply delicious. I purchased a good amount of pears, raided the pantry and got cooking.

I whipped up the last post, some breakfast bars. And these have been getting us through the week. But some old and faithfuls were baked too. Banana bread, studded with walnuts, deliciously dark with cocoa. Baked in the oven until crisp on top and fluffy in the middle. What a great stand-by recipe. It is what I make when I simply have to cook but don't feel adventurous. The other reliable baked delicious thing that was made was a crumble cake.

Crumble cakes are versatile. Any fruit can be used. And the toppings can be changed depending on what is at hand. This weekend I was clean out of coconut after making the breakfast bars. So I simply added more oats and more brown sugar. As for the fruit, some rhubarb from the freezer was added to those firm and volumptuous pears.

Pear and Rhubarb Crumble Cake
Serves 12 or so

4 eggs

200 g sugar

200 g butter, melted

1 2/3 c plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 pear, cored and diced

handful of rhubarb, diced

crumble topping for cake

50 g butter

200 g dry ingredients - be sure to include brown sugar and flour, oats, coconut, seeds or nuts work also.

2 tsp cinnamon powder

Pre-heat oven to 170 * C. Line a large round baking tin with paper, or grease and flour to ensure the cake can be removed from the tin once cooked.

Cream together the eggs and sugar in your electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the melted butter, mixing to combine. Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder, or simply use self-raising flour and omit the rising agent. Pour into prepared cake tin. Sprinkle the fruit over the cake mixture. Any fruit can be used really. Try two apples, peeled, cored and diced. Or some pears and sultanas. Or some frozen berries. Or diced appricots. What ever you have and love.

Make the crumble topping by combining the dry ingredients and cinnamon with the butter, rubbing the butter in with your finger tips until you have soft lumps with no real wet bits of butter. Crumble this topping over the cake.

Bake in oven for around 45 minutes. This will depend on your oven and the size of your cake pan. Cover with foil after 30 minutes if the cake is browning too quickly. Test cake is cooked by inserting a squewer into the middle. If it comes out with wet cake mix on it, return to oven to cook further.

Cook on a wire rack in tin for 10 minutes before removing from tin and leaving to cool completely.

Mum's recipe originally, which I'm sure she got from somewhere. Now my own.

Breakie on the run...

2010-04-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

We are often running late in our house, particularly in the mornings. The alarm goes off and the snooze button is pressed half a dozen times. Some one gets motivated the get up then the other person rolls over and squashes any plans for getting out of bed. So we run late. We've tried the alarm on the other side of the room. We've tried putting catchy music on to dance to upon wakening. We've tried having the smells of coffee wafting from the kitchen to entice us in. The promise of bought breakfast even. Doesn't work. We sleep in. We run late.

In my latest efforts I've focused on compensating for being late. Why resist what cannot change? So I bring my toothbrush to work. My make up is done on the road. Toast slides off plates in the car when driving around corners. Or we go hungry until lunch.

So when I found a recipe for home-made breakfast bars it simply had to be made. Nutrition, on the go, sustaining tummies so they won't rumble during a morning meeting yet again. Sounds like a winner. Baked on the weekend in preparation for yet again hitting snooze.

Breakfast Bars

Makes 16 decent sized slices

1 tin sweetened condensed milk

35 g pepitas

75 g sunflower seeds

75 g walnuts, roughly chopped

125 g apricots, diced

125 g sultanas

50 g dessicated coconut

250 g oats

2 tbs cinnamon sugar

Pre-heat oven to 130* C. Line a lamington tin with paper, or any other shallow dish with a large surface area.

Gently heat the milk over a low heat in a large saucepan. Combine the remaining ingredients (except cinnamon sugar) and gently stir them into the hot milk until all is combine. There should be no dry bits anywhere.

Spread into the prepare tin, pushing into the corners. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over before baking in the oven for around 50 minutes.

Once cooked and delicious, remove from oven and slice into 16 pieces. Then leave to cool before storing in an air-tight container. Delicious with a cup of hot coffee for people on the go.

Adapted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson

If only I had time for that cup of tea too.

Building family traditions...

2010-04-10T21:09:00.000-07:00

Easter has come and gone, so perhaps it is too late to put some seasonal treats up. Between Easter and today we have gone through quite a few ups and downs, one of them being that this bad boy computer needed a visit to the repair man. But the comp is back in action, and the cooking continues. After all, just this past week a relative reported that we are "still in octave of Easter."

As for Easter, I made a number of treated that I really enjoyed, and a few that flopped and hopefully will not grace the Easter table again. Two old favourites were whipped up - the Maundy Thursday fish pie and the eastern European Easter bread. We had the pie with friends, and yet again forgot to watch the Passion of the Christ. Having friends over is a new bit of the tradition, forgetting to watch this chilling film is usual fare. Each year a I make the pie with differing fish, add a few prawn and take hours cooking it, which mean we don't eat until very late. But it is important to build memories, and I believe that memories are aided by tradition.

As for the Easter bread, oh, so good! It is truly rewarding to make. The yeast simply rises and rises the leaven loaf. It is speckled with sultanas and glistens under an egg wash coat. Plus coloured hard-boiled eggs are wedged into the folds of the bread's plat. Eat it hot on the Easter holidays, toast it in the week following for breakfast. Delicious. And traditional also. My mother-in-law requests this yearly. It reminds her for food she ate in Finland as a child. So I always bring it to Easter Sunday lunch. After getting up at 0600 hrs to prepare it. So I wake early, put the coffee pot on the stove and get baking. This year with the aid of my ruby-red KitchenAid this bread was a breeze.

I hope you enjoyed some seasonal baking, and have fun building traditions with those who are important to you.

Eastern European Easter Bread a.k.a Kuliza
Makes one very large loaf or a number of smaller ones.

14 g dried yeast
50 g warm water
1/3 c sugar
3 1/2 c flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried ginger
1 c sultanas
zest of a lemon
150 ml milk
60 g butter
4 eggs
Up to 100 mg water, extra

Place yeast, water and 1 tbs sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine and then set aside to bubble and froth and get your leavening process started.

Combine flour, spices, sultanas and zest in the bowl of your mixer. Combine the milk and butter in a bowl. Heat gently in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the butter and warm the milk. Stir this along with the yeast mix, 3 eggs lightly beaten and a little of the water into the flour mixture. Using a dough hook, kneed in the mixer until dough is smooth and lovely. Add more water if you need, but don't make the dough too sticky. Alternative mix by hand and kneed for a good while to form a similarly smooth dough.

Remove to a greased bowl, cover and leave to prove for an hour or so until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, divide it into three pieces and roll these pieces out. Make them long and of an equal length, before platting together and placing onto a lined tray. Or you could make a few little loaves in a similar fashion. Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for around an hour.

Make the coloured eggs during this hour and also pre-heat the oven to 190* C.

Place the eggs along the centre of the dough, brush with the remaining egg before baking in the oven for 25 minutes for a large loaf and 15 minutes for the small loaves.

Serve warm with butter.

Coloured Eggs

4 eggs

1 tsp red food colouring

water to cover the eggs

Place the eggs into a small saucepan. Cover with water and pour over the food colouring. Bring to the boil before simmering for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool in the coloured water for 30 minutes to set the colour. Remove from water and allow to dry.

Originally from a Delicious magazine, now just from my adaptations.

Easter gifts...

2010-03-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

Are people moving away from bought chocolate eggs? Whenever I go to the supermarket, I doubt it. There are rows and rows of foil-wrapped, perfectly formed delicious goodness. But they are all the same, can be snaffled down in a matter of minutes and can lack a personal touch. Plus my sister-in-law has inspired me as she wants to give fair-trade eggs and is on the hunt for the perfectly sized ones.

Now the fella and I don't feel compelled to give each other eggs. We would be okay with a hot cross bun instead, or a block of chocolate even... And with my girlfriends we tend to make things for each other. Last year being so far away I made an enormity of fabric "eggs" (really misshapen balls), took a photo and sent it off. As for this year...

The first thing I've had the energy to create has been these Easter cup-cakes. Why they are associated with Easter, I'm not sure to be honest. They came from a Coles catalogue a few years ago labeled as "Easter Mud Muffins". I have changed them a little, make them as cakes and think they look swell with a little Easter decoration. If you are going to call a baked good "Easter ---" it should at least have some connection through decoration, don't you think? So when a girlfriend came to tea, she left with a few of these. And the fella keeps sneaking them out of the fridge. The container this morning had only five left! There were originally 17, with some given away also... but only five left!

My next Easter baking adventure I hope will be an Easter nest cake. I've then got Russian Easter bread to make for a family gathering. The kitchen, here I come.

Easter Cup Cakes
Makes 16 or so

100g butter
100 g chocolate, broken up
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 c plain flour
3 tbs baking powder
2 tbs cocoa powder
3/4 c apricots, diced
1/2 c walnuts, roughly chopped

Pre-heat oven to 160* C. Line a 1/2 c cupcake/muffin tray with papers.

Combine butter, chocolate and sugar in a saucepan. Melt over a low-medium heat. Remove from heat.

Stir in the milk, followed by the eggs once the mixture is not boiling hot. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa, stirring to combine. Fold in the apricots and walnuts. Spoon mixture into the prepared tin, filling to 3/4 full or so.

Bake in the oven for around 18-25 minutes, checking after 18 to see if they are cooked. Rotate the tray if you want to also. Remove and cool for around 5 minutes before turning cupcakes onto a rack to cool completely.

Butter Icing
Makes enough to generously ice these cupcakes

3/4 c butter
2 c icing sugar
2 tbs cocoa

In your mixer, beat the butter until very light and white in colour. This will take at least 5 minutes. Add the icing sugar and beat for a further 5 minutes until the icing is very light and fluffy and smooth. Add the cocoa, mix until combined throughout.

Spread mixture generously over the tops of the cakes. Decorate with an Easter egg or similar if you want to.

Who am I - flavours with a twist...

2010-03-24T04:18:00.000-07:00

What are they?

They are versatile and are a perfectly legitimate excuse to eat cake for breakfast.

They freeze well.

They don't mind being warmed in the microwave.

They can be made with just about everything or anything in the cupboard.

They work well with coffee.

Muffins! So tasty! So easy to prepare. So readily transformed by whatever ingredients take your fancy. Like today. I had some sour cream in the fridge that needed to be used. There were also some stalks of rhubarb floating around. And surely there was some chocolate tucked away somewhere. Twenty minutes later I had made a delectable snack that would feed us both for the next few days. And what a combination. Bitter depth of dark chocolate, tang of the rhubarb. And the combination of colours won me over too - pink and brown, so irresistible. I must confess, I've eaten more than my fair share today...

Rhubarb and Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12

1 3/4 c plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 c sugar

1 stalk rhubarb, diced finely

3/4 c chocolate, in bits

30 g butter, softened

1 c sour cream

2 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar and mix to combine. Stir in the rhubarb and chocolate.

In a separate bowl combine the butter, sour cream and eggs. Mix this mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring minimally to combine. Scoop generously into the muffin trays, close to full really.

Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, checking and turning in the oven after 8 minutes. Remove from oven, leave to cool slightly in their tray for 5 minutes before turning onto a rack to cool.

Eat within 2 days, or else store muffins in the freezer for a rainy day.

Inspired by a recipe from the Trinity Church Cookbook.

Hotties for Easter...

2010-03-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

Seasonal baking, great in theory but challenging to implement in practice. Whenever Christmas comes around I'm too exhausted from the year to prepare those puddings in advance, to make the fruit mince and then the pies, to roll and cut out Christmas tree cookie decorations, to lovingly prepare jars of jam as gifts. I always want to, but struggle in the end. Similarly with Valentine's Day or St Patrick's. Not that Aussies are really in to these "holidays".

But with Easter I try to make the effort. We have traditions for Thursday night, with fish pie and the Passion of the Christ dvd. I get home and poach fish in stock, layer it in a dish, make a milky sauce, boil potatoes and place the lucious pie into the oven. By this time it is almost 9 p.m. and who is keen on eating anyway. But the pie and any leftover peas get us through the weekend, between visits to families where we are stuffed full of lamb.

And the best culinary delight of Easter? Has to be the hottie. Yum oh! How I love hot cross buns. Light morsels, speckled with fruit, flavoured with spices, that white cross on the top which is beging to be picked off and eaten first. This is one thing I make yearly, and indeed weekly in the month leading up to Easter. Just whipping up our second batch for the season now.

Hot Cross Buns

Makes up to 20 or so

1/4 c water

4 tsp dried yeast

2 tbs sugar

4 c flour

1/2 c sugar

3 tsp spices

At least 1 c dried fruit

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 c milk

1/4 c butter

1/4 c flour, extra

2 tsp sugar, extra

more water

1/4 c sugar, again extra

1/8 c water, heated

Combine 1/4 c water, yeast and 2 tbs sugar in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside for around 10 minutes to get started. This kicks the yeast process along, but is not entirely necessary. Feel free to simply tip the yeast (forget the water and sugar) in with the flour at the next step.

Combine flour, 1/2 c sugar, spices and dried fruit in a bowl. The spices should be ground if dried. They can include any flavours you like. Most recently I've been using cinnamon, dried ginger and the zest of an orange. Cardamom or nutmeg is also nice. With the dried fruit, chop it up finely and use tasty combinations. Nothing beats currents and sultanas, but dried apricots, pears and figs are great too.

Add the yeasty mix, the eggs along with the milk and butter. But first combine the milk and butter in a microwave safe container and heat gently for 30 seconds. This will soften your butter and again help with the yeast process of things being warm and at the optimal temperature to rise! Kneed until the dough is soft and elastic, either on the bench by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook (I use the mixer).

Lightly grease a bowl, place dough in it, cover and leave in a warm spot to prove for around an hour. The mixture will double in size.

Punch down the dough, divide the mixture in half and then form from this into small balls of around 7 cm diameter. This is not absolutely required, but easy to achieve if you keep on dividing the dough in half until you have nice little bun-sized balls. Place on a lined baking tray, cover and leave to prove for a further 30-40 minutes. Turn on the oven at this time to 180* C.

Mix together the extra flour, sugar and water to form a paste. Using a piping bag or some other device, use this paste to form crosses on top of the buns. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until golden and cooked through. Meanwhile combine the sugar and hot water. When the buns come out of the over, brush this sugary glaze over the top of the buns. Leave to cook somewhat before tearing appart, smothering with butter and eating with greedy passion.

Recipe adapted from too many sources, now just my own.

Christ is Risen!

Market treats and pasta for tea...

2010-03-18T02:08:00.000-07:00

The markets were turning to autumn this week. Less stone fruit, and what is left has some wear and tear. Beautiful plums though, those late bloomers. And lots of delicious pears. Plus apples coming in. An a pomegranate or two. Yum oh! And the last of the tomatoes. I was thinking about buying a bucket load and making relish. Will have to wait until another day I'm afraid though. What I did pick up was a kilo of olives. My ideas a rolling as I dream of what to do with them. They will need to be rested in brine for a good while before I do any further taste creating, but oh well.

When I got home, all the ingredients were put into the fridge and other things were created. Time for hot cross buns, or those without the crosses known has hot tasty buns. Some pasta all' amatriciana for lunches tomorrow. Two oranges on the boil to later on pulp and make into a cake. Fancy some pasta lunches too?

Pasta All' Amatriciana

Serves 4

good splash of olive oil

1 onion, finely sliced

6 rashes bacon or 150 g pancetta, diced

1 tsp paprika - smokey and hot is best

1/2 c white wine or chicken stock

400 g tin diced tomatoes

1/2 c water

1 tbs dried chilli or 1 fresh chilli

300 g pasta - fusilli is best, but use what you have (e.g spagetti)

cheese to serve

Heat the oil in a wide, deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, stir and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the meat and paprika, stir again and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine or stock, simmer for a few minutes until reduced.

Add the tomatoes, water and chilli. Season to taste. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, until thickened.

Mean while, cook the pasta according to packet instructions.

Toss pasta together with the sauce mix. Serve topped with cheese and salt as needed.

Adapted from Australian Table Magazine, August 2007.

A bush holiday breakfast...

2010-03-10T23:11:00.001-08:00

We had a simply lovely, delayed Labour Day long weekend away. Yep, went to the country on Monday night, came home mid-Wednesday. It meant we missed the traffic, and the house belonging to friends was available for a retreat. How lovely to do lots of holiday things - sleeping in, a snuggley doona to burrow under, sitting by the fire reading and knitting, playing our new board game until the cows come home, seeing rabbits bound around the yard, dreaming of having my own holiday house in the country one day...

And baking.

With yeast.

On holidays.

Surely this is too much work, you are thinking. Normally I would agree to. But I wasn't the one doing the baking. I was the one doing the eating. Yum. That's right. The fella baked. Firstly, he made a walnut-speckled round of bread. Great with blue cheese. Then while I was napping, he whipped up a batch of biscuits - with more of those walnuts, along with chunks of white and milk chocolate (I'm planning on giving this recipe a test as it was a bit of a winner). Then he made pizza dough.

By this stage we were both exhausted and fell asleep (that's me going to sleep again after a long nap). So no pizza was had. Which left us with options for breakfast. In our house, holidays normally mean bacon and eggs but with left over pizza dough what were we to do?

Breakfast calzone anyone?

Breakfast Calzones

Serves 4 generously

Pizza dough

2 tsp dried yeast

1 tsp sugar

4 tbs warm water

2 c plain flour

1 egg

2 1/2 tbs milk

1 tsp salt

Calzone

4 tbs tomato paste

1 tomato

4 rashes short bacon

4 eggs

8 balls bambini boconccini

To make the dough, combine yeast, sugar and water in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside for a little while to get the yeast kick started. The mixture should froth and form a funky looking top. Sift the flour into a bowl or onto the bench (if you are feeling al naturale), make a well in the centre. Add the remaining dough ingredients, along with the yeasty mix. Slowly bring in the sides until combine. Turn out and kneed for a good 10 minutes (or simply undertake this entire process in your mixer for very little effort and reduced time).

Oil a bowl, place the dough in it and turn to grease the dough. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for an hour, until large and risen and fluffy. Pound down, gently kneed and leave to prove again for a further thirty minutes or so. If you are doing this the night before, place into the fridge to prove overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 180* C. Line two baking trays with paper.

Divide dough into quarters. Roll out gently to form ovals. Place the ovals onto the trays. Cover half of each oval with a tablespoon of tomato paste. Dice tomato and combine with diced bacon. Sprinkle this mix over the tomato paste on each of the ovals, trying to make a wall around the edges. Crack an egg into the centre of each calzone - hence the need for the bacon and tomato wall. Break up the boconccini and scatter over the top, season with a good grind of pepper. Fold the ingredient-free half over the filled half, pressing the edges to seal. If you have a leak of egg, brush this over the top of the sealed calzones.

Bake in the oven for around fifteen minutes, until golden and cooked through. Leave to cool on trays for around five minutes, before enjoying with some Tabasco or relish.

Dough recipe from Marie Claire Kitchen.

The choc chip bickie adventure begins...

2010-02-27T02:26:00.001-08:00

One of my quests in life is to make the perfect chocolate chip biscuit. And I'm not there yet. But boy is it fun trying. I've tried my mum's version, with cocoa, raisins, nuts and chocolate - too fudgy, too intense. I've tried the Kitchy Kitchen's with pulverised oats - too flat, too much mixture. I've tried some of Joy the Baker's peanut butter choc chip cookies - again flat and I'm not sure about the peanut butter. The recipe I return to again and again is from a church cook book. The recipes in there are all family friendly as they are made by mums who are busy running after hoards of children. They need to work, and they need to work fast.

So these bickies almost cut the mustard. I would like them a little thicker. But not too thick, and not too chewy or too dry either. Tough, I know. This week I have been inspired to whip up these ones again after buying what was purported to be a home made choc chip cookie to have with a coffee. The cookie crumbled, literally. Simply fell apart when I ate it and messed up my shirt. Now surely I can make a better biscuit than that!

Want to come on a choc chip biscuit making quest with me? Hurrah!

Chocolate Chip Biscuits

Makes 36 or so

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

125 g butter or margarine

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg

1 3/4 self-raising flour

2 c chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 180* C. Line two baking trays with paper.

In your mixer, cream together sugars and butter. Mix together until light and fluffy, around five minutes. Add the vanilla essence and mix briefly. Add the egg and mix to combine. Sift in the flour, mix briefly to just combine. Stop the mixer, add the chocolate chips and combine with a wooden spoon.

Place the mixture into the fridge for 30 minutes to harden slightly. Place drops of dough onto the prepared baking tray, around 2 cm in diameter, evenly spaced. Bake in oven for 8 - 12 minutes, it really depends on your oven. Some of mine have taken only 8 minutes, others I've needed to rotate the trays and cook for up to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven, cool on tray for 5 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cool. Repeat cooking process as needed. Store in an air-tight container for as long as they last.

This little pigy went to market...

2010-02-22T15:51:00.000-08:00

Off to market we went, exploring the joys of the Vic Markets on a cold Saturday morning. Yep, despite it being summer, it was cold - as it always is at the markets. Apparently the markets were build on an old cemetery, so you could think of the cold as the spirits blowing up unsettled from the ground. Or rather it is an open space that the fresh wind rushes through.

Now these markets are great. There is the usual souvenir rubbish, most of which is made the China. Then there are live ducklings and chicks, rabbits and goldfish. There is an organic vegetable section, a few covered pavilions of the freshest fruit imaginable, a deli hall, eels and muscles in the fish section, a food court and a few stalls that sell bratwurst. Delicious! I think I will get one for lunch...

As previously mentioned, the fella went nuts with pork. He found a leg selling for $5 per kilo. What he was to do with it, I'm not sure. He wants to master the roast, and is always hankering after some crackling. But I convinced him that what we should make is a slow cooked vindaloo, with the bone added for flavour. Spices, marinating the flesh, slow cooking to produce tender falling apart meat, hot rice and lots of left overs. He agreed and spent considerable time dicing the meat. What a star!

To make your own delicious vindaloo a pork leg is not necessarily needed. I've made it with beef, you could try chicken on the bone also. And the bone is not particularly needed, but I love the wholeness of cooking with the bone, and I imagine that it imparts considerably more flavour. Whether it actually does is another story for another day.

Pork Vindaloo
Serves 6

1 kg pork diced, plus pork bone
6 cardamom pods, crushed to remove seeds
1 tsp peppercorns
4 dried chillis
1 tsp cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 tbs white vinegar
2 tbs brown vinegar
oil - a good splash
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
5 cm piece ginger, sliced
400 g tin whole tomatoes
4 red chillis, chopped
2 tbs brown sugar

Combine the spices - cardamom, peppercorns, dried chilli, cloves, cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, coriander and fenugreek - and blend until somewhat ground. I use a heavy mortar and pestle, but you could use a small food processor. Add the vinegars to the spices and pour this fragrant mix over the meat (don't worry about including the bone at this stage). Mix it together well, cover and refrigerate. Marinate for at least 6 hours, but but to 2 days. The longer the better.

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until lightly browned. Add the garlic, ginger, tomatoes and chilli. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant. Add the pork with its marinade, increase the heat to high and fry to seal the meat. Reduce the heat back to medium, add 250 ml water and return to the boil. Add the brown sugar and pork bone. Cover the mix, reduce the heat to low and simmer for a few hours, stirring occasionally.

To serve, discard the bone, pour over rice and add a dollop of natural yoghurt on the side.

Adapted from A Little Taste of India published by Murdock Books.

To market, to market

2010-02-19T14:55:00.001-08:00

Being back in Melbs has changed my cooking priorities. Cold weather plays a part. The variety of produce is overwhelming. Costs are lowered. But mangoes are expensive. And Asian greens are not in abundance. But the Victoria Markets are just down the road!

With the fella, I've had an adventure to the markets and loved it. Stocked up on pulses for slow-cooked winter stews. Bought an abundance of stone fruit, which is my absolute favourite. The fella was won over by an incredibly large leg of pork. And I couldn't resist the rhubarb.

Mmm, rhubarb. How I love it. It is pink. It has leafy greens at the top (poisonous though). It is tart. It is wintery and loves a slow cook.

This is one of my favourite ways to cook the stuff. Does it really need a recipe? Not particularly. Serve with muesli or porridge for breakfast. With custard or billowing cream for dessert. Or as pictured with berries and figs. Luscious.

Slow-cooked rhubarb

Makes c. 8 serves.

1 bunch rhubarb

1 - 1 1/2 c sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

Pre-heat oven to 190 * C.

Wash and trim rhubarb. Cut into 3 cm lengths Place in a large shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar over followed by the lemon zest. Using your hands, mix the deliciousness together.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and keep covered until cool. The residual heat of the rhubarb will cause the mixture to sweat and make a thick syrup. Once cool, decant to a suitable fridge container and store until ready to eat.

Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast.

Raspberry cake for morning tea...

2009-11-29T05:24:00.001-08:00

When something is made twice in one week, it must be good. And this cake certainly is. Why I've not made it before now, I'm really not sure. There are only good things about it - lots of butter and sugar, zing from some raspberries, light texture, made in a decorative tin.

I was needing to fill in for morning tea at work. As the designer of the roster, it is my responsibility to ensure that everyone on my team contributes equally to our food intake. And when someone left the team recently, it seemed easier to me to make a cake than change the roster. The cake needed to be done with minimal fuss, and without too much glam. After, it was not really my turn at providing the food. This was the perfect thing to prepare, simple yet delicious, elegant without showing off too much.

Please enjoy with a cup of tea.

Raspberry Cake

Serves up to 10.

250 g butter, softened

1 ½ c sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

4 eggs

2 ½ c plain flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 c milk

2 c frozen raspberries

Spray oil, or similar for greasing your cake tin

Pre-heat your oven to 160 ◦C. Grease a fluted tin with a spray of oil – I have a silicone one that works wonders for this cake.

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together in your electric mixer for five minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time beating well between each one. Turn off the mixer, sift in the flour and baking powder and beat together on a low speed. Slowly add the milk with the mixer beating, until well incorporated. Turn off the mixer, fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven for around one hour and fifteen minutes until cooked. It may take more or less time, so start checking after an hour of cooking.

Cook for five minutes in the tin before turning onto a wire rack to cool. Delicious with some cream, with some homemade ice cream, or just as it is dusted with icing sugar.

Donna Hay magazine, Issue 17.

Strawberry Sponge Deliciousness...

2009-11-20T06:22:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmm, ice cream. The bug has surely bitten, and it won't let go. How did I ever consume the version purchased from a store in a carton? How could I have once declared it to be my most favourite thing to eat, ever? Obviously this was before I seriously got into home made ice cream. And I think the fella is won over too. Tonight he turned up his nose at ice cream on the wharf for the variety we had setting in the freezer - burnt caramel with a fig jam swirl. Can't say I blame him, and indeed partook in some of this deliciousness too. The jam was an addition to the butterscotch/caramel we make often. But this time I was having so much trouble getting the butter to brown rather than burn. But that is a post for another day.

Back to the jam. Ice cream making fits in with my desire to be industrious and self sufficient. It is a very therapeutic thing to create, with stirring, patience and a few days before having a finished produce. This is not particularly dissimilar from making preserves. If I find fruit on sale, I will buy a few kilos and make jam. Apricots are hard to pass by, strawberries when they are in season, figs when they are in abundance on a friendly neighbour's tree... Generally the results are amazing. But with strawberries I often end up with a luscious sauce with a few chunks. The lack of pectin in strawberries is a real challenge when jam making, but perfect with topping off a cake-flavoured ice cream.

I found this recipe's inspiration on a fantastically bespoke blog called The Kitchy Kitchen. It called for cake mix in with cream and ice cream. And boy does it work. But rather than ending up with a cake flavour generally, I took inspiration from the humble sponge and swirled through some runny strawberry jam. It adds a different texture to the mix, it imparts a hint of tartness. Oh, how it works. Oh, how good the original recipe is also.

(Sorry about the terrible formatting!)

Strawberry Sponge Ice Cream
Makes c. 1 L

3/4 c cake mix
1/2 c sugar

1 1/2 c milk

2 c cream 3 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

1/2 c strawberry jam

Sift cake mix into a medium saucepan. Add sugar, 1 c milk and 1 1/2 c cream. Stir over medium heat to combine.

Meanwhile, beat the yolks in your mixer. Slowly add 1/8 c amounts of the hot cake mixture, stirring throughout. Add around half the cake mix to the eggs. Transfer this egg-cake mix back into the saucepan with the remaining cake mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring continuously. Remove from heat, stir in remaining milk and cream. Transfer to a bowl, cover the surface of the ice-cream mixture with glad wrap. Set aside to cool before refrigerating overnight.

Churn in your ice cream maker, for around 20 minutes until the ice cream is smooth, chilled and thickened. Stir in the jam, transfer to a freezer container and freeze overnight.

Adapted from the Kitchy Kitchen blog.

Honey and Spice and All Things Nice

2009-11-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

(Firstly, sorry for the dodgy photo. We ate all of this ice cream before a good picie could be taken).

Strange things are afoot in our place. We make bread. We don't own glad wrap. We are thinking of selling our car and riding everywhere. We have started smoking occasionally (and I really do know how bad this is for my health). We don't buy ice cream, it has to be home made to be consumed. Strange.

But home made ice cream is surely a treat. The texture is smooth. The flavour possibilities are only limited by your imagination. So far we have largely stuck to a butterscotch/caramel and also a rich chocolate. But inspiration has hit, the need to clear out the cupboards of perishable has ment discovering new options for ice cream flavours. My fella insists that the butterscotch/caramel cannot be beaten, but I am trying that's for sure. Am I on to a winner with this one? I think so, but he is yet to be convinced. Perhaps next time I will win him over.

I have a few tips for making ice cream. They are simple but necessary. Too often I've ended up with expensive custard. Too often the ice cream churner has been religated to the appliance cupboard. After trial and error the churner now lives in the freezer, ready to make ice cream at short notice. So here is what to do:

1. Have your churner frozen for at least 24 hours before you churn;

2. Make sure your ice cream has a thickening agent - eggs or cornflour - otherwise it is challenging to get it to set and you get crunchy ice cream;

3. Cool your ice cream mix overnight before churning it, make it cold!

Honey & Spices Ice Cream

Makes around 800 mls

200 mls thickened cream

500 mls milk, plus 50 mls more

4 cloves

½ tsp ground cinnamon or ½ cinnamon stick

½ tsp ground cardamom or three cracked cardamom pods

150 ml honey

2 tbs corn flour

Place the bowl of your ice cream maker into the freezer.

Combine the cream, milk and spices together in a medium saucepan. Heat gently until steaming. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for around 10 minutes. Strain the milk through a sieve to remove the spices. Add the honey and stir well. Bring it gently to the boil, stirring often and simmer gently for around 5 minutes so that the flavours infuse well.

Pour the extra 50 mls milk in a small bowl. Add the corn flour and stir until smooth. Return this mixture to the main milky mix. Stir well, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Stir it often as you don’t want burnt ice cream! The mixture will boil and hopefully thicken somewhat.

Remove from heat, pour into a bowl and cover the surface of the liquid with either grease proof paper of glad wrap. This will form a “skin” and prevent your ice cream from forming a thick top layer. Leave on the bench to cool to room temperature before transferring to the fridge to chill overnight.

Remove the covering from your ice cream mix, stir it well to ensure mixture is combined and pour into your ice cream maker. Churn for 20 minutes, until beginning to thicken. Transfer to a freezer container, seal and freeze until more firm.

Inspired by a recipe from Tessa Kiros’s Falling Cloudberries.

Fajitas frying the brain...

2009-11-09T04:31:00.000-08:00

Has the heat turned our brains to mush? Or just inspired us to lounge underneath the fans? In this weather, most things are an effort. Simply moving around means that bits stick - to furniture, to clothes, to other bits or other people. And there is little end in sight. The build up is continuing, the rains remain unpredictable. There is no reliable break expected in the hot weather until mid- January. That is months away!

Until then, lots of cool drinks... at work is aircon is on minimum and I need a cardie... lots of swanning around with minimal clothing on... lots of salads, dips and no effort food.

Speaking of no effort food, what could be more simple than quick-cook fajitas? Jamie Oliver claims this to be a 19 minute recipe, from start to finish for a beginner. I knew I should have timed myself! It comes from Mr Oliver's book Jamie's Ministry of Food. Unfortunately this is my most least favourite of his publications - along with the pork documentary where artificial insemination occurred on stage/telly. The recipes just don't inspire me. They are far too simple. Pedestrian most certainly. Maybe they inspire cooking in the every day folk, but I think that the pizazz that was Master Chef did a better job.

Anyhow, after the whinging... This recipe is good. It is simple, it is tasty. It is easy to prepare. The other day the fella did the cutting and marinating while I went grocery shopping. A few hours later he warmed the tortillas while I cooked the meaty mix. So tasty, so easy to prepare. But enjoy these fajitas with mango salsa if you please...

Chicken Fajitas

Serves 2

2 chicken thigh fillets

1 onion

1 red capsicum

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tbs chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

Good squeeze lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Dash vegetable oil

4 tortillas

Grated cheese

Sour cream

Optional:

Sliced lettuce

Diced tomato

Mango salsa

Guacamole

Etc!

Cut the chicken fillets into strips. Cut the onion as you wish – I like it sliced, the fella likes it very finely diced. Cut the capsicum into strips after discarding the core and seeds. Combine these ingredients in a bowl along with the spices, juice, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate to marinate the mixture. Give it five minutes of a few hours, whatever you have time for really.

Heat a frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and warm it. Add the chicken mixture, but don’t overcrowd the pan. Cook for around five minutes, tossing to encourage even cooking. Remove to a plate and keep it warm. If you need to, repeat the cooking process with any remaining mixture.

Warm your tortillas – the microwave works well. Place a scoop of chicken mix onto the middle of the tortilla. Top with cheese and sour cream. Add any optional extras as you wish. Wrap up, eat while warm with a napkin handy for drips. May I suggest a cold beer with this too?

From Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Ministry of Food.

Flatbreads, flat out

2009-11-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gotten into baking bread? I mean, really worked at it, baked often, improved recipes, tried new techniques... When I was fifteen, I discovered focacia. And fell in love with it. I tried to follow pack mixes, I made loaves from scratch. I was hooked. So hooked, that when our kitchen was being renovated I needed to stop the builder from removing the oven from the wall as I had a focacia cooking inside. That could have been a tragic moment!

While I still enjoy a slice of focacia or two, I don't make it often now. Rather we bake bread for daily consumption. Stuff that can be sliced and placed into the toaster. Stuff that works as a sandwich. Stuff that is made for vegemite and butter.

But I still love a baking challenge. Not too long ago, I tried Martha Stewart's recipe for baguettes. This had some moderate success. I will also turn to How to be a Domestic Goddess when needing to create a yeasty produce. This recipe though, is from a faithful magazine. The Aussie success that is Delicious. I have no recollection of buying this particular magazine, although for a while I was receiving the second hand copies from my cooking sis Rach. I have used this particular issue often. It has been chewed by one of my hunry felines and chunks of the cover are missing. It contains the recipe inspiration for one of my favourite salads - rocket, boconccini, roasted capsicum and onions, olives, a citrus dressing! It has a pistachio and zucchini cake I long to bake. And it has these little babies.

These flatbreads are easy to prepare, perhaps a little fiddly to shape, but a rewarding bake. They are really not too much effort, and are far superior to the comercial versions from expensive delis. They only prove once, bake for less than 10 minutes and also keep for up to a week. The chilli flavour is subtle - add more if you are keen. But the subtleness makes these flatbreads versitile, ensuring they work work with most toppings.

Herb and Chilli Flatbreads

Makes 36 or so

1 tsp dried yeast

Pinch sugar

1 ¾ c. plain flour

2 tsp dried herbs – oregano, thyme, etc

2 red chillies, finely diced

½ tsp salt

Spray oil

In the bowl of your mixer, combine yeast, sugar ¼ c. flour and ¼ c. tepid water. Leave to sit and bubble for around 20 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the remaining flour into a bowl. Add the herbs and chilli. Stir to combine. Attached the dough hook to your mixer, add the flour mix to the bubbling yeast. Stir on a low speed to combine somewhat. Increase the mixer’s speed to medium, slowly add around ½ c. more of tepid water, adding a little at a time. When the mixture is coming together as a dough, stop adding water. Beat the dough for three minutes or so, until deliciously soft and smooth. Remove the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel (or glad wrap if you use it), and leave in a warm spot to prove for an hour until doubled in size.

Ensure the oven is divided into thirds. Pre-heat the oven to 200⁰C. Line three trays with baking paper.

Punch down on the dough to deflate it. Divide into two pieces, and roll into logs. Cut slices off the logs around 5 mm in diameter. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pieces into little ovals of dough. Place onto the lined trays, around 12 ovals per tray. Repeat, using up all of the dough. If desired, spray the ovals with oil. I often forget to do this – in the pictures, the pieces are not golden brown as a result of my forgetfulness. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes, until cooked and beginning to golden. Rotate the trays in the oven after 4 minutes of cooking to ensure even browning.

Rest on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with a chunky dip, with a cream cheese spread on top or some other delicious topping. These little flatbreads will keep fresh for up to a week in an airtight container.

Adapted from Delicious Magazine February 2007.

They are also tasty with a gin and tonic (add a spritz of lime if you please) for afternoon tea.

Mango madness Mexican style

2009-11-07T04:55:00.000-08:00

It is the silly season here is Darwin. Mango madness has struck. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. The nights are no longer cool. The clouds are becoming gray and ominous, but refuse to open and bring relief. Locals recommend you take holidays to a more ambiant climate. The swimming pools are crowded. Everything becomes sticky and hot. People slow down, rest often, drink more. And the trees are ladden with mangos.

I could not believe it when I heard that mangos were left to rot on trees! How could there be so many of them? How could people not gobble them up? I also couldn't believe it when I saw the price of the various kinds of mangos as the local markets. Only $ 1.50 per kilo! Outrageous! And the differing kinds - bowen, ruby blush, thai...

Inspired by a new cook book, as well as a left over mango, we whipped up this salsa to accompany our tea of fajitas tonight. All of the ingredients were at hand, and the process was particularly uninvolved. The flavours of this salsa are verbose and vibrant. Sweet juicy mango, tangy tomato, searing chilli. Simply delicious.

Mango Salsa

Makes 3 cups or so

Cheek of a fresh mango

1 tomato

¼ large red onion

Fresh chilli, to taste

Juice of ½ lime

1/3 c. fresh herbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Finely dice the mango, after removing the skin. (Reserve the remainder for a smoothy, or more salsa tomorrow!) Half and de-seed the tomato. Finely dice it, as well as the onion. If you desire, de-seed the chilli and finely chop. Place these prepared ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spritz over the lime juice, sprinkle on the herbs – I had some coriander, as well as mint and parsley from the garden – after you have roughly chopped them. Mix ingredients together again. Season to taste.

Place the salsa into the fridge for around an hour before serving. The flavours will combine together well, with sweetness and heat permeating the mixture.

Serve the salsa as you see fit. Try it alongside guacamole and corn chips. Or on top of chicken fajitas with sour cream and cheese.

Adapted from Jake Tilson’s A Tale of 12 Kitchens.

Anzacs with a twist...

2009-11-05T04:32:00.000-08:00

Anzacs are a real Aussie tradition. They began supposedly during the first world war, when care packages were sent to the troops. As Australia is a long way from Europe, bread and other goodies tended not to last on the journey there. Rather than just send socks, the Aussie women left behind began baking using ingredients that would not perish. So no eggs, not just flour, and something that would work dipped into a hot cup of tea. Thus the ANZAC biscuit was invented. ANZAC stands for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, and is the general name given to the Australian war/fighting spirit. And the biscuit is a childhood staple for many.

My mother used to make Anzacs just before we got home from school. They were hot and soft and delicious. Unfortunately I was put off them after a Home Ec class in year 7 of my education. These bickies get harder the longer they are left in the oven, so hard they can break teeth. I didn't believe the teacher when she told us this, and I cooked my batch for far too long. They were inedible. And I stopped making them.

This recipe though was made before I realised what I had actually done. It was only when there were in the oven that I realised I had just created. I was shocked. No eggs, lots of flour, being held together with golden syrup. I had made the great Aussie biscuit without knowing it! It was the figs that sucked me in, if the truth be known. I love a dried fig, and wanted a "healthy" treat for a work morning tea. And thus I've been converted back to the Anzac fold - so long as there is dried fruit embedded in them!

Figy Anzacs

Makes around 16 biscuits

1/2 c. plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

75 g raw sugar

75 g oats

100 g dried figs, finely chopped

75 g butter

2 tbs golden syrup

Pre-heat oven to 170 o C. Ensure oven shelves divide the oven into thirds.

Sift flour and bicarb together into a large bowl. Add the sugar, oats and figs. Stir to combine.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter and golden syrup. Stir occasionally and wait until they have melted together. Remove from heat and leave to sit for around 3 minutes.

Pour the butter mix into the dry ingredients. Stir well to combine. Using your hands, shape the mixture into golf ball sized rounds (or just slightly smaller). Place onto lined baking trays.

Bake in oven for 13 minutes, rotating the trays after 8 minutes of cooking time. Remove from oven, cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Adapted from Delicious Magazine Nov 2003. Original recipe by Jane Clarke.

Pork, thinly pounded please.

2009-10-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

Meet hammer at work, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

My favourite item in the kitchen may just be the meat hammer. Strange, as I simply adore my Ruby Red KitchenAid (I think that Ruby Red is her name, which is tragic) and would rescue her if a cyclone was coming. Ruby Red's twin-brother food processor comes close. As does the microplane (oh for perfectly grated cheese, garlic, ginger, chocolate, etc). I have some heart-shaped measuring cups, which are kitch and cute. I have an amazing heavy-based frying pan, which even the fella values. So why the meat hammer?

It is rarely used for one. It is old fashioned and speaks of my grandmother's era for another. I recall one as a child, peaking out of mum's utensil canister. It was one kitchen item I longed to play with, and often was permitted to. I love the big squares on one side and the little ones on the other - patterns, texture... I love the sound it makes when you are whacking your meat. I love the idea of being part of making your meal, so although I'm not doing the butchering I'm part of getting the meat to the table.

My pork intake is limited. At times it really puts me off in its porky form. Bacon, yep, ham, mmm hmm, pancetta, absolutely. But slabs of pork I'm not so sure about. Pork squashed thinly with a meat hammer, coated in crumbs and cheese, lightly fried until golden sounds okay though. When we need a "traditional" meal midweek at our house, this is what we eat. And my fella could consume up to half a dozen of these babies in one seating if they were offered to him. We also cook this dish as it is something we can prepare together. Someone has to make the breadcrumbs in the processor while someone is smashing up the pork chops. The fella cooks to pork to perfection, while I steam the veggies in the microwave and rummage for the mayo in the fridge. And whole egg mayo it must be please.

Fryin' up the pork, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

Crispy Pork Chops
Serves 2 – 4 (4 at a pinch).

2 pork loin chops, bone in around 150 g each
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp dried thyme
2 ½ c. freshly made breadcrumbs
½ c. grated pecorino cheese
Pepper to season
Olive oil
Butter if desired

Using a meat hammer, thin out your pork chops until they are a bit less than 1 cm thick. If they end up huge in size, chop them in halt to have one bony bit, one fleshy bit.

Beat together the egg, mustard and thyme in a wide shallow bowl. Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese and pepper on a plate. Dip your pork pieces into the egg mix, making sure they are covered well. Place on top of breadcrumb mix. Pat down, turn over and repeat. Try to get a thick even coating all over the pork. Place on a wire rack to dry while you prepare the remaining meaty bits.

Heat oil in a solid frying pan. Add a little butter if you wish. When things are hot, yet on a medium heat, cook the pork chops for around 5 minutes per side. You made need to cook them in batches.

Serve with freshly steamed broccoli, plenty of real mayonnaise and some more mustard. A slice of bread is nice too, as is some boiled potatoes.

From Nigella’s Feast by Nigella Lawson.

Crispy pork chops, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl

In case of an emergency, bake these!

2009-10-26T01:09:00.000-07:00

Orange and poppyseed biscuits, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

An earthquake struck Darwin town around midnight on Saturday/Sunday. And what a shock that was! I was lying in bed reading when all of a sudden the bed started rocking. And the mirrors of our built-in robes were visibly moving, and the walls were making noises. My screams of the fella's name were futile. "He must have fallen asleep in front of the telly" was my conclusion. Nope, rather he was standing very still in the middle of the lounge experiencing the quake with all limbs extended in order to feel the full force of the earth's movements.

My worries were that I may need to evacuate the building if it got worse. How would we get downstairs? Were lifts safe to use in case of an earthquake? Would I need to get some clothes on or was it okay to be nudie while escaping a collapsing building? What would we eat for breakfast if the fridge fell through the floor to the apartment below?

Thankfully I had a roll of these orange and poppy seed biscuits stored in the freezer, perfect food to enduring an earthquake. Baking them only takes 11 minutes, and the quaking lasted almost this long. So in case of an emergency, I recommend having some of these delicious biscuits ready to go. They may not erase the embarrassment of a nudie run down five flights of stairs in the middle of a little earthquake, but they will win friend and influence people. Once your face has returned to its normal colour and the earth has opened up and swallowed you whole.

This recipe is from one of my favourite baking blog queens, Joy the Baker. She bakes, with attitude and sass. Oh how I love her recipes, and her dedication to her craft. This was one of the first recipes I tried of hers, and it is the one I come back to most often.

Orange and Poppy Seed Biscuits
Makes around 48...

2 c. plain flour
½ tsp. bicarb soda
½. tsp salt
2 tbs. poppy seeds
1 c. sugar
Zest of 1 orange
150 g. butter, softened
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 ½ c. chocolate bits

In a bowl, sift together flour and bicarb soda. Add the salt and poppy seeds. Stir well to combine.

In another bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Smash it around a little to get the sugar well into the zesty bits.

In your mixer, beat the butter for 2 minutes until soft and smooth. Stir in the sugar and zest. Mix for two minutes. Add the egg and yolk, mix until just combined. Add the vanilla and mix for a further two minutes. Reduce the mixer’s speed to low, add the flour mix until just combined.

Divide the mixture in half, shape into two logs of around 5 cm in diameter. Roll up each log in baking paper. Place in the freezer for at least thirty minutes to firm up. They can be frozen for up to four weeks, and then you are only fifteen minutes away from biscuits! Such a great idea.

When ready to cook the biscuits, pre-heat the oven to 180 ⁰C. Line two trays with baking paper. Unwrap one log, slice into 5 mm thick slices. Place onto the trays a few centimetres apart. Cook in oven for 11 minutes, rotating the trays half way through cooking. Cool slightly on the tray before cooking on a rack. Repeat the baking process as needed.

When the biscuits are cool, melt your chocolate. Using a knife, spread the bottoms of the biscuits with melted chocolate. Allow to set, maybe in the fridge if needed.

From Joy the Baker.

With tea perhaps..., originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

In times of trial and urgency, I also recommend a good cup of tea. Such as this Melbourne Breakfast from T2.

Crumbling...

2009-10-20T01:02:00.001-07:00

Egypt: Karnak, originally uploaded by Brooklyn Museum.

Crumble (verb): break or fall into small fragments; gradually disintegrate.

At times in life, things seem to crumble. One's hopes and dreams, relationships, careers, one's health, houses, old treasures such as letters and timber items.

Crumble (noun): dish of stewed fruit with a crumbly topping.

At times in life, one needs crumble. Preferably made with apples or rhubarb. Or dotted with blueberries. Or sprinkled with almonds and dried apricot pieces. Or made with pears and strips of orange zest. And swimming with custard. Even served in little tea cups. Or spooned out from a big bowl. Mmm, crumble.

This crumble was made for a dinner we had over the weekend. I slow cooked a chicken, lemon and garlic dish, as well as roasted potatoes in the oven. Things were timed to perfection, with minimal fuss at the last minutes. But then the guests were late, around 45 minutes late. So the meal was dry and lacking in lusciousness. Hurrah for the crumble, the dish that saved dinner. As my culinary prowess crumbled around me, the crumble won hearts...

Typically I would make my crumble using sugar syrup to poach the fruit in. This method instead cooks the apples in butter, ensuring they maintain some texture as well as their shape. The port adds depth of flavour and is beautifully enhanced by the sourness of the berries. The crumble topping is how I make crumble, with lots of texture and taste. None of this breadcrumb only crumble for me please.

Apple, Raspberry & Port Crumble
Serves 6 to 8 with custard and ice cream.

20 g butter
6 apples, peeled, cored & diced into medium pieces
300 g frozen raspberries, slightly defrosted
300 ml port
185 g sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon

Crumble topping:
60 g butter, softened
½ c. plain flour
½ c. raw sugar
½ c. oats
½ c. desiccated coconut

Pre-heat your oven to 180 ◦C.

Over a medium heat, melt butter in a large saucepan. Add the apple pieces. Stir well and cook for around 10 minutes until softened. Add the raspberries, port, sugar and cinnamon. Cover and cook for 8 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove fruit from the cooking liquid and transfer to a suitable round cooking dish. Continue to cook the liquid uncovered until it reduces to a syrup-like consistency. This may take up to 10 minutes. Stir it occasionally to ensure it does not catch and burn on the bottom. Pour this liquid over the fruit.

Make the crumble topping by combining all the ingredients. Mix it together well, rubbing the butter into the other ingredients. It is messy, but easy to do with your hands. The mixture should be chunky rather than sticky, getting towards being like breadcrumbs but not smooth. Crumble the topping over the fruit.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, until golden in parts.

Serve hot with ice cream, warm with custard or even cold with yoghurt for breakfast the next day.

Adapted from Delicious magazine August 2007.

Saturday morning muffins...

2009-10-18T14:53:00.001-07:00

Up Side Down Muffins, originally uploaded by the_bashful_owl.

When I wake up on Saturdays, all I want to do is stay in bed, hug my fella and have breakfast magically appear on a tray for me. In reality, I wake up too early as my body has adjusted to working from 8 a.m., my fella is snoring away and no one had put the coffee on to boil. Drats!

But this Saturday was close to perfection. A late start after a late night so somewhat of a sleep in, video hits raging on telly, two pots of bialetti coffee brewing away and a few ripe bananas screaming out to be transformed. No pancakes this day though, as I was after a more labour-less approach to my morning. Rather, a minimal mix of a few bowls, a sprinkling of chocolate chips, twenty-five minutes later, and hot fresh muffins were there for the taking.

My somewhat slimmed down hips should have been protesting. Muffins for breakfast is really just eating cake. Particularly if they contain chocolate. But these have very little sugar, and lots of fruit in them. Or so I told myself...

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 7 giant ones.

2 c. self-raising flour
½ c. sugar
½ c. small chocolate chips
2 ripe bananas, or so
1 c. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
20 g butter, softened
Spray oil, or similar for greasing your muffin pans

Pre-heat your oven to 180 ◦C. Grease a 6-hole Texan muffin tray with a spray of oil.

Sift the flour into a large bowl. Add sugar and chocolate chips. Stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, mash your peeled bananas. Pour in the milk, the beaten egg and some butter. Whisk it all together. It won’t be smooth, but try to get the butter broken up a bit.

Combine the wet ingredients into the dry ones. Give it a really light mix, just making sure you don’t have big streaks of flour throughout your mixture. Spoon mix into the muffin trays, until they are around ¾ full.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until risen and golden. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes, before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Unfortunately I find that this makes just a little too much to only make 6 muffins. You will need to rinse out the pan, re-grease and bake the final muffin. If you only use 1 banana it will make 6 muffins, but then they are less banana-full in flavour. Tough decisions...

Serve warm. With coffee. Hot butter spread over is optional, but a necessity if you are my fella. These don’t keep for too long, so make them if a crowd is coming over. Or keep them in some Tupperware and microwave for 15 seconds before eating a day later.

Adapted from the Table to Table, Trinity Church Cookbook.

The fruits of the sea

2009-10-16T03:58:00.001-07:00

We live so close to the ocean, it seems a waste not to make the most of it! But in reality, I've not once swam in the ocean in the Northern Territory nor do I make regular visits to the beach.

You see, there a no waves here. And waves for me are a huge appeal. Neither is it safe to swim. When one thinks of the Northern Territory, crocodiles generally come to mind. Sure, they are out there but they are not the main reason swimming in the beautiful ocean is generally only for the fool-heartedly brave. It's the stinging jelly fish that get you. The stingers are present year round, but particularly bad from October to May (which is when everyone is desperate to swim as it is so hot). And these stingers are serious - particularly if you are a child, elderly or have anything serious wrong with your health.

So my recent attempts to get the most out of being surrounded by water have involved the following: sipping cocktails from my balcony overlooking the water, eating fish and chips from the wharf, and purchasing locally caught fish from a supplier just down the road. The supplier is called Mr Barra and he stocks a wide range of seafood. Barramundi is his particular specialty. And these barramundi are so delicious, stuffed with lemon and fresh herbs, wrapped in paper and roasted in the oven... He also has locally caught banana prawns, scampi, jew fish, snapper...

The recipe that follows is a taste of the Top End. Prawns, freshly peeled and gently cooked. Lime zest from a local tree for that bit of zing. Perhaps there are a few things about it that aren't right, but it seems to work. I'm sure many Italian mamas would be stamping their feet at the idea of prawns and cheese. But cheese makes a risotto so creamy. And personally I struggle to make risotto and not include peas (risotto is so Italian, Italy is so Venice, Venice is known for the fresh peas in local meals).

Adapted somewhat from Donna Hay Magazine May/June 2006.

Lime, Prawn & Pea Risotto

Serves 6

1.5 L stock (veggie, chicken or fish)
20 g butter
1 tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
2 c. aborio rice
¾ c. frozen peas
12 raw prawns, peeled and de-veined
Zest of 2 limes (or lemons if you will, or oranges...)
½ c. finely grated pecorino cheese
1 c. finely grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Over medium heat, with lid on, bring stock to the boil. Remove lid, reduce the heat to low and simmer the stock very gently while you make the risotto.

In a solid, large saucepan melt the butter mixed with olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, cook while stirring occasionally until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and celery, cook for a further few minutes until the celery is softened somewhat. Add the rice, stir to coat and cook for two minutes.

Add a ladle-full of hot stock, stir while the liquid is absorbed. Continue to add the stock one ladle at a time until the rice is soft but still has some shape and texture when tasting it. This will take up to twenty-five minutes, so get a glass of wine, put on the news or some enticing tunes and stir away. If you stop stirring, it is likely that your risotto will stick to the bottom of the pan. This won’t be good. Persistence in stirring will pay off.

Stir in the peas and prawns. Mix well. Stir in the zest. Mix a little more. After three minutes, stir in the cheeses and mix for two minutes more. By this time the prawns will be cooked and delicious. Taste and season accordingly.

Serve risotto in shallow bowls. A glass of wine is mandatory. A salad on the side is optional.

Leftovers for lunch...

2009-10-15T04:12:00.000-07:00

Leftovers. Don't you love them? Have you ever loved a meal so much you made it just for the leftovers? I certainly have. To me a leftover is a perfect lunch the next day. A lady at work this week was saying that she only makes meals that can be leftovers! She lives alone, and will always prepare enough food for four people. She eats her fill, then puts the leftover serves into Tupperware and freezes them. When re-heating, she will add a few veggies perhaps (particularly if she has made a red chicken curry).

Now leftovers scream of a number of personality traits being needed to create them. One is that of a planner, who, like the woman from work, thinks ahead and is prepared. Another is that of the lazy person, who can't be bothered cooking so eats whatever is in the fridge. Another is perhaps a greedy guts, who always cooks far too much but longs to eat it. Which am I...

So, what is the best leftover meal? Lasagna is one dish that is certainly more solid the following day. And a curry always tastes better after being reheated. Pizza is good, but if microwaved becomes too soggy. Somethings dry out, others become smoosh. Others are perfection and made to be eaten later. My preference is currently pasta Puttanesca. The flavours seem to meld together well, the sauce thickens. It can be reheated without too much drying out, if you grate cheese over it before placing in the microwave. When my fella was away for three months recently, I made this dish once per week in order to have leftovers as it is so good.

Please make and enjoy. Use whatever pasta you like. I love the tube spaghetti. It's chunky yet slippery, so slurp it up.

Puttanesca
Serves 4

300 g tube spaghetti
Good splash olive oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
400 g diced tomatoes
½ c olives, pitted and finely sliced
1 chili, sliced
1 tbs capers, chopped
4 anchovies, chopped
Grated parmesan, to serve

Cook pasta according to packet instructions

Heat oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, cook for thirty seconds. Add tomatoes, olives, chili and capers. Cook for three minutes. Add anchovies, cook for a further two minutes. The sauce will become thick and delicious. Season to taste.

Pour sauce over cooked pasta. Add parmesan as desired.

Adapted from Australian Table magazine August 2007.

Turkish delights...

2009-10-14T01:39:00.000-07:00

My husband's family knows he loves Turkish Delight. As a consequence we receive a gift of around 1 kg of the stuff every birthday. If Christmas is a bit lacking, more of it is given then too. At first I thought this was a wonderful thing. But now... When you find melted, gooey Turkish Delight in the cupboard it is more than a little off-putting. Also, there is only so much you can eat without feeling really ill. I've tried this too.

But we don't want the gift that keeps on giving to stop. This is not meant to be a complaint about the generous abundance of Turkish Delight, rather a post celebrating it's joys. For me, I love my Turkish Delight covered in chocolate and flavoured with rose water. I would prefer not to have any coconut on it, I don't mind it studded with pistachio nuts. The sugary-vanilla flavouring it okay, the clouds of icing sugar are messy but enticing. Oh, surely we have some tucked away I can dig into now...

"The Queen let another drop fall from her bottle on to the snow, and instantly there appeared a round box, tied with green silk ribbon, which, when opened turned out to contain several pounds of the best Turkish Delight. Each piece was sweet and light to the very centre and Edmund had never tasted anything more delicious." The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis.

So this recent kitchen experiment came out of my love of Turkish Delight. And my love of C.S. Lewis, and a bottle of rose water that was due to expire (who would have thought this stuff had a use-by date?). And a posting on Design Sponge for an irresistible-looking cocktail. I think this is my newest favouritest drink. Now what to do with all of the rose water cordial I made...

Rose water cordial. Delicious, potent stuff. I've tried mixing it with lemonade, and it is very drinkable. I've added some raspberry vodka to it. I've thought of drizzling it over some soaked dried apricots. Perhaps even brushing it over a freshly cooked orange cake. But the winner seams to be the suggestion from Design Sponge. Please try it, I implore you.

This recipe makes a lot of cordial. Maybe too much in fact. But I've stored mine in the fridge well sealed and it seems to be doing fine.

Rose Water Cordial

Makes around 1 L

2 1/2 c. water

4 c. white sugar

1/4 c. lime juice (I used bottled juice)

1/2 c. rose water

In a medium saucepan over moderate heat, bring sugar and water to the boil. Simmer gently for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the juice and rose water. Return to the boil. Simmer again for a further ten minutes. By this stage the liquid will be thickened and syrupish.

Leave to cool before decanting into cordial bottles. Seal well and store in the fridge until ready to use.

From the Epicurious website, via Design Sponge.

Christmas preparations, cheers to that!

2009-10-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Christmas is in the air - already?

Sure enough, the supermarkets and department stores have had their decorations out since the first of October. I'm yet to see an ad on telly though, telling me to buy now in time for Christmas. But I'm sure they will come. While it is good to get in early and plan ahead, is this too far in advance? Perhaps.

As for me, I'm trying to be organised. We will be moving across Australia (literally from top to bottom) in the two weeks before Christmas. We are arriving Christmas Eve, and staying in a hotel until some time in the new year. So I'm trying to get ready. I've a few gifts set aside, ready to be wrapped and placed in a clearly marked "do not pack in the removalist truck" box. I'm contemplating when to send out Christmas cards. And most tastily, I've been preparing in the kitchen. What took my fancy was an old copy of Delicious magazine, from years back with lots of Christmas sweet treats to prepare. There were eggnog custards, chocolate and prune terrines, cinnamon ice cream and mulled wine sorbet. Gosh, I'm drooling. None of these are really make in advance treats, but the Christmas pudding vodka certainly is.

Sure, I tinkered with the quantities. I also added ingredients that are essential in my Christmas pudding. I doubled the original vodka specification and increased the infusion time. I also used a vodka recommended by my friendly bottle-o staff. They suggested an organic vodka that had a very "pure" taste and thus would not feature amongst all the Christmas puddingie goodness. Adjust flavours as you perceive necessary. And as for what to do with the delicious vodka soaked fruit, well a chocolate vodka fruit cake is baking in the oven as we speak.

Christmas Pudding Vodka
Makes around 1400 mls

2 bottles vodka (700 mls each or so)
250 g dark brown sugar
200 g sultanas
150 g dried apricots
150 g prunes
Juice and zest of two oranges
2 cinnamon sticks, snapped in half
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped
6 cloves
4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2 tsp mixed spice
A good grating of nutmeg

Simply place all the ingredients into a large bowl, or a container you can seal. Stir together well, over and attempt to make the stewing mix ant-proof (mine stood in another container that had a few centimetres of water in the base). Place in a cool, dark forgotten part of your home and leave for two weeks to infuse. Put the vodka bottles aside for later.

Two weeks later, strain your vodka into a jug. Push gently on all the fruit, etc, to get some of the residual liquid out. Strain again and decant into the vodka bottles. Seal well. Alternatively, decant into smaller bottles, label festively and cap tightly. These make lovely gifts.

Serve very well chilled, ideally with a slice of chocolate cake, a fruit mince pie or a velvet chocolate truffle.

Make me banana pancakes...

2009-10-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

Do you debate it in your house? Crepes or pancakes I mean. Which is better? Who prefers what? What will be made? Growing up, my dad preferred the thick, fluffy pancake. Preferably smothered in butter, maple syrup and cream. And perhaps with ice-cream. Rather like the McDonald's hotcakes in fact. I would vote for paper thin crepes, topped with lemon and sugar. They would be rolled into a log and eaten in slices. My sister Rach was a gun at making choc-chip pikelets. Melty chocolate, smothered in dripping butter, napkins mandatory!

More recently, I have been converted to the thick and fluffy side. But with banana if you don't mind. Mmmmmm! Blame it on Jack Johnson if you will:

But baby, you hardly even notice

When I try to show you this

Song it's meant to keep you

From doing what you're supposed to

Like waking up too early

Maybe we could sleep in

I'll make you banana pancakes

Pretend like it's the weekend now...

Sure, I do only make pancakes on the weekend, so there's no pretending about that. But pancakes in our house signals a lazy morning. Waking up late, substituting breakfast for brunch. Brewing an endless pot of coffee in the Bialetti. Raiding the fridge for half-eaten jars of jam... My pick is for banana pancakes, if you please!

This recipe is from one of my most trusted cookbooks, Feast. A few alterations have been made to Nigella Lawson's original instructions. For example, she is light on the sugar. While bananas are sweet, I think a little more is needed. And how she gets 20 pancakes out of it, I'll never know. Read, make, enjoy...

Banana Pancakes
Makes 7

I ripe banana, or two if they are lying around
180 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb soda
1 egg
300 ml milk
Splash of vinegar (or use 300 ml buttermilk and no vinegar if you have it handy)
2 tbs sugar
Butter, for cooking

In the bowl of your food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the butter. Blitz until smooth. Transfer into a jug and let it stand for a while. This can be done in the fridge for 30 minutes, and you will get a thick, frothy mixture. If you don’t have a food processor, mash the banana and add it to the liquid ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients after sifting them. Make a well in the middle of these ingredients and stir in the liquids.

Heat a frying pan or your trusty pancake cooker if you have one (ours was a gift that came from Aldi) to a medium heat. Grease the surface of your frying pan with butter on the back of a spoon. You really don’t want your pancakes to be swimming in butter, so this is a measured way of getting grease in without overdoing it. Pour in a good amount of batter, swirl pan around gently to dispurse the mixture and make your pancakes bigger. Cook until lots of bubbles appear and the underside is browning nicely. Flip and cook. Remove to a foil-lined plate. Keep the pancake warm under the foil while you repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Enjoy your pancakes with whatever toppings you prefer. Sliced banana and honey... butter and fig jam... maple syrup and ice-cream... lemon and sugar.

Laksa, yes please!

2009-10-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

Darwin in a bowl. Here it is. Laksa as it should be, slurpy, messy, spicy and milky. It is done really well up in northern Australia. The proximity to S.E. Asia is a real influence, as is the hot climate and abundance of tropical ingredients. Lemon grass grows so well here, galangal too. Chillies are fiery and plentiful. Searingly hot red curry paste is made by Thai women in their kitchens and sold at the Rapid Creek Markets.

In this warm (really I mean oppressive) weather, do you really want to be eating a hot soup? There is something about the chili, the flavour and the subsequent sweating that make me say YES PLEASE! PASS THE LAKSA! It is equally as delicious and lip-smacking in the cold though. Just throw on a scarf, put on those mittens and slurp down some delicious laksa whatever the temperature.

This recipe is easy, although perhaps a little labour intensive. What makes it easy is the use of a food processor. Simply add all of the paste ingredients to the bowl of your processor, use your sharpest blade and you have made a potentially authentic laksa paste in less than five minutes. This paste is the key to the overall dish. It is also a real confidence booster in tackling cooking where flavours are built up, such as Indian or Thai... more about that later.

Laksa
Serves 4

2 tbs red curry paste
4 chicken thigh fillets, cubed
3 cups chicken stock
2 packets instant noodles
Handful rice noodles
4 eggs
400 ml tin light coconut milk
Lovely handful snowpeas
8 prawns, peeled (optional)
4 spring onions, white part sliced
1 cup (or so) bean sprouts
Bunch coriander, roughly chopped

Laksa Paste:
1 large onion, roughly chopped
5 c.m. piece ginger, roughly chopped - if you can find some galangal use it too!
2 stems lemon grass, white part roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 chillies, chopped
2 tbs oil

Make the laksa paste. Combine the first five ingredients in your food processor, blend until well chopped and relatively smooth. Add oil, until the mixture becomes a paste. It will smell amazing!

Heat a wok over medium heat, add the laksa paste and cook mixture while stirring for two minutes. Add the chicken, stir to coat and cook for a further two minutes. Mix in the chicken stock, slowly bring to the boil and simmer gently for ten minutes, until the chicken is cooked.

Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the two types of noodles according to packet instructions. Divide amongst four bowls that you will serve the laksa in. Place eggs into another saucepan, top with water and bring to the boil. Simmer for three minutes before removing saucepan from heat. Cool the eggs, peel and halve. Divide amongst the noodle-filled bowls.

Back in the wok, add the coconut milk, snowpeas and prawns if using. Heat through. Ladle into the four bowls. Top each bowl with a good amount of spring onions, bean sprouts and coriander. Slurp it down with plenty of napkins handy.

Should serve 4, but less if you and your lovely are really hungry. Adapted from an old recipe from an ancient Men’s Health magazine.

Please enjoy this with a beer. It is the only way...