Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding

So I thought I'd take the briefest of respites from my 100 Days of Awesome caper. Yeah, yeah, I know, I heard you all breathe a sigh of relief. I know that it's not exactly rivetting blog content, writing about the tiny little awesome things that happen each day that add up to make a good day. But hey, this blog is called "The Teensy, Tiny, Insignificant Details", and that's what I'm talking about, y'all. Those little spots of sunshine. You'd be surprised how much more positive you feel at the end of each day when you actually take stock of those moments, and I highly recommend doing it.

 

Anyway, this particular, more widely-interesting (to the general public, particularly those with a love of baked goods) ray of sunshine showed up on Saturday. I had made a vegetable soup out of the manky dregs of my vegetable drawer, and decided that it wasn't going to quite fill me up.

 

So, because of that, and because I had a cold and wanted comfort food, I decided that I needed* to make chocolate self-saucing pudding. Immediately.

 

I had also recently come into possession of these totally adorable individual enamelled baking dishes, and I needed* to use them to assauge the cuteness overload I was experiencing. Immediately. Let's just take a moment to bask in their awesomeness:

 

Done. Note also the cookbook to the side - from the Australian Women's Weekly "Kitchen" - and what it should look like if you make it in a large dish. (Note that the link I provided is for an Australian book store, and they don't know I exist (besides having taken my money in exchange for books from time to time!), but I do support the concept of buying local books from companies that employ some people locally, rather than just buying them off Amazon.

 

Moving on, this recipe is a bit of a winner - it only requires one bowl (which isn't a bowl at all - it's a saucepan); is dead easy; is egg-free (not an issue for me, but some people are allergic... and it will also make you feel much safer licking raw batter off the spoon if you're pregnant!); and it uses only baking staples that you are already likely to have in your cupboard. True, it's not exactly fancy-pants dinner party fare, but certainly is delicious and is perfect for a comfortable dinner with friends. 

 

It also travels quite well if you make the batter and put it in the dish, refrigerate until you're ready to transport it (it should stop it from rising), bring the brown sugar/cocoa mix with you in a plastic bag and do the sprinkle/add boiling water step once you're at your venue. And if you do that and pop it in the oven right as the main course is being served, it should be ready for consumption at just about the right moment.

 

I halved the recipe, and made it in three smaller containers - two of my adorable enamel dishes and one small Chinese bowl. I used a little less water because I got the feeling I was going to drown the puddings (although that ended in a more chewy, caramel-y sauce rather than a runnier one I have had in the past when making a full batch in a large dish), and reduced the cooking time by about ten minutes. I'd keep a closer eye on it than that if you're not following the original recipe and check it after about 25 minutes, though - my oven has a track record for not running at the temperature it is set to, so you never can tell what's going to happen. Makes things exciting!

 

The recipe, from AWW "Kitchen", can also be found here.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

60g butter

½c milk

½ tsp vanilla extract

¾c castor sugar

1c SR flour

1 tbsp cocoa

¾c brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tbsp cocoa, extra

2c boiling water

 

METHOD:

 

Preheat oven to 180oC.

 

Melt the butter and milk in a saucepan. Remove from heat, mix in vanilla and sugar, followed by flour and cocoa. Stir with wooden spoon until smooth and well-combined.

 

Transfer to greased ovenproof dish/dishes (I've used a 6-cup Pyrex casserole dish before which worked well). Mix brown sugar and extra cocoa together until evenly distributed, sprinkle over the top of the pudding, then carefully pour boiling water over it.

 

Bake in oven for around 40 minutes, until the centre is firm (I tested with a skewer and tasted the crumb to check with it tasted raw, which it did. Once it was cooked the skewer actually came out clean).

 

Serve with ice cream. Yummo!

 

 

 

And how quick and easy was that! You may even have noticed that the method wasn't full of my usual disclaimers about how I changed the recipe on the fly, because I didn't. It really was that easy.

 

*Use of the word "needed" is fairly subjective in this case and pertains more to actions that will lead to feeling gratified, than to more widely-accepted basic human needs such as oxygen and water.

Tarting Yourself Up - Raspberry Chantilly Tart

My dad uses the word "tart" perhaps more than your average person. He's renovating his house at present and talks about "tarting the place up" and says that the place is "tartsville, darling" in this amusingly mincing voice. Even when he buys a new suit or a tie or cufflinks he talks about "looking like a tart." He's quite the character, my dad.

 

For those who are playing along in America, the word "tart" has several meanings, including one which you may or may not be aware of -

 

First, there's the word for a sharp taste, e.g. "that apple was a bit tart for my liking,"

 

Secondly, there's the food - a baked dish with a pastry base and an open top.

 

And thirdly, there's the British slang for a promiscuous woman or a prostitute.

 

Obviously my dad's prolific use of the word "tart" pertains to the third definition. Not that he's a promiscuous woman or a prostitute (although I have no idea what he got up to in his younger years, but I really don't want to think about that!!!), but to "tart oneself up" is to put a bit of effort into making yourself... perhaps a step beyond presentable. Showy, even. And to have "a tart on the side" implies that you are engaging in, erm, extracurricular activities that perhaps you ought not be!

 

And obviously this post is about baked goods, not about women of questionable character or putting on a show. Although I have to admit the tarts did a pretty good job of being showy - they're quite simple, but also effective.

I also need to confess that, in the past, I've used a (baked!) tart as a vehicle for publicly delivering a backhanded comment about someone's moral sensibilities and personal choices. They say that if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all... unless you can backstab with sweetened baked goods, in which case you're good to go!
 

The recipe came from the book 50 Rainbow Tarts. It caught my eye in a book shop the other week while I was looking for a birthday gift for my friend A, and I simply had to have it. Hah, that's usually how it happens. Happy not-birthday to me! Although A was actually with me at the time, so there's really no excuse for losing focus...

 

It's a great concept, and it really appeals to me in terms of how visually pleasing and structured the recipes are - there are 50 tarts, all colours of the rainbow, and the index is basically a paint colour chart with little sample dots and the name of the tart  and page number listed below it (sorry about the quality of the picture - I snapped it quickly with my iPhone to show a friend who displays slight OCD tendencies when it comes to colour-coding!).

 

You can tell it was written by a graphic designer with a love of food, and I wish I'd thought of it first! Quick suggestion to the publishers for the second print run, though - run your dots right the way across the page and treat it as a full-page spread rather than two pages, or else do the same but starting in one corner and radiating out through the spectrum of colour and shade as you move across the page.

 

There are both sweet and savoury tarts, and each one has been made into a small oblong with a with a white strip at the bottom, much like a paint colour chip. I'd probably call it an open tart because everything is kind of piled on top of a flat base with no sides. There are four different pastry base recipes right in the front, several recipes for the white part, and from there the book makes its way through the rainbow by applying different toppings to various combinations of base and cream.

 

INGREDIENTS:

Pastry Base
160g plain flour
25g icing sugar
50g unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces
Pinch salt
1 vanilla bean (I used 1tsp of vanilla bean paste)
1 egg
3tbsp milk

Chantilly Cream
150mL chilled cream
20g icing sugar

The Tart
1 quantity pastry (above)
1 quantity cream (above)
125g raspberries, plus more for decoration (I used frozen raspberries and picked out 24 good ones plus a few spares and let them thaw out on a piece of paper towel, standing on their ends)
3/4tsp gelatine powder
 

METHOD:

Pastry Base
Line baking tray with baking paper. Combine all ingredients as far as the salt.

Add vanilla, egg and milk and roughly combine with your hands (although I prefer to use a butter knife, because then I don't get sticky hands. They will get sticky later, though, just not quite as sticky as this step!).

Lightly flour your hands, remove rings (I'm telling you to do that because I always forget!) and tip onto a floured bench and knead the dough until smooth and it forms a ball. You don't want it too sticky but also not too dry.

Roll out flat and cut into four 12cm x 15cm rectangles (I would probably make eight that were half the size next time). Note that in the process of squaring them up, I ended up with excess pastry. So I spread the offcuts with apricot jam, rolled them into little pinwheels and baked them with the rest of the pastry. Yum!

Place onto prepared tracy, prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180oC (350oF). Bake for about 20mins, or until lightly golden. Cool.

Chantilly Cream
Beat cream in mixer until firm peaks form (but don't let it turn to butter!). Sift sugar into cream and beat for another few seconds until sugar is well incorporated.

The Tart
Combine the raspberries (except those set aside for decoration) with sugar and gelatine with a tablespoon of water in a saucepan over medium heat. Crush raspberries gently with a wooden spoon and bring to the boil. Remove from heat, strain through fine sieve to remove seeds, then cool completely (I put mine in the fridge to speed things up. Use a container with thin sides rather than a ceramic dish, as it will cool faster).

Once cooled, fold the raspberry liquid into half the cream, then spread on the upper part of the pastry base. Pipe or spread the remaining chantilly cream in whatever pattern your heart desires onto the lower part of the pastry. Decorate with the intact raspberries that you drained earlier.

THE WRAP-UP:

 

The base itself wasn't as sweet a shortcrust as I am accustomed to, which kind of bugged me when I tried eating it raw, but obviously once it is loaded up with chantilly cream that is no longer an issue ;) It's also worth mentioning that in my head, a sweet shortcrust pastry is the melts-in-your-mouth one mum used to make from the Alma Lach's The Hows and Whys of French Cooking, which, predictably, is quite a heavenly pastry. I will probably experiment with different shortcut pastry recipes, but if you do the same you should bear in mind that the pastry needs to be robust enough to hold up when it is loaded up with topping and moved around.

 

I tried several methods of piping the cream (I'm a piping kinda gal!) but I'm sure just smearing it on with a knife or the back of a spoon would do just as well. I think all three look fine, but the third one is probably a bit prettier.

 

Be warned that the cream becomes a little runny once you fold the raspberry mixture through. I don't know whether I didn't put enough gelatine in, or it didn't cool enough, or it was just always going to happen. I might have to give it another try, just to be sure, and maybe add a bit more gelatine. All in the name of quality control, you see... ;)

 

Alright then, you lot, off you go. Get yourselves a cup of tea and have a little bit of tart on the side...

AWW Passionfruit Buttermilk Syrup Cake

I've been sulking about my recent stay in hospital for too long. Yeah, I'm still recovering from having the pacemaker replaced, and I do get stabs of pain from time to time, but I think I'm ready to put a more positive spin on things. And what more delicious way to do that, than to bake a cake!

 

I baked this one while I was recouperating at my mum's house, and had just decided that I had enough strength back in my right arm to put it through its paces and do something besides watch Game of Thrones. I chose it because I knew we had the ingredients in the cupboard already, and also because I knew it wouldn't actually take a great deal of strength or control in my right arm, as decorating a cake properly would have.

 

This is technically a syrup cake, thanks to the icing, and is magnificently buttery. It keeps quite well for 3 or so days. I say "or so" because I can't remember whether it was three or four, but if I'm honest with myself, I can't imagine that it would have made it far past Day 3 with my mum and I circling like vultures!

 

It's from the Australian Womens Weekly book Bake. Something I'm becoming more mindful of these days is trying to cook new recipes from my multitude of cookbooks, rather than reverting to the same old recipes again and again, and I had never tried this one before. Unfortunately, due to my wikkid skillz in selecting delectable recipes I tend to pick good ones, so I suspect this will become one recipe that I come back to because it was the perfect balance of buttery and tangy. Oh well, I suppose there are more tragic things in this life than cooking the same recipe over and over!

 

A copy of the original recipe can be found here on the AWW website.

 

Note that the recipe on the website tells you to bake it for 40 minutes in a bundt tin. I didn't have a bundt tin available to me at mum's, having relocated it to my new house (have tins: will travel!), so I baked it in a normal-sized, round tin. I think it was about 8" across, give or take. The supplementary instructions in the margin of the recipe say to cook it in a normal, round tin for about an hour. I think I cooked it for about an hour and five minutes, but as per usual I advocate aiming for five minutes less, testing it for doneness, and then putting it back in.

 

As per usual, I am incapable of sticking to the method. By which I mean, I suffer from the devastating afflctions of having the attention span of a bush fly; a rampant will of my own; and an above-average knowledge of all things baking. I'm that annoying person that sits in front of My Kitchen Rules and shouts "you're doing it wrong!" even if I've only cooked it once before. But rest assured that the cake came out wonderfully using my method, although if anyone clicks through and uses the original recipe from start to finish, please email me and tell me how it went!

 

INGREDIENTS:

250g butter, softened
1c castor sugar
3 egg yolks + 3 egg whites                                             

2 c SR flour (I used plain flour and added 4tsp of baking powder)

¾c buttermilk (I used normal milk and added a teaspoon of white vinegar, stirred and let it sit a while)

¼c passionfruit pulp *
ICING
1½c icing sugar
¼c passionfruit pulp, approximately *

 

* Note that between the two, it adds up to around one small tin of passionfruit pulp like we get here in Australia. You know the tins that are the same size as tomato paste? Yeah, them. I think I've seen Admiral, Ardmona and John West make them, although I'm sure there are other brands out there.

 

Preheat the oven to 180oC (160oC F/F). Grease and flour an 8-9" round, 4" deep tin, which I strongly suggest you do out on your back lawn to make the clean-up easier later - flour will go flying when you bash the tin to discard the excess. Or you could grease and line it instead. Hmm, I wonder if anyone has done the carbon footprint calculation on those two options...

 

Anyway, this is where I really diverted from the recipe. I was about to pull out mum's Kenwood when I realised that I broke it about a year ago. Well, okay, I didn't break it. It broke itself. I was sitting there, minding my own business, waiting for it to mix something, when it threw a gear. It still functions, but only on super-duper-high-speed, which I thought was a bit extreme for this cake. It's not like I was whipping cream or anything. 

 

So I cut the butter into four slabs (if you're playing along in the States, you're looking at around two sticks of butter, so cut them once lengthways), put them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwaved them for about ten or fifteen seconds. The aim here is to make it soft, but not melt it. There was a wee puddle of melted butter in the bottom of the bowl, but it mostly held its form quite well.

 

Next, I dumped the castor sugar in and beat it in with a wooden spoon. I went about as hard and as fast as I could, until it was a bit paler and fluffier in colour. Obviously it wasn't even close to what the mixer could do, but I think considering the fact my pectoral muscle had a hole in it, I did pretty well!

Next, I dipped my finger in and ate some butter and sugar to confirm it was stil just as delicious at this stage as it has been the other 12,496 times that I have tried it. Man, I love that part! Then, quick as a wink, I dumped the egg yolks in and mixed them through to prevent me from eating any more of it. It's a pretty good dis-incentive, I have to say. Raw egg grosses me out when I've just seen it (and yet, I happily eat cake batter, not to mention chocolate mousse which has both raw egg yolk and egg white in...go figure). 

I then alternated adding flour and milk, starting and finishing with flour - flour, milk, flour, milk, flour. I'm not sure why, but I'm pretty sure I remember reading somewhere that it was important, perhaps because you have more control over the moisture? I dunno. Anyway, I guess that kind of became irrelevant here, because you then dump the passionfruit pulp in and stir it until it is mixed in evenly, which really means you have very little control over the moisture content after all! But old habits die hard, and it's good to get into good habits.

 

Next (that's a dirty great lie - I did it first and set them aside, and I suggest you do, too. I like to not muck about once I've added liquid to a product containing a leavening agent, especially if I'm working near a hot stove - you don't want it reacting before you're ready for it to do so) I whipped the egg whites into stiff peaks using the whipping/beating attachment on mum's stick mixer (kind of like a Bamix, but with more accessories). I then gently mixed 1/3-1/2 of the egg white in - I refer to this quantity as the "sacrifical egg white", because, let's face it, the air is going to be squashed out of it by the dense cake mix. But the purpose of mixing it in first is to lighten the batter, so that when you go to fold the rest of it in, it doesn't fall totally flat.

 

Scrape the mixture into the tin, leaving just enough residue  to satisfy your ridiculous craving for cake batter (but without affecting your desire to eat the finished product), then put in the preheated oven (my preferred shelf spacing is a little above half way up, so it browns but doesn't burn) and bake for about an hour, give or take. Cake is done when it springs back when touched lightly.

 

Remove from oven, leave to cool in tin for about five minutes and then turn it out right-way-up on a wire rack to cool.

 

Once cool, ice it with the syrup icing. For the syrup, mix the icing sugar and passionfruit pulp together. Microwave (or you could do it in a saucepan) for... uh... I think I did it in 20 second bursts, until it was hot and the sugar was starting to dissolve. I then poured it carefully and evenly over the cake, so that it covered the top and the sides. I also didn't completely melt it, because I wanted it to penetrate but I also wanted it to have a bit of coverage. Look at it, sitting there, glistening with unforetold potential!

Anyway, this is what it looked like whole, before I iced it. The above picture were taken at night so they don't really capture the golden-brown perfection of this cake, so I thought I'd throw it in for you. Makes you hungry, doesn't it. And it smelt just as good as it looks while it was baking!

And this is what it looked like in the cold light of day. 

And I can assure you, you will be going back for a second piece. Maybe even a third. No judgement here!

Bon appetit!

 

 

 

Blueberry Cheesecake Slice

One of my bestest friends in the whole, wild world is having a baby soon, so on one ridiculously hot day in early Februray I held a baby shower for her.

 

Em is having a little boy, and I'm super-excited by the prospect of being Aunty Ness. SQUEEEE! I'm totally going to be that cool "aunt" that bakes cupcakes and pays Lego and climbs trees and teaches him to use firearms drive a 4WD and takes him base jumping hiking and teaches him how to treat girls (although I'm sure his parents will have that one covered. Yeah, and in case you couldn't tell from the strikethroughs, Em is probably reading this... hi, Em! *waves*). Of course, before all that happens he will probably throw up on me more than a few times and possibly even make a habit of crying when I pick him up, but I'll try not to take that personally. Phht, kids.

 

Sorry, just had to get all that excitement out of my system. (Side-note - I've been doing a fair whack of online dating of late, and a few of the guys have successfully stalked Googled me despite my poorly-disguised fake email address, so this is a public service announcement to those ones who may have found my blog: Please don't freak out that I'm excited about my friend's baby, or that I love my housemates' squishy li'l pudding of a kid. Yes, babies are cute and yes, I do want kids... but I don't want them this week, so you can chill out! ;) )

 

Ahem.

 

Anyway, one of the ways in which my excitment manifested itself - and you should probably know that it has manifested itself in several ways - was to make everything for the baby shower blue. Blue lollies, blue cake, blue ice cream, blue cheesecake. Em's brother Heath did a fabulous job with blue decorations, too. The savoury food was obviously not blue, because that would have been disturbing, but thanks to Other Ness for providing the delicious, normal-coloured savouries!

 

I took the base recipe from Taste, but decided that it was nowhere near being blue enough, and the quantities were wrong, so I doubled it and changed the topping. I also made it in a slab pan with quite square sides (which I think is about 22 x 32cm), because I wanted nice, square/oblong servings. Now that I think about it, it's basically a denser, cheesier version of the Aussie classic jelly slice, and gosh it's nice!

 

Note that, using the tin I used, I ended up scraping about 1/4-1/5 of the mixture out (so, a heaped cereal bowl's worth) to make room for the jelly layer, so you could probably make do quite well with a 3/4 batch of this mix. Even doing a 1/2 batch (which is the whole, original batch) would work, although I'm not certain that the base would be robust enough to hold up.

 

INGREDIENTS:

500g plain, sweet biscuits (i.e. two packs of milk arrowroot biscuits)

250g butter, melted (i.e. one block)

3tsp gelatine powder

1/4c boiling water

1kg cream cheese, softened (i.e. four Aussie blocks of Philly)

1c castor sugar

2tsp vanilla bean paste

600mL thickened cream, whipped (i.e. large container of Pura/Bulla cream)

(Note - I had intended to fold some blueberries through the batter, but forgot to buy them that day, so the batter was plain. Feel free to add some here, though!)

 

500g-ish box of fresh or frozen blueberries (I recommend roughly chopping at least half of them up, to make it easier to cleanly slice the cheesecake later. Note also that you may not use the whole box if you don't like the look of it, so start by dealing with half and then add more if it feels right)

2tbsp gelatine

200mL boiling water

4-600mL cold water (note that I'm basing my quantities on hazy recollections of the gelatine tin saying 1tbsp of gelatine, 100mL boiling water, top up to 400mL mark with cold, but you should obviously follow the directions on whatever packet you end up using)

Blue food dye

Blueberry essence
(Alternately, you could just puchase blueberry jelly crystals from the supermarket, but apparently I'm not that smart!)

 

Grease and line tray with baking paper (make sure you get the corners and the sides of the pan where the paper doesn't extend to nice and greasy).

 

Process/crush biscuits until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Mix in melted butter until just combined and press into tin. Refrigerate until firm (20mins).

 

Sprinkle first lot of gelatine over boiling water in heatproof jug. Whisk with fork until dissolved. Set aside to cool (15mins).

 

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in gelatine mixture until combined. Fold in whipped cream (this is where I didn't fold any blueberries through and should have, but it turned out fine). Pour most of the mixture into pan, leaving enough room on top for 5-10mm of jelly, smooth top and refrigerate.

Pour boiling water into heatproof jug (I actually used 2 separate, 500mL jugs as I don't have a 1L one), sprinkle gelatine over the top, let it soak for a minute and whisk with a fork until dissolved. Continue to whisk and add 4-600mL cold (room temperature) water (depending on how thick and rigid you want the jelly layer to be), then colouring and flavouring to taste. Leave to cool fully.

Lightly roughen the surface of the refrigerated cheesecake with a fork.

Lick the fork clean and then put it in the dishwasher so you don't accidentally use it again. Sprinkle cheesecake with blueberries (some chopped, as mentioned above).

You don't want a solid layer of blueberries as it will be difficult to cut and compromise the integrity of the cheesecake layer. You only want just enough to have a couple of whole ones and several chopped bits adorning the jelly on each slice. Gently pour on jelly mix, squash any floating blueberries into the cheesecake so you get a nice, smooth finish, and refrigerate until set.

Cut into oblong slices (I got 30 slices out of this tin), lift carefully out (you might as well know that the corner slice will be totally buggered and the biscuit layer will probably fall off it, but hey, you need to eat the "ugly one" anyway in the name of quality control!) and serve.

Nom.


Notes - Don't do what I did and add a bunch of frozen blueberries to the jelly - the jelly immediately around the berries will set almost instantly and make it quite tricky to make smooth.

I also recommend cutting the cheesecake with a hot, dry knife (you'll need a jug of boiling water and a tea towel to make that happen).

 

 



"It's a Miracle!" Freeform Berry Tart

Kia ora!

Well it's been quite some time since I posted. I could give you a million reasons, but mostly it's just that I've been living life (and loving it!).

As I write this I'm on holidays with Kirsti visiting Kat in NZ . We've been bumming about Auckland with Kat for the last few days, and tomorrow we head off to find us some Hobbitses. We haven't yet decided if we will make it a habit to eat Second Breakfast in our travels but I guess we'll just have to take things as they come ;)

Speaking of breakfast, this recipe is one you could **almost** get away with for breakfast - I mean, if berry Danishes are breakfast food then surely so may this be. I made it for a friend the night before I flew out, so the lucky bugger had the option at any rate!

I made a half batch (or at least I **thought** I did - recipe as follows), but the full recipe can be found in Margaret Fulton's Baking (which Kirsti gave me last year for my birthday). True to form I only vaguely followed the instructions. You should all know by now that I'm pretty impatient and also tend towards laziness, interspersed with forgetfulness. And yet, it turned out just fine. Things usually do, when it involves butter and sugar, not to mention berries and cream. Can't really go wrong :)

HAHAHA oh man, I just re-read the recipe before copying it out, and realised just how poorly I halved it. So the recipe below is the complete one. I halved the flour and almonds in the first bracket (I can't say for sure whether I halved the butter. I may have, but make no promises), and everything in the second, and it's actually a bit of a miracle that it held shape at all, but hey, it tasted great!

INGREDIENTS:

2c plain flour

125g butter

1/2c ground almonds

2tbsp castor sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

A little grated lemon rind

1tbsp rum

1/2c ground almonds

1/2c castor sugar

600g mixed berries (frozen is fine - thaw them first though, and if there is lots if juice/water, drain most of it off)

3tbsp icing sugar

Cream to serve. 

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Mix ingredients in the first bracket in the order in which they appear (I dumped them all in the food processor) until combined. Form into a ball, wrap in glad wrap and refrigerate for an hour. (I chucked it in the freezer for about half an hour. Impatience and all!)

Roll out on baking paper in a 30cm circle, put on a tray and chill for 30 minutes. (Seeing as I had halved the flour and almonds, my circle was a bit smaller, and I estimate that I smooshed it to around 5mm thick. With my hands. Yep, I was totally winging it.)

Preheat oven to 180oC. (Check!)

Sprinkle tart shell with the second lot of almond plus 1tbsp of the sugar. Spread fruit over shell, leaving 5cm border. Fold border up to hold fruit in, leaving a gap in the middle. Sprinkle remaining sugar on pastry. 

(Because I was transporting ingredients, I  combined the almonds and sugar in a freezer bag. Fortuitously there was a big lump of sugar in there to sprinkle on the pastry at the end, so I set that aside then sprinkled a thin layer of the combined mixture onto the tart shell, then dumped the berries into the bag, trapped some air in it as if you were crumbling/flouring meat and shook it around to coat the berries. I then spread that mixture on, folded the edges up and sprinkled on the sugar. More than one way to skin a cat!)

Bake on the lowest shelf for about 45 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Cool on tray until just warm (we know how impatient I am - I cooled it for around five minutes!), dust with icing sugar (I didn't), cut into slices and serve with cream. 

Dodgy iPhone photo (nicely styled cream, though!):

 

The half(ish) batch would have served four. 

Leftovers!

 

This is quite an easy recipe, and although it requires refrigeration steps, you can kind of work around that as you cook your main course. It's definitely one I'll make again. And because it's freeform, it doesn't matter a jot if it turns out "rustic" (or, to the average bystander, "ugly"). 

Enjoy!

Anzac Day Porridge

For those of us here in Australia (and also in New Zealand, and various Commonwealth island nations), last Thursday the 25th of April was ANZAC Day. It is a national holiday and treated as a day of remembrance, much like November 11th (Remembrance Day, known as Armistice Day or Veteran's Day elsewhere in the world), although it initially began to commemorate the 12,000 members of Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fell during the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey which began on the 25th of April in 1915.

Gallipoli was the first military campaign of WWI that sustained heavy Australian and New Zealand casualties, and around 2,000 Australians died on the first day. At the time that meant that for every 550 Australians, one person from a very narrow demographic (able-bodied young men) died in that single campaign. For a young nation, this campaign and the war in general went a long way to shape national identity.

People argue the relevance of a 98-year-old military failure in modern Australia, but personally that makes me quite angry when people disregard it all so easily. I'm not pro-war by any stretch of the imagination, but where you are today is a result of everything that went before, and I feel very blessed to live in Australia. Our military history is part of the nation's history, and so it is a part of me. I think people also underrate the sacrifices military personnel and their families made and make, and I don't think we should ever forget it.

The qualities the diggers at Gallipoli displayed became known as the Anzac Spirit. Things like courage, making the best of a bad situation, working hard, helping your mates out and a tendency to be a bit cheeky and push the envelope. I, for one, am more than happy for that to be a part of our national identity, and I fear that those qualities are slipping in today's society.

Anyway, you didn't come here for a rant. You came here for noms!

Normally I bake Anzac biscuits on Anzac Day. They are made of oats, flour, butter, coconut, golden syrup, coconut and sugar. Because there are no eggs or milk they keep very well, and legend has it that people would make them and send them to our troops serving overseas.

Knowing how untrustworthy I am around a batch of Anzacs (I have to have a little bit of the raw mix; a piping hot one which hasn't yet set that will inevitably burn my tongue; and a cooled one. Quality control, you see!) I decided to go with something on a smaller scale that could possibly be construed as wholesome, and invent myself some Anzac porridge.

No need to reinvent the wheel here! I just microwaved 3/4 cup of rolled oats mixed with (I think it was) half a cup of water for a minute or two, stirred it, mixed in 1/4c of milk and a heaped tablespoon of desiccated coconut and microwaved for another minute, then got a massive dollop of golden syrup on my spoon and drizzled it all over the top of the porridge.

Yum-oh!

You'll have to play with the times and the liquid quantities because every microwave is different. Be aware that I have had porridge literally explode all over the microwave, and I have also had it boil over and coat everything with a thick, sticky mess. Choose a deeper bowl and put less in it. If mine turns out dry I usually just add a little more milk and work it into the porridge.

I have heard disturbing rumours that other parts of the world don't have golden syrup, and this shocks and saddens me. The best way I can describe it (and in fact, I have cobbled some together like this) is a cross between honey and molasses, kind of a pale treacle. It is basically a cane sugar-based syrup that has a wee bit of bitterness to its sticky sweetness. Honey is too sweet and molasses is too bitter. I imagine a 3:1 mix might come close. Maybe. Or you could just Google it - no doubt someone has done the maths!

Review - The Junk Food Cooking School, Docklands, Melbourne

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of being asked to join my friend Tanya in a Vietnamese cooking class on a Chinese junk (formerly a brothel moored in Footscray, now casually moored in the harbour at Docklands). Tan's husband, you see, had quite obligingly suffered a bout of gout that week and so I was chosen as the person who would most appreciate it. And boy, did I appreciate his pain. Thanks, Mark! :)

The Junk Food Cooking School is run by a lovely woman named Hazel, and there are classes on various cuisines available throughout the year. I wanted to attend the Mexican class quite badly, but I'm being moved to a FIFO roster at work and am not sure which weekends I will be available to fly back to Melbourne, so I guess I'll have to let that one slide for now. Boo :(

In the meantime, I have done the Good Morning, Vietnam! cooking class and discovered just how simple (and healthy) Vietnamese food is. Because it's been a while since I posted a recipe I'll post my favourite one, but if you want the rest of them you'll jolly well have to attend the class ;) I don't have any qualms in posting this as similar recipes are widely available on the internet and so there are no trade secrets being given away, but I do encourage you to go along to a class. You'll be glad you did.

Two things struck me about the food we cooked: One, even though we made seven different dishes (including dessert), I wasn't completely stuffed full - the food was light, and not at all greasy; and two, the same ingredients were used again and again - chilli, lemongrass, fish sauce, sugar, salt, pepper, vinegar. So it's really not one of those cuisines where you need lots of fiddly things. I don't know about the rest of you, but I already have all of those things in one form or another in regular circulation in my pantry. Now all I need is a garden with some herbs in and I'll be set.

The classes were well-run, and Hazel was open to questions about dietary requirements etc. She has herself been recently diagnosed as caeliac, so I do know that at least the cooking class I did was gluten free and I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the others were, too.

Our class had around ten people in it, and there was a cooking/prep work/demo table at one end of the junk and a dining table and chairs at the other. We were also given a choice of bubbles, wine or beer to drink (plus water, coffee and tea) with our meal, which I didn't expect and which I thought was a nice touch. You could participate as much or as little as you liked, with everyone standing around the demonstration table and Hazel getting people to participate in various ways. As the class wore on we found that the group naturally involved itself and took it in turns, so Hazel didn't have to do too much directing. I guess we had a good group dynamic.

The class lasted four or five hours, including eating the meal and checking out laughing at the buck's night (well, day) boats going in and out of the harbour. You should wear closed-toe, comfortable shoes because you are on your feet for a lot of that time (that, and you don't want to drop a knife or hot oil on your bare foot), but I imagine you could just as easily sit back and watch if you wished. Personally, I'm a more hands-on sort of gal, especially in the kitchen.

Chilli and Lemongrass Curry - The Junk Food Cooking School.

INGREDIENTS:
500g chicken Marylands, chopped into 3 pieces and excess fat and skin removed
1tsp sugar
1/2tsp salt and 1tsp black pepper
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp vegetable oil
2 lemongrass stems, white part only finely chopped and pounded, bash remaining ends
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 birds eye chillies, thinly sliced
90mL water
2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
1 bunch Chinese broccoli or other Asian greens
2 birds eye chillis, sliced, to garnish
1/2 bunch coriander leaves, to garnish.

Combine fish sauce with sugar, salt and black pepper. Stir to dissolve sugar.

Add chicken pieces, stir to coat then cover and chill for half an hour.

Meanwhile pound lemongrass in mortar and pestle until it goes powdery. Fry on medium heat until golden.

Pound garlic and add to wok with chilli and cook until fragrant.

Add chicken and marinade and stir-fry for around 10 minutes until coloured. Chicken does not need to be cooked through at this stage. Add water and bashed lemongrass ends and bring to the boil then reduce heat and cook, with lid on, for approx. 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

Just before serving add greens and spring onions and cook a further 2 minutes then serve garnished with chillis and coriander.

It won't look pretty, but you'll be surprised at how rich and flavoursome it is!
 

We made seven dishes in all - a variation on a rice paper roll, with a prawn and pork sausage in the middle along with herbs, rice noodles and a peanut sauce; sugar cane prawns; pork spareribs braised in coconut water; chicken, chilli and lemongrass curry; coconut rice; green mango salad; and sticky rice to finish off. Today I have shared with you the chicken, chilli and lemongrass curry because it packed such a flavour punch, and also because I was downright shocked that it didn't contain coconut milk - the sauce was just so creamy. It's definitely one going on regular rotation in my kitchen!

Besides the curry we made sugarcane prawns (seen here sitting on a green mango salad)

Pork spareribs braised in coconut water

 Coconut rice

 

Rice paper rolls with a prawn and pork sausage 

 

And sticky rice with banana for dessert.

  

What a feast!

 In addition to plenty of food, drinks and a cooking lesson you also get a snazzy red apron as part of your ticket price. Which is just as well because I get an apron grubby just about every time I use it, so multiple aprons are a must in my life!

 I get the impression the classes do book out fairly quickly, so if you want to book several places then plan well in advance. Hazel does run private classes, though, which could be an option for a hen's night or a work function. I'm not sure whether the price is any different, but it would definitely be worth a look. Included in the normal price is the class, the (multi-course) meal, a drink or two, an apron and a booklet of recipes (I assume that applies across the board for all classes), which I think makes it very good value for money. All in all I recommend the Junk Food Cooking School for a nice day out with friends, or as a gift for someone.

Mango and Peach Sorbet

You may recall that I got the ice cream maker attachment for my Kenwood for Christmas. The first thing I made with it was raspberry sorbet, and, having neither the time nor the inclination to faff about with making an egg-cream-custardy-thing to make proper ice cream out of, or to then do something with the egg whites, I decided to make sorbet again yesterday instead of branching out into the grown-up world of proper ice cream. After all, Melbourne is in the middle of ANOTHER week of 30oC+ and I ain't turning no stove nor no oven on for nobody!

 

Sorbet it is. Locate fruit, sugar, liquid of some sort and food processor. Whizz together. And this one's even better than the raspberry sorbet because this time there was no boiling of sugar syrup. Huzzah!

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, chopped

2 ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, chopped

1/4c lime juice (that's about the juice of 1.5 limes)

3 heaped tablespoons of icing sugar

 

Whizz it all up in the food processor until smooth. If it's not cool, which it will be if the fruit was in the fridge, chill it.

 

Jump into your Tardis, put the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer 24 hours ago (if that's the sort of unit you have, like I do), then come back to the present day and remove it from the freezer and set it up.

 

This is where I say "freeze according to ice cream maker manufacturers' instructions" but in my case, turn your Kenwood/other inferior machine on, pour the puree in and leave it going for half an hour to 45 minutes.

 

Once again I got quite a soft sorbet but I'm imagining that when I pull the leftovers out the freezer tonight I will discover that it is quite solid. (Note: they were. I had to leave them out for ages before I could get the spoon through!)

 

You can add more or less icing sugar to taste, but the amount there was just enough to balance the lime juice and let the mango shine. This was originally supposed to be all-mango but SOMEONE ate the other mango (and it wasn't me, y'all!). Nonetheless I think it was better this way - the peach made it not-terribly-mangoey but sort of supported the flavour without overpowering it. If that makes sense.

 

I can't say which is my favourite because I am inherently biased towards raspberry but it doesn't seem fair to choose the quality of a recipe on what my favourite flavour happens to be, so... if you want something tart and refreshing, possibly to accompany a chocolatey dessert (although it is damned fine on its own), go with the raspberry. If you want to lounge about eating sorbet on a summer's eve then go with the mango (and it has also occurred to me that I could just serve it in a glass and add a splosh (bigger than a splash) of rum to it, just for kicks).

Quick 'n' Dirty - Lamb with Chilli and Coriander (Cilantro), with Greek Salad

I realised recently that part of the reason I struggle to post some weeks is that my everyday foods are probably too boring to write about. And, given that I'm quite time-poor a lot of the time, trying out a whole new recipe can seem daunting, especially if it's complicated. That, and my waistline has been... shall we say... rampant of late, so I've been trying to cut down on my one true love - baked goods. Don't worry, it won't last forever ;) But it has inspired me to try out (or invent) a bunch of "Quick 'n' Dirty" recipes to keep things healthy and interesting for me on weeknights, and also for you!

 

Last week was my first try at something new. It was my turn to cook, and I had taken lamb fillets out of the freezer but had no clear idea what I was going to do with them. So when I walked in the door after work, starving, I knew that whatever I made had to be quick. I also think it's a sin to over-cook lamb unless it's a tougher cut that is supposed to be stewed, so frying it was the only option. I raided the fridge and the spice cabinet, and this is what I came up with.

 

INGREDIENTS (serves two):

400g lamb fillets (basically lean lamb steaks. 400g was four small ones)

1/2tbsp olive oil (+1/2tbsp more - see below)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2tbsp squeezy coriander (I'm sure fresh would be nicer though - it usually is!)

1tsp chilli powder (depending on how hot you like it)

1 huge tomato or two smaller ones

1/3 large cucumber

40g feta cheese

1/4 red onion

6 pitted kalamata (black) olives

1/2tbsp olive oil

1/2tbsp apple cider vinegar (or other acid - I wanted to use lemon juice but had no lemons)

Mint would make a nice addition but I had none of that, either :(

 

Tip half of oil over steaks. Evenly apply chilli, garlic and coriander to it and rub in. Make sure both sides are covered.

 

Heat a pan without oil. When hot, put steaks on. Remember that lamb is best cooked medium and a little pink in the middle, so don't overcook it! It took about 2 or so minutes on the first side, then I flipped them, let them cook for another minute and then turned off the flame and let the residual heat do the rest. The timing will depend on what your pan is made of and how much heat your stovetop retains. Don't leave it in the pan too long, though, because the lamb will continue to cook even after you remove it from the pan.

 

Meanwhile - and this should take you less time than the lamb takes to cook if the ingredients are already out - slice cucumber lengthways, then lengthways again (longitudinal quarters), then chop into 2cm pieces. Cut tomato in half (top to bottom), remove the yucky bit at the top, then cut each piece in half longitudinally, and then 3 or 4 times as if you were cutting wedges, but now each wedge will already be cut in half. Or, you know, cut it in wedges then cut each wedge in half! Cube feta. Slice olives. Combine all ingredients besides feta in a bowl, put remaining olive oil and vinegar on it and toss to combine.

 

Place salad on two plates, and crumble feta over the top. Next, slice lamb fillets into 1.5cm pieces and arrange on top.

 

I imagine it would be nice with a dollop of minted yoghurt on top, but I'd had enough dairy for one day. Oh, and I had no mint!

 

So, reader, what is your go-to Quick 'n' Dirty recipe?



Raspberry Sorbet

 

I can't remember whether I mentioned it, and I'm inclined to say that perhaps I didn't, but last year I was given a brand spankin' new Kenwood mixer for my 30th birthday by some super-duper-awesome-wonderful people in my life. I admit I was torn between getting a shiny Kitchen Aid, preferably in Rasberry Ice, or a Kenwood. But I grew up on Kenwood mixers, and this puppy has a massive 1500W of power versus the insipid 300W of a Kitchenaid. No contest.

 

So although this is beautiful, this is what I ended up with. Which is also beautiful, but in a different way. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get quite a bit of pleasure out of polishing it yesterday! #whyimsingle

From Kenwoodworld.com. To purchase visit "shop" at top of page

Not only does it have a 1500W motor but it also has a mixing bowl that is 2L bigger than does the Kitchenaid, so in theory I can now make quadruple batches of pavlova in one bowl without it exploding. And, oh, the batches of cake I could make! And the cream I could whip! I have such lofty ambitions :)

 

Anyway, for Christmas, my parents (independently, because they're divorced) gave me cash to put towards attachments for the Kenwood. I had enough for two attachments which are actually quite decent value for money. For example, the Kenwood stand-alone food processor is worth about $400, but the food processor attchment for the mixer was about $130. I guess the theory is that once you have the machine, the money you save on the attachments is about equal to the money (and space) you would save on all the other kitchen gadgetes. 

 

So I counted my little wad of cash and ordered the ice cream maker and a food processor attachments, and they arrived last week. And on the weekend, I used both to make raspberry sorbet, and it was amaaaaazing. You know, presuming you love raspberries just as much as I do! It was more tart than sweet, and made around four servings of two scoops each. I imagine next time I may consider straining the seeds out, but not for sure. I'm probably too lazy to bother, truth be told ;)

 

First, I used the food processor to puree the raspberries.

 

And then I used the ice cream maker to make the sorbet (duh). With this particular unit you put the ice cream maker insert in the freezer for 24 hours before you want to make the ice cream, so it requires a little forward planning, but honestly, if you can't predict that you're going to want ice cream then you're a moron. You could probably just keep it in the freezer all the time, and because it's a bowl you can put your frozen peas in the middle and you won't be losing a whole lot of space in your freezer to it. 

 

Sorry there's not a good shot of it (there are sure to be many more opportunities to take a picture of me making ice cream!), but imagine a plastic-on-the-outside, metal-on-the-inside bowl with a flat bottom and straight sides that sits within your mixer bowl. The cavity between the plastic bit and the metal bit contains what I assume is the same fluid you get in those plastic freezer bricks you put in your esky (as we call it. For those playing in New Zulund an esky is also known as a chully bun (=chilly bin), and for everyone else in the world I think it's known as a cooler or possibly an ice box). The ice cream maker has a clear polycarbonate lid, and that white plastic bit you can see in the middle has a shaft that goes down to the bottom, then splits into two paddles. The two paddles make their way in opposite directions to the side of the bowl where they make a 90 degree turn and move up the sides of the bowl. You can juuust see the top of one of the paddles poking out on the left of the bowl, at about the five-minutes-past-nine position.

 

INGREDIENTS:

350g of fresh or frozen raspberries, pureed

3/8c castor sugar (that's half of 3/4, if you're having trouble picturing it)

1/2c water

1/8c lime juice

 

Dissolve sugar in water in saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once dissolved, bring it to the boil and boil for one minute. Set aside to cool.

 

Once cooled, mix through pureed rapberries. Add lime juice and mix (I had left the raspberries in the food processor and added both the sugar syrup and lime juice and turned it on quickly to mix them through).

 

Put in ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. In this case, the brief is to assemble the (pre-frozen) bowl, make sure it all lines up, then turn it on low and THEN pour the mix in. If you do it the other way around it will freeze to the side of the bowl and you will have problems!

 

In my case, it took half an hour for it to become a scoop-able but slightly wet sorbet. Being impatient, I was fine with that. The instructions say most things take half an hour, but to leave it going for up to 45 minutes if it's a little soft, and then if it's still not hard enough then you scoop it out and put it in the freezer. I know that the half of the batch we didn't eat on the first night hardened significantly in the freezer, so I had to let it sit on the bench for a while (the fridge might have been smarter) before scooping it out.

 

Easy peasy! I have to say, I was a little turned off ice cream making by my sort-of-disasterous vanilla ice cream, but I think I'm back in the game. And sorbet is a good place to start because there's no mucking around with eggs making a custard first.

 

What an excellent Christmas present. I look forward to many more interesting ice creams and sorbets! (I have my eye on a honey-walnut ice cream. Mmm...)

 

 

 

Michelle Bridges' Salmon with Char-Grilled Asparagus and Tomato Salad

I thought I'd share a savoury recipe for once. Normally it's all about cupcakes here, but since I have had increasing difficulty buttoning my pants I thought it might be wise to limit my cupcake intake for a time. Don't panic, it's not forever, just until I can fit back into a pair of pants (in the Australian sense, not the British sense!) other than the only two things left in my wardrobe that fit me!

 

So a while ago (hah probably nearly a year ago. Well done, Past Vanessa, for using your new cookbook so much) I bought myself a copy of the Michelle Bridges Crunch Time Cookbook. For the Americans out there, Michelle Bridges is Australia's answer to Jillian Michaels, although probably not quite as hardcore and mean.

 

But she still says some vastly unpopular things that make some women very angry, and there seems to be quite a polarised opinion on her methods, but she's right about a lot of things, and she definitely doesn't sugar coat it (because sugar is the devil. Duh.) - we're not going to lose weight by cuddling puppies or making daisy chains or through positive affirmations about ourselves, and we're certainly not going to do it by eating cheese (mmm, cheese... *undoes jeans button*). But as anyone who read her book knows, she actually does give a damn about the psychology behind weight gain, and does try to address it. So she's mean AND sensible ;) I don't agree with her brand of rapid weight loss because to me it's unsustainable, but it obviously works well for some people.

 

Anyway, to her recipes - last year I wrote a less-than-complimentary review about her Lentil Shepherd's Pie, probably because it was kind of watery, unfilling and a little bit low on taste. That could easily be fixed with some spices, and, as I said, you could probably add a little sweet potato to it in order to thicken it up and bulk it out. Last night's recipe was a bit higher on flavour thanks to the addition of basil and balsamic vinegar, although I suspect it may not have filled me up had I not added the zucchini and snow peas. That's not saying much, though, given what a bottomless pit I have been lately!

 

I'm sorry there are no photos - I was too hungry! - but I think we all know what a piece of grilled salmon sitting on top of a salad looks like.

 

The link to the original recipe is here, but I had to wing it a little because the supermarket was out of asparagus, and we were out of spray oil at home. And also because I feel superior in knowing that you get more flavour out of tearing herbs than chopping them!

 

The original calorie content is 269cal per serve (recipe serves two), but I'm guessing my version was probably closer to 300-325cal thanks to the oil and the fact I used beans (and a larger number of them) plus snow peas and zucchini rather than just a few spears of asparagus.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

Two handfuls mixed salad greens, washed and drained

Handful of green beans, topped, tailed, halved across, washed

Smaller handful of snow peas, topped, tailed, halved across, washed

1 small zucchini, washed, topped, tailed, sliced down the middle then in diagonal, 1.5-2cm chunks

1 250g punnet of cherry tomatoes, washed

Handful of basil leaves, torn

2tsp balsamic vinegar

2tsp olive oil

2 150g salmon steaks

 

Put salad greens and torn basil in two large bowls.

 

Heat half the oil in a grill pan (I used our old family cast iron frypan instead. It's an amaaaazing piece of kitchenware to have, it's not even the schmancy enamelled type, and it probably cost about $20 from a camping shop). Put the beans in and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally so that they get a little bit of charring but don't burn.

 

Next, add snow peas and cook for about 30 seconds to a minute before adding the zucchini and tomatoes. Stir occasionally for another minute or two until everything is a little bit brown and heated through. I recommend tasting the zucchini at this point as uncooked zucchini is quite bitter.

 

Remove from heat and divide evenly between two bowls. Drizzle evenly with balsamic vinegar.

 

Return pan to heat with remaining oil. When pan is hot, grill salmon on both sides until lightly browned but still pink in the middle. Serve atop salad. Enjoy! (and I can say it wholeheartedly this time!)