Free-form Cherry Cheesecakes

I had some friends over for dinner last night and couldn't quite decide what to make for dessert. Everything I decided on required baking but the oven was occupied by a 5 hour leg of lamb. After a big feed of roast it's hard to turn around and eat a heavy dessert, so I wanted something that was still decadent, but light. S-bo suggested fruit salad but I found all the chopping a bit daunting. This recipe came from a recipe scrapbook I started when I was about 18. I haven't attempted many of the recipes in there. Not sure why I even kept half of them.

Still, waiting so long to cook this one is quite a shame as it was delicious. If you're very organised you can prepare it before your guests arrive. I, on the other hand, was not organised and so ended up whizzing biscuits whilst my guests enjoyed cheese. I was then mixing cream cheese etc. whilst everyone else let their mains settle over a few glasses of wine. If only I had one of those huge kitchens with a big wooden table, where it's "cool" to cook as you go because everyone can join in. My kitchen is not terribly small as renters go, but it's not quite interactive.

The cream cheese/mascarpone mixture is great and make sure you don't skip the lemon zest. You could make a low-fat version by using reduced fat cream cheese, but what's the point really? If you can't handle the fat, don't have dessert! No, I'm kidding, what I really mean to say is everything in moderation is fine. I used mascarpone from the supermarket and got a great, creamy result, so I can only imagine how improved it'd be with some good "deli-grade". For a super quick dessert you could probably use some good full-cream vanilla or natural yoghurt and spoon the cherries straight from the can. My cherry syrup didn't thicken that much anyway!


The Recipe:
100 g amaretti biscuits (I used arnott's buttersnap), crushed
250 g cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
250 g mascarpone
400 g can black cherries in syrup
1 tbsp cornflour, dissolved in 1/4 cup water

Drain cherries from syrup and set cherries aside. In a saucepan combine syrup with the cornflour mixture. Place over medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes until mixture thickens. Remove mixture to a bowl, stir in cherries, then refrigerate.

Divide crushed biscuits between 6 small glasses, dessert bowls or ramekins.
Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in lemon zest and juice, then mascarpone. Divide mixture evenly between the glasses - but don't worry about smoothing the surface. Spoon a little cooled cherry mixture over each cheesecake.

Serves 6, however this recipe could easily be stretched out to 8.

The oven strikes again: Chocolate Brownies

I made chocolate brownies the other day to take to work. After repeated oven woes I still haven't gone out and bought myself an oven thermometer, although I really should.

The brownies were made on Tuesday night, the same night I made the turkish pizzas, so it's a great surprise that the oven was my only worry. What with eating the pizza and checking out the lunar eclispe at the same time, I was bound to leave an ingredient out, as I so often do. Luckily I fluked it.

I did the normal trick of turning the oven 10 degrees lower than recommended but it didn't seem to work. The brownies still had 15 minutes to go and they were smelling burnt. Sure enough my reliable oven had left a black burnt crisp around the edges. Surprisingly the actually still tasted ok. Good, even. Nice and sweet and chocolately with just the right amount of gooey-ness in the centre. They're not a very rich brownie although I did use milk chocolate not dark. I have a few brownie recipes floating around so I might have to test and compare. Just another excuse to eat brownies right?

Chocolate Brownies (From a Family Circle cookbook I think)
150 g butter, chopped
125 g dark chocolate, Chopped
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
icing sugar, to dust

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a 20 cm square tin. Line the base with baking paper (it's great to extend the paper over the side to make it easy to take out the brownie)
Melt butter and chocolate in a double saucepan then cool slightly.
Use a whisk to beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl. Add the melted chocolate mixture and whisk together. Stir in the combined sifted flour and cocoa. Do not overbeat. Pour into tin and bake for 40 minutes or until slightly risen and just firm. Leave to cool in the tin (the brownie will sink a little), cut into squares and dust with icing sugar.

Back in the Kitchen: Turkish Pizza

It's funny how you can overlook the most simple recipes and sometimes they're simply wonderful. That's not quite the case with this turkish pizza. I wouldn't call it simply wonderful, but it was pretty damn good and a very quick, easy way to whip up a yummy Tuesday night meal.

After my weekend of minimal cooking I was keen to cook something new. My quest to cook all clippings is still going and I've had this one ear-marked for a while. I'm getting down to the very difficult ones, or those with expensive ingredients or those that require very long cooking times. So I'm not entirely sure how this one slipped past the radar. I think I tore it out of a Gravox promo booklet of all places.

The mint really makes it but being beef mince there's something quite homely about it. It reminds of spaghetti bolognese, or the toasties you might whip up from the leftovers. I ate so many bolognese jaffels as a student. Most students have some form of toasted sandwich maker and whilst the sandwich presses allow a little more "gourmette", you can't go past a jaffel surely.

I didn't use lamb and mint gravy mix last night, I used a plain gravox that was floating around in the pantry. But I'm sure beef stock would be exactly the same really. I upped the mint to compensate though.

Luckily this can be a cutlery free meal once cool enough. So I trekked outside with my piece of turkish bread pizza to watch the lunar eclipse. I think I missed the moon at it's reddest though, I thought it was all a little overrated until I saw the pictures in the paper today. Clearly I went at the wrong time. Nevermind.

Turkish Pizza
1 tbsp oil
4 spring onions
1 clove garlic, crushed
500 g beef or lamb mince
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/3 cup Gravox (insert registered trademark symbol here) lamb with mint gravy mix (sounds appetising huh? Just use beef stock)
1 1/4 cups water
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 long turkish pide loaf, halved horizontally
1/3 cup pine numts toasted
2 roma tomoatoes diced
1 tbsp finely chopped mint
2 cups tasty cheese
extra mint to garnish

Preheat oven to 230 degrees C. Heat oil and cook onions, garlic and mince until mince is browned. Combine spices, gravy mix, water and tomato paste. Add to the mince mixture, bring to the boil then reduce heat and cooke for a further 4 min.

Cut each pide in half and place cut side up on a baking tray. Spoon mince mixture evenly over each piece and top with pine nuts, tomatoes, mint and cheese. Bake for 15-20 min until cheese is golden and base is crispy.

Serves 4.

Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes

I was searching for recipes the other day to use up some sour cream I had in the fridge. S-bo and I did a good job with a late night, after-pub meal of nachos but there was still quite a lot left. Because I usually shop and cook according to what recipes I want to try, rather than according to what’s in the fridge, I have to be very careful I don’t waste things. I had plans for the sour cream. There was the nachos, and later this week I hope to have chicken burgers with salsa and sour cream (a favourite from uni days at Burgerlicious on King St, Newtown). But still I had too much sour cream.

I thought surely I could find a cake recipe calling for sour cream. But it had to be quite straightforward, ‘cause I didn’t want to buy a whole stack of ingredients…it seemed to defeat the purpose of using up an ingredient. I looked high and low but it wasn’t’ till I came to my Women’s Weekly Cupcake book that I found a recipe. It’s funny how you always see things but then when you’re looking for something specific is eludes you. Like shopping really.

Anyway, that’s how I arrived at Flower Cakes. I thought I would be ambitious and make the suggested butterfly and flour decorations too. I’ve never used modelling fondant before and let’s just say these cakes aren’t what the book intended. I was meant to make pretty 3 dimensional butterflies but they were never going to work. First I couldn’t find an appropriate butterfly cutter, then I couldn’t really get the “damp wire” to stick to my hand-cut shapes. Plus I wasn’t quite sure where the wire was meant to go anyway. So I made some shapes anyway and set them to dry, but the next morning the wire snapped off as soon as I tried to manipulate it. Nevermind, I made the cakes according to the recipe below and then stuck some shapes, 2 dimensional, onto the cream cheese icing. A workmate of mine, known as The Other Dan, although her name isn’t Dan at all, has just bought and moved into an apartment and I had planned the cakes to be a congratulatory gift. So when the butterflies didn’t work I thought why not make a little house. Which is precisely what I did.

I don’t like this recipe as much as a normal banana cake but it’s really not too far different and did turn out to be a great way to use my sour cream. Next time (because I always have too much sour cream) I might try the raspberry and coconut cakes. No modelling fondant required.

Banana sour cream cake
90 g butter, softened
½ cup (110 g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
½ cup self-raising flour
½ cup plain flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp mixed spice
2/3 cup mashed, overripe banana
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to moderate (180 degrees) and line 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper cases.
Beat butter, sugar and eggs in a small bowl until light and fluffy.
Stir in sifted dry ingredients then banana, cream and milk. Divide mixture among cases, smooth surface and bake for about 25 min.
Turn cakes onto a wire rack to cool then ice with cream cheese frosting.
Please email me if you would like the cream cheese frosting and modelling fondant recipes They are both pretty standard.

Jamie's Pasta with Amazing Slow-cooked Meat

When I made the Gnocchi last weekend I had some leftover pecorino, so I went on the hunt to find a recipe worthy of such delicious cheese. I was thinking of replacing the parmesan in risotto, then I came across this recipe. I have a stack of slow-cook recipes piling up that I don't have the time for. Not that they are time consuming, I just have trouble staying at home for too long without popping out for something or other, and I'd be too worried to leave the stove unattended.

Anyway, cut a long story short, I love slow-cooked meat but rarely cook it. So this time I was determined. The recipe's pretty straightforward. S-bo gave me a hand cutting things up finely as I was cutting the time a little short. 2.30 pm and already time's running out to get dinner ready. Funny huh? There's not a whole lot to say about the initial cooking phase. I actually was planning on eating the sauce the next day, so I cooked the meat for 2 1/2 hours then left it 'til the next day. It was very liquid-y but perhaps that was 'cause I used crushed tomatoes, maybe it was meant to be whole. Also the size of my pot meant a lot of water was required to over the meat by 1 cm.

I'm not good at slow-cooking, I see little movement in the pot so I turn up the heat. But this time I finally decided to rely on past experiences and I kept it very low indeed. Still I was worried that I'd stuffed things up nevertheless, when the meat wasn't flaking off the bone so well on day 2. Turns out (I think) that I didn't have such great osso bucco. There were lines of sinew through the meat. Now I quite like fat, not afraid of it at all. I have been known to eat the whole lamb chop, fat and all, licking the bone clean as I criticise other's and their healthy ways. Fancy putting the fat to the side and not eating it. But this wasn't melt-in-your mouth fat, it was clear hard-to-cut-with-carving knife sinew. That was a little disappointing but in the end it mean I just used a sharp knife instead of 2 forks to shred the meat.

I set the shredded meat aside and boiled off some of the liquid still in the pan. It worked a treat, although I probably boiled too far.

The dish was delicious and very deserving of the pecorino. S-bo was most impressed, Flatmate enjoyed leftovers for lunch the next day and workmates looked on enviously as I ate my lunch share. Give it a shot, it beats spaghetti bolognese.

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
800 g braising meat on the bone (such as lamb shanks or osso bucco)
Handful of fresh rosemary and thyme, leaves finely chopped, plus extra rosemary to serve
1 small red onion, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 wineglasses of dry red wine
800 g canned roma tomatoes
2 tbsp pearl barley
400 g fresh or dried pappardelle or pasta of your choice
100 g unsalted butter
2 handfuls grated parmesan, plus extra to serve.

Heat the oil in a large casserole over high heat and fry meat in the oil for 3-4 min ‘til brown. Add herbs, onion, garlic, carrot and celery, then reduce heat to medium and continue to fry for 5 min ‘til veges have softened. Add wine and simmer until it has almost cooked away but left you with fantastic colour and fragrance.

Add tomatoes, barley and just enough water to cover the meat by 1 cm. make a cartouche of greaseproof paper – cut out a sheet the size of the pan, wet it under the tap, rub with a little oil, place over pan and put the lid on.

Cook over very low heat for 2-3 hours, depending on the type of meat. It’s ready when it flakes away in tender strands. Season to taste and cool slightly before removing meat from the pan. Pull apart meat with 2 forks, discarding bone, then put the meat back in pan over low heat.
Cook pappardelle in a pan of boiling, salted water. Remove sauce from heat and stir in butter and parmesan (pecorino!) with a little of the pasta cooking water – this will make it juicy and shiny. Toss together with pasta and serve immediately, sprinkled with rosemary and cheese.

Chocolate Spiders, Childhood Favourites

I’m not sure if anyone would know of these childhood favourites. I’ve had mixed reaction from people my age, some remember and some look at me like I’m crazy. “Sorry? A chocolate crackle thing made with peanut butter and fried noodles?” Um yes, that’s right.

I thought of these a little while ago when reading a post on Esurientes about peanut butter cups. I googled and googled, which was difficult since I couldn’t remember the name, only to find that the recipe is still on the back of the Chang’s Original Fried Noodles packet. There you go. So basically you melt 200 g cooking chocolate (milk or dark – I used a mix) with 2 tbsp peanut butter in the microwave. Once melted, stir in 1 packet Chang’s Original Fried Noodles and spoon mixture onto a baking tray or into individual paper patty pans.

I forgot that my perception of size has probably changed a bit over the last 15 years so I made them a little large. I served them as dessert when I held my HHDD Gnocchi dinner party. You might think it’s a strange dessert; more an after dinner treat really. However we were eating an early dinner and drinking red wine before heading down to the pub to watch the Swans play. I stated that we probably didn’t want chocolate whilst drinking red wine, but the punters were keen.

They were a bit of a success, in an ugly-as-a-picnic kind of way. A very easy way to satisfy your chocolate + peanut butter craving. If you really like your peanut butter you’d do well to up the content.
As I write this I’m thinking the reason not many people know of these is that they probably aren’t allowed in schools anymore due to peanut allergies. So whilst I’m marketing this as a childhood favourite I guess it’s really an adults-only snack now. Pretend you’re 10 years old again and enjoy.

If you do have peanut allergy sufferers in your household there are two other recipes from the Chang's packet: Fruit crunch and Oriental Fried Noodle Salad. I bet there's a few people out there who remember Oriental Fried Noodle Salad from summer Christmas buffets.

Sunday Lunch

Fish and salad seems like a summer meal to me. It reminds me of the beach and crisp, fresh ingredients. That didn’t stop me one sunny, but wintery Sunday, from cooking up a lovely late lunch for S-bo and I. It all started like this: I had some blue cheese in my fridge that was probably near its end. I’ve never made blue cheese dressing so that’s what I had decided to do. But what to serve with the dressing? Yes, I know people generally organise a meal around the staple, but that’s not how this meal was working. So crisp greens were a start and I just decided that a lovely piece of fish would go well.

I’m relatively new to cooking fish so I feel much more comfortable with a recipe I hand. I had in mind a good swordfish steak or similar but every recipe I came across was of the Asian slant. It didn’t seem appropriate with blue cheese dressing. Stephanie Alexander, my ever present “companion”, came through for me with tuna grilled with rosemary. This was also the source of my blue cheese sauce.

Not only have I never made blue cheese sauce, I’ve never made mayonnaise either. It’s always seemed terribly daunting but in the end it was quite a piece of cake, really. A lot of whisking, but otherwise ok. My mayonnaise turned out a little bland because I didn’t include white-wine vinegar, white pepper or Tabasco, I didn’t think it would be necessary when going into blue cheese dressing. My quantities were all a bit out as I only had a little chunk of cheese left but here’s how it went: 1 tbsp finely chopped shallots, 1 clove garlic, home-made mayonnaise (1 yolks worth), some sour cream (don’t remember how much), ½ tbsp red-wine vinegar and salt n pepper. Whizz then add enough parsely to add colour & interest to the dressing. Simple huh!

The tuna recipe is below. I unfortunately don’t possess a barbecue or char-grill plate so I used my trusty frypan. I would imagine the rosemary would have burnt away a little if not cooked in a pan, but I left it there ‘cause I thought it looked good. When I got to the markets there was very little fish left so I had purchased some very pink looking, sashimi quality tuna. I’m not sure if sashimi quality might be a little more expensive, but I really didn’t feel like it cost much more than a piece of salmon.

The fish was great, although I had a little trouble determining when it was cooked enough. Between S-bo and I we managed not to overcook it so that’s a bonus. The blue cheese dressing was very sharp, we both liked it quite a bit but next time I will try and make it a little creamier.
So main course safely served and enjoyed, it was time for dessert. I am lucky enough to live particularly close to Jock’s ice cream in Albert Park so dessert was a very simple affair. Before the meal I cut a square of puff pastry (approx 10 cm) in half diagonally then placed in a moderate oven to cook. Once cooked I split the triangles in half and sandwiched the ice cream in. S-bo produced some chocolate freckles from Haigs and all of a sudden some very humble ice cream (or not-so-humble if you know Jock’s) was transformed into quite a classy dessert.

I think this meal would be great as a dinner party. There’s just so much you can prepare in advance, to the point where salad is plated, the fish is marinating and the puff pastry split. All you do when the guests turn up is cook the fish and serve!

Mayonnaise
1 egg yolk
pinch salt
lemon juice or white-wine vinegar
100 ml olive oil
white pepper or Tabasco

Work yolk with salt and 1 tbsp lemon juice ‘til smooth. Gradually beat in olive oil a couple of spoonfuls at a time, beating very well after each addition. There is now some info about adding the oil in a steady stream, but I didn’t have said helper so I just continued bit-by-bit. And then I had mayonnaise. Like magic really.

Grilled Tuna with Rosemary
4 x 180 g tuna steaks
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
16 sprigs rosemary, each about the length as the tuna steaks
salt
freshly ground black pepper.

The recipe says, several hours before dinner, to rub tuna with half the oil and cross-tie each steak with fine sting as though tying a parcel. Slip 2 sprigs rosemary under string on each side of each steak. I didn’t have string so I simply wrapped the steak, with rosemary on each side, in some cling wrap and refrigerated. Recipe says refrigerate up to 6 hours…I managed about 1 ½.

Remove steaks from fridge 30 min before cooking. Prepare barbecue or preheat a chargrill pan. Season fish and grill for 2-4 min each side, depending on thickness. It’s best medium-rare. Snip strings and slice steak, or serve whole. Drizzle with remaining oil and serve at once.

Pea, Pimiento and Prosciutto Pasta

With my recent vow to cut back on fatty foods (it's a short term thing, I'm already planning my next bake-a-thon) my quest to get through my recipe clippings has fallen behind a little. Now when I cook I aim to get through at least one clipping per week. It's not really a rule, just the way it's working out.

I've had this recipe for ages. Since 2002 to be precise. I must have torn it out of the Sunday Life magazine whilst at home on university holidays. Next to the pasta are "Quick Pasta Sauce Ideas From the Deli" whilst on the opposite side is Chicken with Potatoes and Olives and Marinated Bocconcini. I tried the former last year and wasn't too impressed. Marinated bocconcini is a keeper however...maybe I'll blog about that another time.

So, the pasta. To start with, it includes one of my favourite vegetables: frozen peas (no really). I think I like frozen peas so much because it takes me back to being a child and eating them, still frozen, whilst waiting for our meat and 3 veg. The recipe calls for small pasta shapes however S-bo had recently done a bit of work at a pasta manufacturer and as a result I had some delicious fettuccini. Not entirely suited to this dish, as you want to get as many components on your fork at once, but delicious all the same.

The pimiento sauce adds a little kick although it wasn't necessarily the peppers that I used. I had some roasted red pepper strips from the supermarket leftover from something or other. They weren't terribly exciting but did need to be used up, so I combined them with some freshly bought roasted red capsicum from the deli. I think the kick might have actually come from the mustard seed floating around the supermarket variety. Anyway, long story short, there was a kick and it was pleasant.

Don't be alarmed if you make this recipe and the sauce is a little runny. I kept boiling and boiling to thicken but it really wasn't necessary.

Pea, Pimiento and Prosciutto Pasta
1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh peas
3 zucchini, sliced
100 g prosciutto, cut into strips
300 g small pasta shapes
1 1/2 cups pimiento sauce (below)
1 cup small Ligurian olives
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cook peas on boiling for 3 minutes, then drain well and keep warm. Pan-fry zucchini slices in a little oil to brown. Set aside. Pan-fry proscuitto strips until crisp.

Meanwhile, cook pasta until just tender. Drain well and toss with pimiento sauce, peas, zucchini, proscuitto and olives. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 6

Pimiento Sauce
1 cup pimientos or roasted red capsicum
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Puree half pimientos and juice with garlic and chicken stock. Thinly slice remaining pimientos.

Place puree and pimiento strips in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Season with salt and pepper. Makes 1 1/2 cups

A new book, an egg yolk and an empty jar

N from Tamworth visited Melbourne two weeks ago and in her wake she left S-bo and I a copy of bills open kitchen. S-bo decided that for the moment it should live at my place and already I've been looking at the recipes with anticipation. Especially the sweetcorn cakes which were a treat whenever I visited MB in Woollahra. N from Tamworth felt she was leaving S-bo and I a little taste of Sydney so we didn't get too homesick down here.

Leftover from the dumplings the other day was a lone egg yolk floating under some water in the fridge. I often end up with egg yolks and can never work out what to cook with them. Mayonnaise? Custard? My favourite is lemon curd but I don't usually have a jar that I can sterilise and keep it in. Until today! I had a look at a few different lemon curd recipes and opted for bills because it was "the new book" and because it used the least egg yolks. Flatmate brings eggs back from her parents farm and I feel guilty using them all up in my cooking frenzies.

Previous attempts at making lemon curd have yielded mixed results but they have taught me the whole double saucepan thing is not necessary. Still, I made bill's lemon curd by the book, finding it quite labour intensive as a result. All that whisking really does tax my short attention span and next time I'll probably go back to direct stovetop. Nevertheless I found the making of the curd quite therapeutic. I had some music on and the weather outside was sunny but very cold. What a better way to spend such an afternoon than in the kitchen.

I haven't tried much of the curd yet. A little lick of the spoon makes me think it tastes like lemon curd, surprise surprise. I will hold onto it for now, perhaps crack open the bottle one sunny morning and spread it on brioche. It's hard to wait really.

Bills Lemon curd
3 eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup caster sugar
50 g butter cut into small pieces

Place the yolks, zest, juice and sugar in a heatproof bowl and whisk together until smooth.
Place the bowl over simmering water, making sure the bottom doesnt touch the water. Stir for 8-10 minutes or until thickened slightly.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time.
Cool

I believe lemon curd will last quite some time in a sterilised jar. I have it in the fridge too, just incase. Otherwise any container will do but you should use it within the week.

Banana Cake

I have a low fat recipe for banana cake...this is not it! Until recently I haven't been a big eater of banana cake. I started to make the low fat recipe because it was on hand, not because it was low fat. The cake is actually quite good. It uses wholemeal flavour and as a result has a great texture and is a little nutty. I'm not sure why I decided to bake, but I did and thought this time I might have a crack at the real deal. That gamble definitely payed off.

In my quest to bake all of my recipes I don't often step outside my standard collection of chefs and cooks. This is no exception, with the cake coming from Stephanie Alexander's Cooks Companion. I'm no expert on banana cake recipes but I think this one is pretty damn good. It's quite easy and straightforward to make, creating very little washing up along the way. The recipe suggested a brown sugar and walnut topping, to be added before baking. But I was keen to have a nice thick icing. The low fat cake has a very poor excuse for icing, it's main drawback actually. It's a watery mix of icing sugar, lemon juice and water. Where's the butter you may ask? Well that wouldn't be low fat would it. To make up for previous deprivation I aimed for a thick, rich cream cheese frosting from Women's Weekly Cupcakes. I'm always on the search for a great cream cheese icing. This one was pretty good. Nice and thick on the cake. I think next time I will increase the cream cheese just a tad.

So am I wholeheartedly converted to banana cake? Absolutely. I will revert back to the low fat cake on occasion. I enjoy providing kilojoule-conscious friends with clear conscience cake. I might swap the pathetic slop of icing for the creamy, cheesy delight however.

The full fat ensemble goes something like this:

Simple Banana Cake (Ali-K's version)
125 g softened unsalted butter
1.5 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed (this is the perfect banana balance for me and can depend on the size of the bananas. If you prefer a more consistent result aim for 1 cup mashed banana)
A few drops (or small slosh) of vanilla essence

250 g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup milk mixed with with 1 teaspoon lemon juice.

In true Ali-K style I realise as I type this that I left some ingredients out. You could add 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/8 ground allspice however the cake probably wont miss it, considering I didn't realise until now. Flatmate laughs and thinks I should make a guessing game of the things I leave out of recipes. At least it wasnt the bicarb this time!

Butter and flour a 22 cm square cake tine, then line base with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, banana and vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add to the mixture, alternating with buttermilk.
Spoon into tin and bake for 1 hour or until a fine skewer inserted come out clean.
Cool cake in its tine on a wire rack for a few minutes before turning out. Cool completey before cutting or storing.

Cream Cheese Frosting
30 g butter
80 g cream cheese
1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar.

Chicken and mint dumplings

Sometime last year I made chicken and mint dumplings and I remembered them being kind of ok. But do you think I could find the recipe this year, when I had some chicken mince in the freezer, waiting to be used? The closest I could come was pork wonton from Flatmate's "the BIG book of wok". This was accompanied by a delicious looking broth so I thought my mind was made up. I was going to make the pork wontons with chicken instead and serve with asian pea broth.

That was until I re-found my chicken and mint dumpling recipe. I then discovered that I liked the look of the asian pea broth more than the original broth. So we have now arrived at Chicken and mint dumplings in asian pea broth. Simple.

On the day I invited S'bo round to dine on this meal with me, he came down with a cold. What's a better cold remedy than a warm, gingery broth? Exactly, not much. It became a joint effort and I quite enjoyed cooking together. I'm not always great at sharing my kitchen with others. I'm also not great at folding up wonton wrappers, probably made harder by the fact that I had square instead of round. I ended up halving the wrapper diagonally and they turned out ok, if not a little funny looking..

The broth was very flavoursome and paired pretty well with the dumplings. I should add that the dumplings really did look like little brains. Inside the chicken was well cooked although I think I should've used extra mint/coriander for more flavour. The dumplings were surprisingly filling but you know what they say, "feed a cold...." I think S-bo felt a little better as a result.

Chicken and Mint Dumplings:
I'm not sure where this recipe came from, it's one I've had floating around for a fair few years now.

150 g chicken mince
1 red chilli, seeds removed and flesh finely chopped
1 tbsp min, chopped finely
1 tbsp coriander, chopped finely
8 round wonton wrappers

In a bowl, combine the chicken mince, chilli, mint and coriander and season with salt and pepper. Lay the wonton wrappers on a flat surface and palce a tablespoon of the mixture onto the centre of each wrapper. Brush the edges with a little water and fold in half, sealing edges completely.

Bring your chosen broth to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the dumplings for 3-4 minutes.

Asian Pea Broth
I will try and recount the recipe I used, however it is a combination of that given with the dumplings and that from "the BIG book of wok"

Oil
1 large leek
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 tbsp Chinese rice wine
750 mL chicken stock
1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 stick lemongrass, white part only, sliced thinly into rounds
150 g frozen peas

Heat the oil in a pan and stirfry the leeks for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and stirfry for a further 2 minutes. Pour in the wine and continue cooking until most of it has evaporated.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and add soy sauce, peas and dumplings. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Garnish with coriander.

Pumpkin Pie

I've never had pumpkin pie. Until recently I didn't think many people in Australia had. Turns out there are a few people around, which is great because I needed someone to confirm that yes, the strange concoction I made is actually what it's supposed to be like. A colleague put it as "It's spicy not sweet, the way gingerbread is spicy but not sweet." And with ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, I guess you can't expect much different.

I'm not particularly good at making pastry. I used the shortcrust recipe in Cook's Companion however I used a food processor instead of benchtop. I just don't have the space in my kitchen. First time round (I made the pie twice 'cause I had so much pumpkin mixture) the pastry wasn't particularly good. Second time I invested in some actual baking weights (instead of rice) and was much more successful.

I think it's best to eat the pie warm, and as fresh as possible. You really can't taste the pumpkin, it's all about the spices. However the longer you leave it, the stranger the filling texture becomes. Guinea pigs praised the pie. I, as always am a little more critical of my cooking. Anyways, it's worth giving a go, at least once.

Pumpkin Pie (from Cooks Companion)

1 kg pumpkin (jap or gramma), peeled

Zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 knob butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 egg yolk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup currants

Steam pumpkin then mash.

Line an 18 cm pie plate or loose bottomed flan tin with pastry and bake blind at 200 degrees for 20 min. Remove and increase oven tempeture to 220 degrees.

Mix pumpkin with remaining ingredients, then pour into prepared pastry case and smooth top. Bake for 10 min, then reduce heat to 180 and bake for a further 10-15 min.

Note: The recipe says 18 cm tin. I have a much larger tin so I made 1 1/2 times the pumpkin mixture. This isn't really necessary as I had more than one extra pie's worth of filling leftover.

HHDD #13: Sorbet

This month’s edition of Hay Hay it’s Donna Day got me very excited. Sorbet! Laura from EAT DRINK LIVE was inspired by the approach of summer in the north and put out the call for sorbet. My recipe isn’t quite sorbet, but neither is it conventional ice cream either. Sadly for those who can’t have dairy, this ice cream isn’t for you. But if you’re someone who can eat dairy and loves licking the bowl after cooking biscuits then read on….

In my quest to cook up all my recipe clippings, I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. Banana, Brown Sugar and Sour Cream Ice-cream. The reason I kept it out in the first place is because it doesn’t require a churner and I don’t have one. So whilst it might not quite fit the bill of sorbet, I jumped at the chance to make it. As it’s winter down south my firm belief is that any dessert should be at least a little fattening.


The recipe involves whizzing the ingredients in a food processor. Why do I mention licking the bowl? Because this particular recipe is divine and so is the resultant mixing bowl! The strong taste I normally associate with bananas is softened by the creaminess, whilst the brown sugar makes the final product taste just a little like banana cookie dough.

There’s no repeat mixing required, just whiz it all up and place in the freezer. It works best if you give it a little time to soften, however an important note is it doesn’t freeze rock hard. The recipe makes about 2 litres so there’s plenty to go around and my friends have been very receptive. For just a little class, add a sprinkling of nutmeg…

The Recipe:

500g ripe banana's
4 eggs, separated
2 tsp lemon juice
100g dark brown sugar
300g sour cream
100g (about 4 tbsp) glucose syrup (aka corn syrup)
pinch salt

Peel the bananas and whiz in a food processor with the egg yolks, lemon juice and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and pulse until silky.

Whisk the egg whites with the glucose syrup and salt until soft peaks form. Gently fold 1/4 egg whites into the banana mixture until nearly combined, then fold this lightened mixture into the remaining egg whites until you get an even consistency. Put into an ice-cream container and freeze for at least 3-4 hours.

Don't forget to lick the bowl.

Fettuccine with Zucchini, Lemon, Ricotta and Almonds

During its construction, this dish looked boring. I wanted something quick, easy and inexpensive yet delicious, that I could share with flatmate. I thought this little gem fitted the bill however halfway through I wasn’t so sure. There was no colour in my frying pan to lift the soggy looking zucchini and nothing screaming “eat me”.

Have I sold it to you yet? Well don’t fear, this meal was amazingly quite delicious. The subtle flavours of zucchini, lemon, ricotta and almonds combined so well that flatmate couldn’t stop assuring me it had turned out ok. I can have quite a low cooking-esteem at times and a bland looking dish when I’ve promised to cook can really get to me. I used dried fettuccine and can only imagine how sensational this would be with fresh. Italian dishes can often be so bold and rich that it’s easy to forget the effectiveness of simplicity. Just look at the best pizzas around.

I will add a humorous note and say that my quest for inexpensive nearly came undone when I took the zucchinis to the check out. They truly were mammoth, with no littlies in sight. The recipe says four medium so I thought 2 large would do the trick. When I went to leave the checkout chick informed me that “those zucchinis will be about $12, do you still want them?”. I decided it probably wasn’t necessary for two of us so I just took one. I can’t remember what the price per kilo was and whether they were particularly expensive or just so damn big.

Fettuccine with zucchini, lemon, ricotta and almonds

4 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp flaked almonds
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 medium zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1 cm pieces
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
1 cup chicken stock
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
400g dried fettuccine (500g fresh)
125g fresh ricotta
Sea salt
Black pepper
2 tbsp flatleaf parsley, chopped.

Heat half the butter and fry almonds until golden brown. Strain to remove excess butter and reserve.
In a pan gently cook the rest of the butter, oil, zucchini, garlic, stock and lemon juice and half of the zest, covered until zucchini is quite soft (recipe says about 20 minutes but it didn’t take very long at all). Put aside. Cook fettuccine and drain. Return zucchini to simmering point, add ricotta in chunks, then pasta, then season. Tip into a warmed bowl and mix through, adding parsley and remaining lemon zest, then scatter with almonds.

Meat & 3 Veg

Well I haven't posted for a few days now. I've just had a manic, crazy weekend with barely any time to eat, let alone write about it. Whilst living in Victoria and enjoying the Swans win AFL (not that that has happened lately) I am a rugby girl at heart. To all those unaware, I might take this opportunity to highlight that Rugby Union (aka rugby) is quite different to rugby league (aka league) and the two should not be confused.

With that out of the way, here's how my weekend panned out and what I ate along the way. I've already mentioned Sarti on Thursday night, which was divine. Friday night included a trip to Bluestone Bar on Flinders lane for drinks and pizza to celebrate AO'B's birthday...mighty good pizza however a slightly surly barman. Mental note to all, if you don't know a wine that's on your wine list that's not the customer's fault!

A late trip to the airport on Friday night saw N (from Tamworth) join us for a coffee at Albert Park Deli on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was a shopping trip and Risotto in one of the little cafes in Block Arcade followed by the rugby! Pre match drinks were at the Imperial, during match drinks were at the ridiculously slow bar in MCG Ponsford Stand and post match drinks back at the Imperial. We wrapped up the night with a streetside hotdog (classy) and a trip to Albert Park's 24 hour fruit shop! That's right, a 24 hour fruit shop.

Feeling guilty for eating such rubbish the night before, N (from Tamworth), S-bo and I trekked off to South Melbourne Markets and bought ourselves a Sunday feast of dips, bread, cheese, olives and lamb cutlets. What a way to finish off the weekend.

So you're asking, where's the meat and 3 veg? I have no respectable pictures of the weekend so I thought I'd post a picture otherwise destined for back-post: Chicken Baked on Sweet Potato Rosti.

The sweet potato is cut thinly and tossed with parmesan, garlic, pepper and oil. Sadly mine didn't crisp up after baking for 20 minutes at 220 degrees, but the flavour was great. The chicken is another example of the virtues of good quality ingredients and a simple recipe. I bouth the breasts skin on from the market, rubbed the skin with salt and pepper, cooked in a pan for 5 minutes and then in the oven till cooked through.

Dessert was also simple: Chocolate Sausage Rolls. Not quite, but they looked like it. Take a thawed sheet of puff pastry, cut into 4 portions and sprinkle each portion with 1/4 cup chopped chocolate, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp roasted hazelnuts. Instant dessert! Well not quite, you do need to cook in a 200 degree oven till puffed and golden.

Even better, you can eat them hot or cold. So evening time was chocolate roll with icecream, and morning tea the next morning was chocolate roll snack!

Enjoy....................

Irish Stew

Slow cooked meat would have to be one of my favourite foods. I love how the meat just falls off the bone and dissolves in your mouth. I fail a little at actually cooking stews, casseroles and roasts as I'm rarely at home long enough. I get home a little too late on a weekday. As for weekends I'm usually cramming far too much into the two days to cook anything which takes more than 1 hour to prepare and cook. Often this cramming includes some kind of baking so perhaps I could cook sweets after the stew is underway. Still, there I go again, more cramming. I'd like to think the idea of a long, slow stew is about slowing down in general. Staying inside, cozy and relaxed. I think I will make an effort to make slow-cooked meals more often. Wind things back a little, take my time and watch the pot boil.


Having said that, this Irish stew is one thing that can be prepared and forgotten. My inspiration came for a Good Weekend clipping but I consulted various different recipes to get the feel of things. The clipping's ingredients were lamb, potatoes, onions, water and salt/pepper. Surely you need more than that to make a meal delicious? Apparently not, I included a few additions, as outlined below, but it was still pretty simple and tasted delicious. The potatoes really soaked up the flavour and were a particular highlight. All recipes I consulted suggested the potatoes should be peeled. I wasn't so keen on this, partly because I thought it added a rustic touch, but also because I couldn't really be bothered. Were the Irish bothered back in the day? On one hand I think waste not, want not. But on the other hand, I guess illness and disease were killers and potatoes probably weren't as well washed in the clean water that we have today.

Many recipes also stated mutton over lamb. I didn't even try to get it. I probably should have. The flatmate often brings back legs of mutton from her parents farm and they are delicious. The bigger flavour of mutton is definitely under-appreciated, hidden by mutton being a "cheaper" meat and often poorly cooked. It takes me right back to student days and institutionalized food. I did try to get neck chops as suggested but the butcher claimed forequarter would be just as good.

The recipe (serves 5):

1 kg mutton or lamb neck chops (this quantity of chops was a little short for 5 people, you could increase it without changing anything else in the recipe)
1.2 kg potatoes (this is heaps for 5 people), peeled.
2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper
1 cup stock (beef, veal or lamb)
about 3 cups of water
thyme
parsely
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees

Trim the chops of all fat, including the skin. Slice the potatoes about 5mm thick and lay half evenly over the base of a large casserole dish/pot. Sprinkly with half the onion and then lay the chops over the top to form another layer. Season well with salt and pepper, add 1-2 stalks of parsely and thyme each, sprinkle with remaining onion, top with potato and season again. Add the stock and enough water to almost cover the contents. Cover and put the pot in the oven.
After 15 minutes turn the heat down to 150 degrees and continue cooking for about 1 3/4 hours.
Check half way through that there is still enough broth left to cook the potatoes and meat. You can remove the lid for the last 15 minutes to crisp up the top layer of potatoes.

I cooked the stew and had S-bo's flatmates round to help me eat it. There was ample potato but a little less meat. Don't forget to reserve the liquid from the cooking. If you let it cool and skim fat off the top it makes a delicious stock. I can't wait to make soup with it!

Beef Rice Noodles with Snowpeas

I'm still on my quest to get through all my recipe clippings, and I have a way to go yet! I'm falling behind in my posts a little, so stay tuned for Chicken Baked on Sweet Potato Rosti as well as Irish Stew. In the meantime have a go at beef rice noodles with snowpeas when you want a quick and healthy dinner. On a side note, I've always thought stirfries were pretty healthy (minus coconut milk), however just recently my mother's doctor said no. He claimed the food soaked up the oil. I would like to publicly disagree. Surely if the pan is hot enough you don't need much oil and secondly, olive and vegetable oils are unsaturated. Am I right? Hmm, this is the doctor who said walking 9 holes of golf wasn't enough exercise. Anyway, back to the food.

I preferred this meal to the Honey and Sesame Stir-fried Beef I cooked a little while ago. The marinade had a little more depth and using rice noodles meant all flavours mixed in well and the meal was quick to prepare. I definitely under-utilise rice noodles, dump them in some hot water for a bit, throw them in the pan and away you go. Much quicker than waiting for rice to cook.

So here's the recipe, from an edition of Good Living in about 2004. I think a little bit of ginger might give it a great lift too.

Beef rice noodles with snowpeas

Marinade:

2 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp rice wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

300g rib eye or sirloin, finely sliced
500g fresh rice noodles
Vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
100g snow peas, sliced lengthwise
200g bean sprouts, rinsed
1 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 spring onions, finely chopped

Combine marinade ingredients and leave beef to marinate for 30 minutes.

Pour hot water ove rthe noodles, gently working them apart with chopstickes. Drain, rinse under cold water, shake dry and rub in a little oil.

Heat a wok (I use a frying pan, even if I had a wok I don't imagine it'd go so well on my electric stove) then add 2 tbsp oil. Add garlic and snowpease, toss well over high heat for 1 min. Add the beef in marinade and toss well until coloured, then tip onto a warm plate.

Add a little extra oil to the pan, and toss the drained noodles and bean sprouts over high heat for 2 mins. Return the beef and snowpeas to the pan, then add the rice wine, soy, oyster sauce and sugar, tossing well. Add a dash of water if dry. Scatter with spring onions and serve.

Serves 4

Jam Drops

There’s no doubt about it, some food is just comfort food. Not in the clichéd sense of the term…warm fatty foods that you can enjoy beside a fire, but in the sense that some food brings back great memories. My good friend, N1 who I have mentioned previously, used to make jam drops all the time (and probably still does, do you?). Returning to boarding school after holidays was accompanied by an ice-cream container of the biscuits. Onto uni days and visiting N1 in Brisbane usually involved jam drops and a cup of tea at some point. She used to keep them in the freezer so the jam would be nice and sticky.

Not only do they bring great memories for me, they’re also no-fuss to make and fairly foolproof (hmm, read on…) When a morning tea at work called for us all to bring a plate I settled on jam drops. Unfortunately I got a little distracted while they were in the oven so the end result was burnt on the bottom. I could blame the oven however it’s probably the reason they were burnt only on the bottom and not all over. The morning the biscuits were required saw me scraping off the burnt bottoms the way people scrape toast, a funny sight I’m sure.

Anyway, here they are. I’m not really sure where I got this recipe. It’s not N1’s recipe and it’s not an old family recipe either. I picked it up somewhere about 2 years ago and it’s been scribbled on the back of an envelope ever since. I’m sure it’s one of a hundred different versions.

Jam Drops

80 g butter
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp vanilla essence
1 cup SR flour
1/3 cup custard powder
Jam of your choice

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 2 baking trays with paper. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in milk and vanilla. Add sifted flour and custard powder and mix to form dough.
Roll 2 teaspoons into a ball and put on trays, pressing down in the middle with your finger. Fill with a drop of jam.
Bake for 15 minutes and cool on a tray.

Radicchio Risotto

This is a back-blog. A dish that I have made in the recent past and not had time to post about. You might remember the duck dinner and the radicchio that I forgot to serve. Katie, over at Other People’s Food just happened to post a Liquorice and Radicchio Risotto she’d made around the same time, so I declared that I would make the same dish. Unfortunately, as Katie found, ground liquorice root was a little hard to come by. I was told by a lady at the markets that she hasn’t seen ground liquorice root for months. Katie couldn’t find it either and made do with liquorice extract. A national shortage maybe? So instead of using Katie’s recipe I made a basic lemon risotto and incorporated the radicchio as directed by Cook’s Companion.

I made a few mistake when cooking this risotto, namely forgetting to put the star ingredient in with the onion, before the rice. I didn’t realise until well after the first couple of ladles of stock. Nevermind, I briefly cooked the radicchio in a little oil and added it half way. The risotto still took on a brilliant pink colour. I’m not really sure that the radicchio lent much flavour as it still tasted like a plain lemon risotto to me. That’s not to say it wasn’t delicious, and I was the envy of my workmates when I took leftovers for lunch the next day. I was cooking for myself this particular evening and I had just enough rose, also leftover from the duck dinner, to have a glass with my meal.

So, here’s to leftovers, in many different forms.

Radicchio Risotto

1.5 l chicken stock
200 ml white wine
120 g unsalted butter
1 red onion, minced (although I used a brown onion, chopped and this worked out fine)
250 g finely sliced radicchio
2 cups arborio rice
salf & pepper
90 g grated parmesan
¼ cup chopped parsley
grated zest + juice of 1 lemon

Heat stock and wine, (I often use the microwave instead of dirtying another saucepan). In a heavy-based pan melt half the butter over gentle heat, sauté onion until softened and translucent then stir in radicchio. Add rice, raise heat to moderate and stir to ensure grains are coated with the butter. Add 1 cup of hot stock, simmer and stir constantly. Once liquid is absorbed continue adding, simmering and stirring, 1 cup at a time. After 15-20 minutes rice should be perfectly cooked. Remove from heat, season and add cheese, remaining butter, parsley and lemon juice/zest. Cover for 2 minutes then serve at once.

Serves 6

Flourless Orange Cake…aka Disaster Cake!

My workmate brought oranges back from his farm…perfect for making an orange cake. I have a great recipe for buttery orange cake, but this time decided I needed a new challenge. It seemed straight forward enough, but never underestimate the power of Ali’s baking disasters!

I’m not so keen on my oven. My mother has fought a bad oven for years until getting a new kitchen recently, so what did I do? Moved into a flat with a bad oven! No fan-forced for me. The element is on the bottom and the oven is about 20 degrees too hot I think. The first ever cake I made in this oven was a whisky, chocolate and raisin cake…expensive ingredients that all went in the bin when the outside was charcoal-burnt and the inside as uncooked as….. Anyway, it was uncooked!

The problem seems to be worse in cakes with low flour content. Usually I set the oven 20 degrees cooler than suggested and turn the cake regularly and it seems to work ok, just. Like the whisky, raisin and chocolate cake, the flourless orange cake browned very quickly on the surface and remained uncooked inside. I think I will try the cake again in a shallower tin…cook it quickly before it has a chance to brown. It really didn’t help that I left out the baking powder and madly tried to stir it in, with help from my flatmate, after the cake had been in the oven for 15 minutes.

Here’s the recipe, from Cooks Companion:
Interesting is the boiling of the oranges, filling my apartment with a beautiful, fresh citrus smell.


Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern Orange Cake

2 large oranges
6 eggs, beaten
250 g ground almonds
250 g sugar
1 tsp baking powder

Boil oranges, barely covered with water, in a covered saucepan for 2 hours. Allow to cool, cut open, remove pips and chop roughly (including the rind).

Preheat oven to 190 degrees and butter/flour a 24 cm springform tin. Blend oranges and eggs thoroughly in a food processor. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl then add the orange mixtures and whisk to combine. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake for 45 - 60 minutes. Cool in tin before gently turning out.