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Archive for September, 2009

Fig Jam

Posted in Food & Friends, Musings on September 7, 2009| 19 Comments »

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I need to clear something up here.

I didn’t call this blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial because I’m an arrogant git who has dibs on herself.  I didn’t even know what the (Australian?) colloquialism “fig jam” meant until a couple of weeks after I’d started the blog.  We really were making fig jam and lime cordial the weekend the blog was born, hence the name.

But that doesn’t mean I haven’t had a lot of explaining to do.  The first phone call was from Kevin.

“Hey, did you call your blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial
because of what ‘fig jam’ means?”

“Kev, I have no idea what you’re talking about..”
(panic was starting to set in at that point)

“You know, F*** I’m Good, Just Ask Me!”
(sotto voce, since he works in an open plan office)

My immediate thought was that it could have been so much worse.  Especially since I’d paid for the domain name a few hours before he rang.

I cornered  Big Boy and accused him of letting me make a goose of myself.

“Hey, why didn’t you tell me what ‘fig jam’ was slang for?”

“Mum, I have no idea what you’re talking about..”

When I explained, his response was accompanied by a  condescending eye roll…

“Ok, who told you that?  Uncle Kevin.  Right.  And how old is he?
Don’t worry about it, nobody uses that expression any more.”

Oh, if only he’d been right. Unfortunately it seems pretty current with anyone of my generation, and they’ve been ribbing me about it ever since.  But I promise, hand on heart, that I honestly had no idea what it meant (I can be remarkably naïve at times….)

There.  I feel much better now.  Thank you for letting me get that off my chest.  And here is a photo of the figs, just to prove I’m telling the truth.

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Sourdough Bagels

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , on September 5, 2009| 4 Comments »

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Updated 3rd March 2015

. . . . .

Sourdough bagels are wickedly good, with a complex, slightly tangy flavour that distinguishes them from the yeasted version.  This recipe makes eighteen generous, chewy bagels. I topped some with poppy seeds, and the rest with just a small scattering of Malden salt, ready for school lunches.

Some notes:

1. We make two sort of bagels – yeasted (for which the detailed tutorial is here) and sourdough. Please refer to our yeasted bagel tutorial for photos, as the methodology is very similar.

2. 166% hydration means that the starter is regularly fed at a ratio of one cup of flour to one cup of water.

3. Malt extract can be found on many supermarket shelves and brewing stores. I decant it into glass jars, as it tends to go mouldy quite quickly if left in its original (non-airtight) container.

Sourdough Bagels

  • 450g active starter (166% hydration)
  • 500 – 550g  water
  • 1100g bakers (bread) flour
  • 18g fine sea salt
  • 6 teaspoons (50g) malt extract (or brown sugar)
  • toppings (I used poppy seeds and sesame seeds)

1. Mix starter, 500g water and malt syrup in large mixing bowl.  Whisk flour and salt together in separate bowl.  Mix flour into liquid ingredients, squelch together with a clean hand until combined. If you’re using brown sugar, or if the dough feels too dry, add a little more water. Once all flour has been fully incorporated, rest the dough for 30 minutes, covered.

2. After resting, uncover the dough and knead briefly until smooth.  Note that this is quite a stiff dough. Return to mixing bowl, cover and set in warm place to rise until doubled in size (this usually takes about five hours, but could take twice as many in cold conditions). The dough could also be left on the bench overnight to rise if desired.

3. Turn the risen dough out onto the bench and knead briefly.  Divide into 120g portions.  Knead and pinch each portion into a round smooth ball. Form each ball into a doughnut shape by punching a hole through the middle and twirling the dough around both index fingers, stretching as you go.  The hole should be quite big.  Shape the dough to look like a tyre with a large hole.

4. Place the tyres on a baking tray lined with Bake and sprinkled with flour, leaving room to rise.  Cover with a tea towel and allow to prove another 1 – 1½ hours in a warm place. Preheat oven to 200 C with fan.

5. Bring to boil a large pot of water with at least 6 – 10cm of water. Add 1 Tbsp malt extract (or brown sugar) and 1 Tbsp salt, and bring to a rolling boil.  Boil (“kettle”) bagels, three or four at a time, for 1½ minutes on each side.  Remove with a slotted spoon, and dry gently with a clean non-linting tea towel.  Place on baking tray lined with bake.

6. Brush tops of bagels with egg wash (1 egg + 1 Tbsp water), then sprinkle with toppings if desired.

7. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, then rotate the trays and continue baking for a total baking time of about 20 – 25 minutes. Cool on wire racks.

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DeliVer

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , on September 4, 2009| 1 Comment »

An unsolicited, unpaid plug for my friends at the Paesanella Cheese Shop…

For all of you in Sydney who can’t get to their Haberfield shop, they now have an online store where you can order everything from their divine Mascarpone Reale (pictured below) to marinated octopus to frozen pizza bases imported from Italy.

Minimum orders are $50, with free delivery to this side of the Harbour Bridge for orders over $100.  And there’s no additional mark up, all the online items are  exactly the same price as the ones in the store.

My advice if you’re ordering – pick up some San Daniele prosciutto, because everyone should try this at least once in their lives, and look out for my new favourite blue – Basajo, an Italian sheeps’ milk cheese matured with white grapes.  Have fun exploring the store!

DeliVer, Gourmet Food Distribution

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Ricotta Cake #2: Gluten Free

Posted in Gluten Free, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on September 3, 2009| 4 Comments »

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Still experimenting, I made a crustless ricotta cake for Pete A, who can always use another gluten free dessert.

As I’m unable to ever change just a single parameter (very unscientific of me, I know), I also tried making this with normal (wet) ricotta, which had been drained in a sieve.  It worked very well, so if you can’t find dry ricotta, you could probably substitute standard ricotta in its place – just make sure you drain it for at least an hour until it’s really dry.  If you’re buying wet ricotta, make sure you buy more than you need, and measure the ricotta for the recipe after it has drained.  Of course, you could also use dry ricotta for this recipe, as per our original recipe.

To make the crustless ricotta cake, I lined my 8″/20cm springform tin with a large sheet of foil, to prevent leaks.  I then lined the inside of that with parchment paper.

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1. Make the mixture according to the instructions here, making only the filling part of the recipe.  The quantities I used were :

  • 500g (drained weight) fresh ricotta , drained in a sieve for at least an hour
  • 250g thick sour cream
  • 30g gluten-free cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 150g gluten-free icing sugar mixture (not pure icing sugar)

Make sure you choose gluten free cornflour, as some brands are made from wheat.  Also, check the packaging of the icing sugar mixture carefully.  The one I buy has “gluten-free” on the front of the bag.  The gf varieties include maize or tapioca flour as an anti-caking agent, whereas the cheaper brands often use wheat starch.

2. Preheat the oven to 150C (with fan).

3. Carefully pour the prepared filling mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40 – 45 minutes until the mixture is set.  Allow the cake to cool in the oven with the door ajar (for at least an hour, two is better), then put the whole tin in the fridge to cool until cold.  Carefully unwrap the foil and remove the springform tin.

4. Let the cake rest overnight in the fridge, then dust liberally with icing sugar before serving.

This was so easy to make without the pastry and, while it’s less pretty than the crusted version (Pete’s comment was that it looked like a wheel of cheese, which is what it is, I guess), it’s could probably be dressed up with a fancy topping of lemon curd or strawberries and cream.

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Ricotta Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , , on September 2, 2009| 14 Comments »

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Ricotta cheesecake, or simply “ricotta cake” as it’s known around these parts, is a tricky dish to get right.  I couldn’t find any recipes for this fluffy textured Italian-style cheesecake that’s so popular in Sydney Inner West, so I had to concoct my own. It’s taken eight attempts to finally come up with one that I’m completely happy with.  The neighbours are sick to death of eating my rejects!

Fig Jam and Lime Cordial Ricotta Cake

Filling:

  • 750g dry ricotta (edit: you can use well drained normal ricotta if you can’t buy the drier style – which is what I’ve done here)
  • 375g thick sour cream
  • 45g cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1½   tsp vanilla
  • 225g icing sugar mixture (not pure icing sugar)

June’s Pastry

  • 250g unsalted butter
  • 300g plain flour
  • 100g bread/bakers/continental flour
  • 150g icing sugar mixture (not pure icing sugar)
  • 2 eggs

Note: June’s pastry makes this recipe extra special, but if you were in a hurry, you could probably get away with substituting any sweet shortcrust pastry recipe, or even frozen sheets (though I haven’t tried it myself).  The filling is remarkably easy,  so if you cheat on the pastry, this would be quite a simple dish to put together.

1.  Make a batch of pastry, following the instructions here. Chill until required. Spray oil over the base and sides of a large, deep 10”/25cm flan tin with a removable base.

2.  Remove the pastry from the fridge, and roll out on a flour dusted surface or sheet of Bake until the pastry is wide enough to fully line the bottom and sides of the flan tin (you won’t need all the dough).  Gently fit the pastry into the flan tin and smooth out carefully.  Allow the dough to come up above the sides slightly (to allow for shrinkage).  This is a fiddly process as the pastry is quite soft.  Use a little flour for dusting, and feel free to patch the pastry if it tears.  Preheat oven to 150C with fan.

3. Make the filling: put the ricotta and sour cream in a large mixing bowl, and mix together with a large fork, breaking up the lumps as much as possible. Here’s a photo of the dry ricotta, so you know what to buy.  Don’t make the mistake of getting baked ricotta – you want dry fresh ricotta.

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4. Add the cornflour, icing sugar mixture, vanilla and egg yolks, and continue to stir until well combined. Note: only two egg yolks shown in this photo, but you need to add three.  These photos were taken when I was making the smaller cake below.

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5. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff.  Still using the fork, stir a large spoonful of egg white into the ricotta mixture until the mix lightens, then gently fold the remaining egg whites into the mix.  Pour into the pastry lined tin.

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5. Carefully place the cake into the oven and bake for 45 – 55 minutes at 150C with fan.  The cake will be ready when the crust is brown and the filling is set.  Do not overbake.  Cracks may appear on the surface, but don’t panic, as the cake will still taste wonderful.  Once cooked, allow the cake to cool completely in the oven with the door ajar, then refrigerate for several hours or overnight to allow the cake to fully set.  It really is best if you can make it the day before you need it, as it tastes much better on the second day.

6. Dust the cake with a generous amount of icing sugar before serving!

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. . . . .

This cake can also be made in an 8″/20cm springform round tin.  To make the filling for the smaller sized cake, use the following ingredients:

  • 500g dry ricotta (edit: you can use well drained normal ricotta if you can’t buy the drier style – which is what I’ve done here)
  • 250g thick sour cream
  • 30g cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 150g icing sugar mixture (not pure icing sugar)

The one I made cracked, but it still tasted fantastic!  Bake the smaller cake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until the pastry is browned and the top is set.  Because the cake is baked at a relatively slow temperature, I’ve found it best to use metal tins to ensure the pastry cooks and browns properly.

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© copyright 2009 by Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. All rights reserved.

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