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Archive for July, 2010

Chocolate Meringues

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on July 23, 2010| 19 Comments »

I can’t believe how popular these have been!

I’ve made three batches to date, and Pete and the boys continue to nibble at them whenever they walk past the cookie jar.  We took them to the markets for our suppliers, and sent them with Big Boy for his friends.  They’re easy to make and even easier to share.

This was the first time I’d tried this recipe from my trusty Mrs Field’s Best Ever Cookie Book – somewhat surprising given that I’ve made dozens of other treats from it thus far.  As always, she never fails me.  I’ve sized the recipe up to use five egg whites – the number left over from Pete’s latest batch of icecream.

The end result is two cookie jars worth of crunchy, non-marshmallowy meringues that store well.  The cocoa and unsweetened chocolate (you could probably use a 70% dark instead) temper the usual meringue sweetness, making them just as appealing to adults as they are to littlies.

  • 85g  unsweetened chocolate (I used Callebaut cocoa mass)
  • 140g  icing sugar mixture (powdered sugar), sifted
  • 50g  unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (I used Dutch-processed)
  • 5 large (59g) egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 185g caster sugar

1. Preheat oven to 150C (300F) with fan.

2. Blitz the unsweetened chocolate in a food processor or grate if finely, and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, sift together the icing sugar mixture and cocoa.

4. In a large bowl and using a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer until thickened, then slowly add the caster sugar.  Beat until stiff peaks form and the mixture turns glossy.

5. Gently fold the cocoa mixture and chopped chocolate into the egg whites until no streaks of white remain.

6. Fit a piping bag (I use a large disposable one) with a large star tip and fill with the meringue mix.  Pipe pretty shapes onto parchment lined trays.

7. Turn the oven down to 100C (200F) with fan, and bake the meringues for an hour.  Once they’re cooked, prop the oven door open slightly and allow them to cool completely in the oven.  Store in an airtight container, or freeze.

Note: For Heidi and my US friends, here are the original quantities as written:

  • 2oz unsweetened baking chocolate square
  • ¾ cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 3 large egg whites
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

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Weekend Breads

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on July 21, 2010| 29 Comments »

As I mentioned in the snippets, I baked Joanna’s cornbread and Sally’s semolina loaf over the weekend.

The semolina loaf (above) is a charming yet easy yeasted loaf, which went down well with my family of sourdough lovers.  The fine semolina gives the bread an interesting flavour and a smooth, creamy coloured crumb.  I made it exactly to Sally’s formula, although I kneaded it by hand rather than machine.

. . . . .

I also baked a version of Joanna’s corn bread, using sourdough starter instead of poolish.  I meant to include yeast as specified in the original recipe, but completely forgot, so this loaf took much longer to rise  and is slightly flatter than expected.

Having said that, Pete absolutely adored this bread and waxed lyrical about its texture and flavour.  The crumb was chewy, elastic, and the most gorgeous shade of yellow…

So, for my own future reference, here’s our version:

  • 225g active sourdough starter (100% or 166% hydration)
  • 115g maize meal
  • 190g water
  • 225g bakers flour
  • 9g salt
  • 20g olive oil

1. Mix the maize and water in a small bowl and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

2. Mix all the ingredients together to form a wet dough, then cover and allow to rest for 15 – 20 minutes.  Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and knead briefly until smooth.  Cover and allow to rise until doubled in size.

3. Shape the risen dough into a ball and allow to prove until doubled in size (I use an oiled and floured plastic basket to rise the bread in).  Preheat oven to 240C with fan.

4. Turn the dough out onto a peel and slash, then dust with semolina.  Reduce the oven temperature to 220C with fan, and bake the loaf on a pizza stone for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 180C with fan and bake for a further 40 minutes to set the crust.

One thing to note – this loaf will only work with fine corn maize.  I’ve tried making it previously with polenta, and the resultant dough was gritty.  It’s definitely worth searching out the maize flour – we found ours at the markets.

It was the perfect loaf to serve with Pete’s beetroot dip!

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Organic Honey

Posted in Food & Friends, Musings, tagged , , , , , on July 19, 2010| 39 Comments »

I’m worried about bees.  They’re such an important part of our existence – without them to pollinate our crops, we’d all be up a creek without a paddle.  And they’re under serious threat – many of the world’s bee colonies are infected with dangerous parasites that are killing honeybees at an alarming rate, possibly also leading to problems like colony collapse disorder.  Worse still, these mites are now developing resistance to miticides which have worked in the past.  According to Wikipedia, a third of the bees in the US (!!) didn’t survive winter 2009.

Australia is almost the only country left whose bee industry remains unaffected by the ominously named Varroa destructor mites.  Most experts agree, however, that it’s just a matter of time before these make it to our shores, especially as they’re now prevalent in neighbouring New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.

Whilst I can’t do anything to stop the parasites, and will continue to fret about the welfare of the world’s bees, I decided today that I needed to put away some Australian honey.  I know it’s crazy – we only go through a couple of jars a year – but honey lasts almost forever, and I want to continue eating it in a chemical-free form for as long as possible (which will presumably only be until the Varroa mites make it here).

Fellow Aussies, did you know that we can buy organic honey, from the only remaining strain of pure Ligurian bees in the world, at Aldi?  For just $5 a 500g jar?  It’s a ridiculous bargain, and since a Sydney Morning Herald article was written about it last year, the price has actually gone down.

I have my ten glass jars of liquid gold stashed away.  Even if you’re not as nutty as I am, I hope that the next time you have a spoonful of honey, you’ll spare a thought and a prayer for the plight of the world’s bees. And if you’re living here in Oz, give thanks that we still have access to organic honey at such a reasonable price!

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Savoury Muffins

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , on July 18, 2010| 24 Comments »

I don’t particularly like sweet muffins, but I adore savoury ones, so I was quite taken with this recipe created by Linda Woodrow’s son, Casey.

I adapted the recipe slightly to use the ingredients I had on hand, and was delighted with the end result – the muffins were deliciously non-stodgy and very moreish. My neighbour Ellen made me promise to blog about them immediately.

Earlier in the day I’d roasted beets and butternut pumpkin, so those were added to the muffins. You could probably use any vegetables you have on hand – the original recipe specified roast pumpkin, sundried tomatoes and zucchini.  I omitted the pinenuts and feta as I didn’t have any in the pantry.

Here’s my version:

  • 265g (1¾ cups) self-raising flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 140g (1  cup) fresh corn kernels (approximately 1 ear of corn)
  • 225g (1 cup) roasted vegetables (I used peeled and roasted butternut pumpkin and beetroot), diced
  • 60g (2 oz) grated cheese (I used a sheep’s milk cheese)
  • 1 large (59g) egg
  • 190g (¾ cup) milk
  • 60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F) or 180C (350F) with fan.  Line a 12-hole muffin tray with paper cups.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.  Add the vegetables and grated cheese and stir to combine.

3. In a separate bowl or jug, beat together the egg, milk and olive oil.  Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients, then stir very gently until just moistened – do not overmix.

4.  Spoon the ingredients evenly into the muffin cups, and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown, and a skewer inserted into one of the muffins comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

Casey, thanks for the inspiration and a great base recipe – we’ll certainly be baking these often!

. . . . .

Edit: Just made another batch of these – a variation on the variation:

  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 65g corn maize flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • fresh corn kernels from 2 ears of corn
  • 150g roasted butternut pumpkin, diced
  • 60g grated cheese
  • 1 large (59g) egg
  • 190g (¾ cup) milk
  • 60ml (¼ cup) extra virgin olive oil

The maize flour gave them a golden yellow hue…

As suggested by Amanda, this batch is going straight into the freezer!

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In My Kitchen, July 2010

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , on July 16, 2010| 47 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…sits a dish of beetroot dip, made by roasting whole beets,  and then pureeing the peeled vegetable with a little garlic, olive oil, salt and a pinch each of ground coriander, cumin and sweet smoked paprika.  Very moreish!

In my kitchen…

…are several bespoke chocolate bars. One of nicest things about learning to temper chocolate is that it has allowed us  to create custom blends that we just can’t buy in stores.

Pete’s favourite is a  50:50 blend of Callebaut 811 54% and Sao Thome origin 70%.  I’m blissfully happy to be able to make it for him…

Small Man, on the other hand, is a lover of milk chocolate – these Belcolade Venezuela 43% bars (with just a little Callebaut Milk 823 added) were made for him, using fantastic “golden ticket” moulds from Candyland Crafts…

In my kitchen…

…is a whole filleted Atlantic salmon.  The fillets will be divided into dinner portions for the freezer, the bones will be used in a fish stock and the head  will eventually become a Malaysian fish head curry.  Don’t laugh – the only thing I had to pin-bone the fillets with were my eyebrow tweezers!

In my kitchen…

…is a bowl of corn chowder, perfect fare for our cold Sydney weather.  Although I do confess to making it just so I could give the leftover corn cobs to the chickens!

In my kitchen…

…are three spelt sourdough baguettes, inspired by my dear friend Joanna’s blog post. The boys enjoyed a school holiday lunch of baguette hot dogs, with Dijon mustard and homemade tomato relish…

Tell me, what’s happening in your kitchen this month?

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