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Archive for the ‘Food & Friends’ Category

Birthday Pavlova

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes on November 6, 2012| 84 Comments »

I baked this small pavlova recently for my dad’s birthday.

It’s a recipe that I’ve blogged about before, but it’s so reliable and so delicious that I thought it warranted another post.  It’s a very old recipe, from Maureen Simpson’s now out of print Australian Cuisine. And unlike many of the newer recipes, it always produces a cracked shell – which doesn’t bother me in the least, because there’s always a thick layer of cream and fruit on the top to cover up any flaws.

The four egg whites I used had been in the fridge overnight, and we topped the pavlova with strawberries, mango and kiwi fruit.  These quantities will comfortably feed six for dessert.

  • 4 free range egg whites
  • good pinch salt
  • 1 heaped cup (220g) castor sugar
  • 1 teaspoon white vinegar
  • 1 level tablespoon (4 teaspoons) cornflour (cornstarch)
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • whipped cream and fruit

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) with fan.  Line a baking tray with greased parchment paper, dust with cornflour and tap away the excess.

2. Beat the egg whites and salt until stiff, then add the sugar one large spoonful at a time until fully incorporated.  The meringue should be thick and shiny.  Gently stir in the vinegar, sifted cornflour and vanilla.

3. Using a bowl or cake tin, mark an 18cm (7″) circle in the cornflour. Pile the meringue evenly into the circle, and smooth the top gently. The mixture should sit about 6cm (2½”) high.

4. Turn the oven down to 110C (230F) with fan.  Place the pavlova in the oven, and bake for 1¼ hours. Allow the pavlova to cool in the oven, with the door slightly ajar.

5. Carefully transfer the cooled pavlova to a serving dish (I find it’s quite sturdy once cooled).  Less than an hour before serving, top with whipped cream and decoratively arranged seasonal fruits.

This is not a recipe for a smooth, “perfect” dessert – the finished result is always a little rustic. It is, however, the most delicious pavlova any of us have ever eaten – not overly sweet, with a thick marshmallowy centre. If you’d like to see construction photos, please have a look at our original post here.

This is a very easy dessert to make – I’ve baked it more than a dozen times, without a single failure.  It’s especially comforting to know that even if the top cracks and sinks, the finished pavlova will still be fantastic!

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White Rabbit Gallery

Posted in Cool Things, Food & Friends, My Photos on November 3, 2012| 62 Comments »

I have two new reasons why Sydney is a wonderful city to live in.

Firstly, we now have food trucks.  Which meant that yesterday, when Pete and I both had the afternoon free, we were able to pick Big Boy up from uni, drive to the Eat Art Truck in Pyrmont, and lunch alfresco in the sunshine.

If you live in Sydney, there is now a free iPhone app (simply called Sydney Food Trucks) which tracks the location of the food trucks at any given time…

Big Boy had the pulled pork with special barbeque sauce, and Pete and I shared the beef brisket with kimchee and chilli.  They were both delicious!

. . . . .

The second reason why Sydney is so fabulous: it has the White Rabbit Gallery.

You might recall that I’ve recently discovered that I love modern art. Our dear friend Roz is very knowledgeable in this area, and she recommended that we pay White Rabbit in Chippendale a visit.

The gallery is privately funded and free to the public. It houses the contemporary Chinese art collection of Kerr and Judith Nielson, one of the largest and most significant of its kind in the world, focusing primarily on works created after 2000.

The pieces on display are magnificent, and my iPhone photos don’t come close to doing them justice.  Here are some of my favourites.

. . . . .

Artist Li Hongbo works with the honeycombed paper technique traditionally employed in the production of Chinese lanterns and flowers.  One of his creations was displayed at the Biennale exhibit at Cockatoo Island earlier this year.

For this piece, he and his assistants stacked and glued 30,000 sheets of paper into two large blocks, which Li then sculpted with an electric saw into two identical figures.  This is the first one…

…and this is the second one, stretched out to more than 30 metres in length…

It was hard to capture it all in a photo, but here’s a closeup of a foot. When the exhibition is over, the extended figure will be refolded back into (almost) its original shape…

. . . . .

This piece by artist Liao Chien-Chung of Taiwan made me smile and smile.  At first glance, it appears to be a motorbike…

What it is, in fact, is a pedal bicycle.

The artist explains that as a child, he had always wanted a Harley Davidson, but could never afford one.  So he did the next best thing and built himself a bicycle that looks like a Harley.  The video which forms part of the installation shows the artist pedaling his creation around a park…

. . . . .

When we walked onto the top floor of the gallery, I noticed that a television crew were filming a dynamic exhibit at the opposite side of the room. This sculpture was superimposed with a projection of the artist speaking…

I tiptoed around the other exhibits, trying not to disturb them…

It wasn’t until Pete gave me a nudge that I realised that the film crew were wax figures, and part of the display.  They were extraordinarily lifelike (and to be fair, I can be a bit thick sometimes). Artist Zhou Xiaohu seeks to highlight media fakery by faking the media.

The White Rabbit guide (there are a couple on every floor) told us that when the artwork was initially unveiled, Zhou called a news conference, and many of the media attendees didn’t even notice that they were mingling with wax dummies…

. . . . .

Young Mongolian artist Gao Rong created this reproduction of the entrance to her childhood home completely from padded cloth and thread (including the pipes, doors and switch box).  All the rust, peeling paint and graffiti are embroidered…

. . . . .

Dust is a full room installation with 210 tiny replicas of household items, handmade by artist Cong Lingqi, strung to represent motes of dust. The light creates shadows on the wall behind it…

. . . . .

Finally, these woven wire sculptures by Shi Jindian grace the ground floor of the gallery.  The jeep and the side-car motorbike are the result of hours of meticulous work, created by the artist sheathing all the parts of the machine in wire, and then painstakingly extracting them, leaving just the wire shell behind.  The motorbike alone took three years to complete…

The detailing on both pieces is extraordinary – even the tread of the tyres has been reproduced…

. . . . .

The White Rabbit Gallery is open Thursday to Sunday, and is located at 30 Balfour Street, Chippendale NSW.  The entire contents are rehung twice a year, in February and August, during which time the gallery is closed.

There is also a tea house, decorated with old posters and bird cages…

…and a fabulous shop stocking all sorts of fun and quirky bits and pieces…

If you’re ever in Sydney and have a chance to pop in for a visit, I’d highly recommend it!

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Egg Safety

Posted in Food & Friends, Frugal Living, tagged on October 27, 2012| 45 Comments »

It always pays to get advice from people who are really qualified to give it. As the former President of FREPA (Free Range Egg and Poultry Australia), Meg Parkinson is an extremely reliable source!

Meg left the following comment on my Speedy Mayo post, and I’m sharing it with you, with her permission. If you recall, Annabel Langbein’s mayonnaise recipe came with a recommended keeping time of two weeks in the fridge, which troubled Meg.  When she remarked on it, I mentioned that some chefs suggest refrigerator storage times for unshelled eggs of up to a week.

This was Meg’s reply:

Hi Celia

I understand your confusion.

I have been on the committees which drew up the egg food safety codes in Victoria and then Australia. I assure you that around 24 hours is the microbiologically correct advice for yolk and whole egg – especially if some of that time has been spent at ambient temperatures. Salmonella grows fastest at 32C and above but still grows at other temperatures. When it has started growing and then is put in the fridge, the growth slows down but does not stop. Salmonella can get into egg by bad handling such as dropping shell in the egg after it has been handled – especially if hands have not been well washed. It also can get in by contact with hands, bowls, utensils etc which have not been properly washed.

Egg white has anti-bacterial properties which does mean that it can be stored for a little longer. Household fridges usually run at around 8C not the 4-5C most people think they do.

Cooking kills salmonella quickly, as does hot water and soap. People get sick when raw or undercooked eggs are eaten under trigger conditions. These are, for example, when there is a combination of incorrect temperature, poor handling and made more likely if the eggs have been stored on the bench or stored in second hand cartons which have had broken eggs in them.

I make mayonnaise from our own eggs, laid that day, just before I am going to use it. If it is not eaten in 24 hours, I throw it out.  I know it is easier for me, as we have a lot of eggs, but since mayonnaise is so easy to make this way I think it is better to stick to the 24 hour limit.

Regards

Meg Parkinson

. . . . .

Some additional advice from Meg on keeping and freezing egg whites:

I would still keep egg whites for around 24 hours but 2 days is probably fine.  In Canada they say 2-4 days, but we say 2 days as our ambient temperature is higher (ie every time the fridge is opened warmer air moves into it).  At home, egg white is easy to freeze, just put in ice block trays.  When de-frosted they should be used immediately.

Meg also recommended the website of the Alberta Egg Board, with the caveat above regarding our warmer climate.  Thanks so much, Meg!

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Thank you…

Posted in Food & Friends on October 26, 2012|

You’re all so nice!

Thank you for your well wishes – I’m still coughing a lot, but the sore throat is a bit better. I haven’t had a chance to reply to all your comments on the last post, but I really do appreciate your love and concern.

I’ll be back in a few days! ♥

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Winners!

Posted in Food & Friends on October 8, 2012| 25 Comments »

You guys really are the best!

Thank you all for your lovely, kind comments on our Million post.  When I write a blog post, I can feel your company – it’s like you’re spending time with me.

Cecilia at The Kitchen’s Garden has won the international prize in our giveaway!

And since Celi specifically requested our Fig Jam and Lime Cordial welding gloves, we decided to pick two winners for the Australian prize – Jane from The Shady Baker and Jo Smith.

Congratulations!  I’ll be emailing you soon to get mailing addresses and to find out what types of chocolate you’d like me to make for you! ♥

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