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Archive for the ‘Food & Friends’ Category

Easter Basket

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , on April 2, 2010| 13 Comments »

A quick Easter tip – my friend Marilyn has a free pattern for this very cute Easter basket on her Toymaker website.

I’ve printed them out on light cardboard and lined them with a little parchment paper, before filling with homemade Easter chocolates for the neighbourhood children.

There are lots of other Easter craft ideas at the Toymaker website as well!

Here are a couple of Marilyn’s flower bags – we’re having a creative morning!

Edit: A brand new pattern – cardboard Easter eggs!  The link is here.

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Famous

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , on March 31, 2010| 19 Comments »

Photo: telegraph.co.uk

Imagine how chuffed I was to see my photo of cottage loaves (duly credited) appear in Lucy Jones’ article in the Telegraph UK!

Poor old Princess Anne – I hope she wasn’t too upset by the comparison of her hairstyle to an old style bread – but I guess if it helps to bring cottage loaves back into the public eye, then that can only be a good thing.

One of the theories behind the origin of the cottage loaf was given to me by UK based Peter May, who believes it originated hundreds of years ago when it was illegal to sell underweight bread in England:

The reason for the top (the same reason as for the ‘bakers dozen’ , which means 13) was the extremely severe penalties suffered by bakers who gave short measure.  Loaves had to be sold by standard weight, thus to ensure the baker didn’t sell underweight he’d add a small dough ball on top.

Incidentally the bread laws which date from 1266 have been law right up to 2009 when the EU overruled them in the name of so called competition. Loaves had to be a full 800g (2lb) or half 400g (1lb)sizes.

I have baker friends who don’t see the sense in this, because the dough weight could be adjusted with water – why waste the extra flour?  But I do think there is some merit in Peter’s argument – the finished weight of a loaf can vary quite a lot depending on baking conditions, and if I was at risk of being flogged for a light loaf, I’d be inclined to add a little to the top as well.

Don’t forget we’re having a cottage loaf bake-off – if or when you’ve baked a loaf, please send me a photo and I’ll upload it here!

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Mamak Malaysian Roti and Satay

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , , , , on March 30, 2010| 13 Comments »

Our clever friends Cliff and Kathy discovered Mamak, a little eatery in Chinatown specialising in authentic Malaysian roti and satay.

Apart from being ridiculously cheap, the flavours here are authentic and addictive, and the atmosphere reminiscent of street stalls in Malaysia and Singapore.  The restaurant operates on a no-reservations basis, and there is often a cheery queue out the front, waiting to be seated.  It doesn’t take long though, as the service is fast and friendly, and the tables turn over very quickly.

The core of the menu is the roti canai (pronounced “chan-eye”) – an Indian bread made by folding, flipping and frying a thin batter.  They’re traditionally served with a couple of dipping sauces – in this case a spicy curry sauce and a dahl puree.  The dish below costs a tiny $5 and would make a perfect late  night supper (the restaurant opens until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays).

The roti planta, for a dollar more,  is a wicked buttery bread, again served with the curry dips.

Also on the menu was this traditional nasi lemak (coconut rice), served with peanuts, half a boiled egg , kari ayam (chicken curry) and cucumber.

Mamak serves authentic Malaysian satay – small (as opposed to the  large clunky ones on offer at most restaurants) and charcoal grilled, then plated with a sweet and spicy sauce that doesn’t taste like peanut butter!

Finally, dessert was a roti bom (photo at the top as well) – a decadent, slow-cooked caramelised pastry, served with vanilla icecream.  Fantastic stuff!

. . . . .

Mamak Malaysian Roti and Satay
15 Goulburn Street
Sydney   NSW   2000
Tel: 02 9211 1668

www.mamak.com.au

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Pizza Pics

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , , on March 18, 2010| 28 Comments »

We regularly make pizza at home, and when we do, our toppings are almost always the same.  After several years of trial and error, we’ve found the combinations that suit the discerning palates of our sons and we rarely waiver from them.  That certainly doesn’t make them boring – quite the contrary – after a long week, it’s often nice to eat something familiar and comforting.

Our basic bread recipe makes enough dough for four large bases. We always start with a potato pizza, followed by a pizza each for the boys, and one for Pete and I.

Small Man’s pizza is topped with homemade tomato passata, mozarella cheese, dry cured pancetta, Swiss Brown mushrooms, Sicilian and Kalamata olives, Italian anchovies and fresh oregano.  Last time we also included some San Daniele prosciutto, at the suggestion of my friends at Real Food has Curves.  In pizza terms, we don’t really use a lot of cheese, just a thin layer under the toppings to hold them down.

Big Boy’s pizza has the same base ingredients, but is covered with finely sliced Spanish onion in place of the olives and anchovies, neither of which he can stand.  Small Man, on the other hand, can’t abide onions.  It was either make two different pizzas, or feed them both a meat-lover’s special.

Can you suggest any interesting toppings? Pete and I share one  between us, and it would be lovely to have some new ideas for our pizza, even if the boys won’t eat it!

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In My Kitchen

Posted in Food & Friends, In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , , on March 14, 2010| 26 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…we made sourdough pancakes for breakfast.  These were served with the Spice Girl’s homemade bacon (yes, she’s completely bonkers, and I adore her) and topped with a drizzle of organic maple syrup.

In my kitchen…

…sits a box of new season Royal Gala apples.  They’re sweet, crunchy and unblemished.

In my kitchen…

…there is a large slab of sourdough focaccia, baked for next week’s school lunches.  It’s made with cousin Andrew’s olive oil, organic bread flour and Maldon salt.

In my kitchen…

…are these little chocolates, made with tempered Belgian chocolate.

Big Boy plays the french horn, Small Man plays the trumpet.  When I saw this chocolate mould, I couldn’t resist.  And since Big Boy is now playing  first horn in the orchestra, I’m sending in choccies for the whole section.  Small Man ate all the trumpets by himself.

In my kitchen…

…there were 38 brownie cupcakes, topped with Callebaut milk chocolate ganache.  There are now 23.  Each one is bite-sized, so they don’t last very long around here!

Tell me, what are you making in your kitchen this weekend?

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