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Archive for the ‘Food & Friends’ Category

Saturday Markets

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 26, 2009| 6 Comments »

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The enticing photos at Becca’s blog inspired us to visit Eveleigh Markets – a new Saturday morning produce market set up in the old railyards in Darlington. Familiar stomping grounds indeed for Pete and I, who met at Sydney University nearly thirty years ago.

These markets – which opened at the end of February 09 – were exactly what you’d expect from the hip, inner-city venue.  We encountered parents with a child named “Zsa Zsa”, overheard a passerby discussing her recent sojourn in an ashram, and zigzagged our way around scores of dogs on leads.   Everyone had their own brightly coloured nanna trolley, which made my sage green one look a little anaemic by comparison.   All the sales were cash only, and you needed lots of it, because everything was expensive and there wasn’t an ATM for miles.  Most of the produce was interesting, high quality and organic, and priced accordingly.

The highlight of the day was running into Sara Adey, former owner of Darling Mills Restaurant in Glebe.  Sadly, our favourite restaurant of all time closed over a decade ago, and we’ve mourned its loss ever since.  Sara is now working with  her family on the Darling Mills Farm in Berrilee, and we couldn’t resist buying their mixed olives (which were always served on arrival at the restaurant), a bunch of dill, and some gorgeous watercress (photo above).  Most of the cress was eaten rabbit-style over the course of the afternoon, with the remainder tossed over a hot pizza that night for dinner.

Another great find was the Sweetness stand. Oh my.  This stall was so visually appealing – and the products were so carefully crafted and presented – that I couldn’t resist spending money.  Thankfully, everything tasted  wonderful, which was just as well because my inability to choose led to a “buy them all” moment.

There were handmade marshmallows to die for…

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…hazelnut and cranberry nougat…

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and some wickedly delicious English toffee – buttery, crisp and just the tiniest bit salty.

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Our final purchase of the day was some cumberland sausage from the Tallabung Pork stand.  Made from the meat of black Berkshire pigs ( highly prized, particularly in Asian countries), these were tasty and rich, if somewhat oily.  All up, it made for an interesting Saturday lunch!

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Chocolate Truffles

Posted in Food & Friends, Gluten Free, tagged , , , , , , on July 23, 2009| 10 Comments »

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We had two functions last weekend, so I made a big batch of chocolate truffles.  These are wickedly good, and easy to make once you’ve nailed the art of tempering chocolate.  They only have two ingredients in them – cream and chocolate – so use the very best you can of both.

This recipe uses lots of chocolate, but there was enough leftover tempered chocolate for a batch of almond rochers as well (recipe to follow).  I made 64 truffles in total – 12 for each function, and 40 for me. (Ok, that’s an exaggeration, I had to share with the boys.)

Step 1 : Truffle Centres

  • 19 oz (540g) Callebaut 811 (54%) dark chocolate callets
  • 1½ cups fresh cream (heavy whipping cream – min. fat 35%)

The night before you need to make truffles, make the ganache for the centres by heating the cream in a small saucepan until boiling.  Put the chocolate into a large mixing bowl, and gently pour over the hot cream.  Using a whisk, stir very slowly until the chocolate is completely melted and the mix is smooth.   Try not to beat any air bubbles into the chocolate. Press a piece of clingfilm over the top of the ganache to stop it forming a skin, and allow to rest on the kitchen bench overnight.

The following day, or when the ganache has set quite firm, scoop small balls of ganache onto a tray lined with parchment paper and allow the centres to firm up in the fridge.   I used to use two teaspoons to do this, but have recently bought a nifty baby icecream scoop, which does a brilliant job of making round centres.  Store these in the fridge, covered, until you need them.

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Step 2 : Dipping the Truffles

When you’re ready to finish the truffles, take the centres out of the fridge and allow them to rest on the bench while you temper the chocolate.  If you dip really cold centres, the finished truffles will crack.

Temper a large bowl of chocolate as per the instructions here. I used about 500g of chocolate for this batch.  Place the bowl of tempered chocolate over a heat mat covered with a folded tea towel.

One by one, using a small chocolate dipper or mangled fork (see photo above), dip the truffles into the chocolate, then allow them to drain briefly, before turning them onto a sheet of parchment paper.  I usually set the truffles briefly in the fridge, then store them in an airtight container on the bench (as Pete objects to fridge cold truffles!).

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Picnic

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on July 21, 2009| 4 Comments »

How to have a perfect picnic:

Step 1: choose a perfect location.  It doesn’t get much better than Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, where you can admire both the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the water’s edge.  I didn’t take the photo above, but that was the view we had on Sunday as we sat in the winter sunshine and ate lunch.

Step 2: plan to spend the day with people you love – in our case it was Dan and Patrick and their gorgeous kids, Little T and Bodhi, home for a visit from the US.  Dan’s twin brother Daz and his family were there as well, ensuring there were lots of little people to be “eaten” when Mr Wolf announced it was “dinner time!”.

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Step 3: make simple picnic food. I was up early on Sunday morning and made a couple of loaves of olive and cheese bread.  These were still slightly warm by lunch time and easy to slice and share.  I started at 8.30am and the loaves were out of the oven and ready to go by 11am.  That might sound like a long time, but remember that breadmaking is mostly about leaving the dough alone – the actual hands-on time involved can be measured in minutes.

I began by making the basic bread dough and, at the initial mixing stage, threw in whatever I could find in the fridge – in this case it was pitted Kalamata olives, chunks of pecorino cheese and chopped pancetta.  After the first rise, the dough was shaped and risen a second time in loaf tins, then baked until golden.

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A bag of homemade meringues was the perfect finish to a simply perfect lunch.

On the way back to the car we passed a colony of flying foxes roosting in the trees, a flock of Australian White Ibises flying overhead (they honk like geese) and an astonishing array of flora from all over the world. Just magic – yet another reminder that we live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

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Black Truffle

Posted in Food & Friends, tagged , , , on July 17, 2009|

Maude knocked on our front door this morning with a plate of scrambled eggs, topped with grated black truffle (!!!).

Han the Delivery Man had arrived with a parcel for her – a Tasmanian black truffle on ice – a birthday present from her brother.  Since her birthday isn’t even in July, I can only assume that Jason was working on the principle that she has a birthday sometime this year, but truffles wait for no-one.

Big Boy came out to investigate as soon as Maude arrived – he could smell the earthy aroma from his room.  He and I demolished the dish standing up in the kitchen, with a fork each, working in from opposite ends of the plate.  Our first taste of fresh truffle, made possible because we have the best neighbours in the universe!

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Colours Of My Kitchen

Posted in Food & Friends, In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , , , , on July 12, 2009| 6 Comments »

You know how some people have white kitchens?  Everything is white and stainless steel and elegant.  That is so not the case at our house. Sure, the benches are white, and we serve dinner on white bone china, but the advent of silicone and plastic has added glorious colour to the room.  On a dull and overcast day, just opening the kitchen drawers can put a smile on my face.  I thought you might enjoy seeing the colours of my kitchen.

Here are the browns – chocolate, dutch cocoa, and more chocolate.

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Pete’s magnificent jams are always jewel-like and luminescent. If they didn’t taste so good, I’d keep them on the shelf as decorative pieces.

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I have a pair of Emile Henry tagines in flame red which I am completely besotted with.  Food always tastes better cooked in these – I’m sure the colour makes a difference…

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My friend Robyn gave me a Herbie’s Spice Kit for my birthday, and Pete V brought  back saffron for me from their trip to Spain.  I find the colour of  the spices appealing – particularly the red and terracotta toned ones.  The saffron is so alluring that whenever I need some for a recipe, I have to spend ten minutes admiring it first…

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And finally, here are my customised Fig Jam and Lime Cordial Welding Gloves.   You know you’ve hit the big time when you have branded merchandise, although it’s a little sad when you have to make it yourself.  I found these welding gloves at a great price, and can you guess why?  How many welders do you know who would front up to a construction site wearing bright orange welding gloves?  Which is a shame, because these are day-brighteningly gorgeous!

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