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In My Kitchen, July 2011

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 15, 2011| 79 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…are saffron crocus bulbs, a gift from my lovely friend Becca, the InTolerant Chef.  I could be picking my own saffron next year!

In my kitchen…

…are some new textured mugs.  Made by Ecology Homewares, each design comes in a box of four, but I split packs with my mum and Uncle Steve (Pete’s brother), so that we could all have one of each.  They worked out at about $5 per mug.

The Bubble is my current favourite – it reminds me of old photos of the moon…

…although most people seem to be drawn to the regularity of the Mesh mug…

…except for Big Boy, who prefers this design known as Sticks…

In my kitchen…

…is a sized up version of my ricotta tart, made with double the ingredients and baked in a 10″ fluted flan tin with a removable base…

In my kitchen…

…is a large slab of caramelised white chocolate.  I re-melted the jarred chocolate and tempered it with more white chocolate…

About a third of the bar has been cut up into chips. Now I just need to find a good use for them!

In my kitchen…

…is a batch of rhubarb and raspberry jam, made with our backyard rhubarb and the frozen raspberries we bought from Chef Express in Marrickville.  It’s one of Pete’s most popular preserves…

In my kitchen…

…is an indulgence in tomatoes.  We were really missing good tomatoes, so we bought this mixed box from an expensive fruit market.  It was worth it too, as every single tom was delicious.  The box had an assortment of red and yellow cherries, red and yellow Bella Rossas and Black Zebras…

The Black Zebras were a new variety to me – slightly tart, thick walled and well flavoured…

In my kitchen…

…is the pomegranate powder I bought at the Aum Spice centre.  I haven’t used it yet, but I told Choclette I’d take a photo for her.  It’s pleasantly acidic …

In my kitchen…

…is yet another gift from the lovely Moo. We’d had a discussion about cloudberries, and Moo’s wife Jane found these jars of cloudberry jam at Ikea in Adelaide…

The golden jam has an unusual flavour – it’s a little tangy, quite sweet and filled with crunchy pips.

Thanks Moo, for an opportunity to try this elusive food!

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

If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free  to use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post.  We’d all love to see what’s happening in your kitchen every month too!

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Saturday Happenings

Posted in Food & Friends, In My Kitchen, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 3, 2011| 56 Comments »

If I get to spend Saturday playing in the kitchen, the whole week that follows is much easier, in so many ways.

Ingredients are prepared, treats and loaves are baked, and frankly, I’m just a nicer person for having had the chance to unwind.

Yesterday, I messed around with making my own Malaysian curry powder…

Here’s my final blend…

  • 150g coriander seed
  • 40g fennel seed
  • 25g cumin seed
  • 25g white peppercorns
  • 5g black peppercorns
  • 25g dried Kashmiri red chillies (seeds removed)
  • 10g Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 20g ground turmeric
  • 5g cardamon powder
  • 1 star anise
  • 5 cloves
  • 10cm piece cinnamon

I pounded the star anise, cloves and cinnamon with a mortar and pestle, then roasted them with the coriander, fennel, cumin, peppercorns and whole chillies in a dry wok for a few minutes until fragrant.  The mix was blitzed in a large food processor and then combined with the chilli powder, turmeric and cardamon powder.  As the mixture was still quite coarse, I ground it down further in small batches in a coffee/spice grinder. A handful of dried curry leaves was added at the end.

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We made seven and a half litres of stock (beef, chicken and fish), following the instructions in this great YouTube clip – it was nice to give the old pressure cooker a workout…

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A discussion with Linda about sourdough bagels inspired a batch…

I’ve written two bagel posts in the past – a step by step tutorial on yeasted bagels and one on sourdough bagels.  The links are here:

Yeasted Bagel Tutorial
Sourdough Bagels

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I turned a couple of experimental loaves into dry breadcrumbs – the slices were dried in a 100C oven for two hours until crisp and then whizzed in the food processor.  Crumbed flathead fillets are one of Small Man’s favourite meals…

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And finally, I made a rabbit pie for dinner, although I didn’t get to take a photo before Big Boy tucked in!

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Anything exciting happening in your kitchen this weekend?

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In My Kitchen, June 2011

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , on June 13, 2011| 83 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…is a vase of magnificent tulips, a gift from lovely Keri…

In my kitchen…

…is a silicon “Home Made” stamp, which I first spied on my friend Becca’s blog.  I finally tracked one down at Peters of Kensington…

I couldn’t resist defrosting a roll of shortbread freezer cookie dough and testing it out!

In my kitchen…

…are drying branches of curry and bay leaves, gifts from my friend the Spice Girl…

She also gave me a treasured jar of her backyard honey, with her daughter Tara’s custom label…

In my kitchen…

…are interesting packets of Italian spaghetti.  The squid ink is absolutely delicious with a seafood sauce, but we’ve yet to try the chilli pasta or the five flavoured combination (chilli, squid ink, spinach, turmeric and plain)…

I also have spinach fusilli and orecchiette, the latter being a classic Apulian shape…

They’re meant to look like little ears, but I think they resemble turtle shells…

In my kitchen…

…is a batch of June’s Hungarian cottage cheese and sour cream cake, made with 900g of defrosted sweet pastry dough from the freezer…

Pete and Big Boy are huge fans of this dish, as are the neighbours!

In my kitchen…

…is an experimental loaf of sourdough, made with 30g of leftover drippings from a recent lamb roast and lots of garden rosemary.  The crumb is tender and the crust quite thin and crisp – probably as a result of the lard.  It was delicious with pumpkin soup, but as usual with all things lardy, Pete was grossed out…

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

If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free  to use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post.  We’d all love to see what’s happening in your kitchen every month too!

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In My Kitchen, May 2011

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , , on May 18, 2011| 61 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…is a dark chocolate owl, made using these moulds from Candyland Crafts.

The owl is hollow and made with our 74% Tanzanie chocolate blend.  The detailing in the plastic moulds was exquisite…

In my kitchen…

…are four loaves of homemade sourdough ciabatta, our new pane de casa, or house bread.  Small Man is eating like a horse at the moment, and will demolish a loaf a day, before and after dinner.  Thankfully, it’s the simplest bread I make…

In my kitchen…

…are four rainbow trout, stuffed with baby leek, young ginger and parsley.  They were drizzled with thick soy, olive oil and a little flaky salt before roasting in a 200C oven.  We covered them with foil for the first 10 minutes, and then finished them off uncovered.  Nothing makes my starving younger son happier than having an entire fish to himself…

In my kitchen…

…are tinned Italian tomatoes.  Australian tomatoes have suffered so badly from the rain that it’s been uneconomical for us to make our homemade passata.  Additionally, the couple of batches we did make recently were watery and flavourless.

Thankfully, my mate Johnny at the cheese shop has started stocking the  fabulous Mutti range of Italian tomatoes and sauces.  Ignoring all my BPA concerns, I’ve stocked up on two types – the baby romas, and the San Marzano.  The latter are quite expensive ($3/tin), but ever since we’ve bought them, Pete has refused to use anything else.  Sigh…

The San Marzanos are grown in volcanic soil, and are the sweetest, thickest tinned tomatoes we’ve ever tasted.  So thick, in fact, that they often need to be diluted down with wine or water in a sauce!

The baby romas are fantastic – the small tomatoes keep their shape in the tin and often the finished dish will still have whole tomatoes in the sauce.  They’re far more affordable, at $20 per dozen tins.  And they’re much better than the tinned cherry toms we’ve bought in the past…

In my kitchen…

…is a new Emile Henry baking dish, in the most gorgeous aubergine/fig colour.  I found it at Peters of Kensington, reduced from $79 to $23.

I’m currently in the process of retiring all my heavy Le Creuset and La Chasseur cast iron pieces, and replacing them with Emile Henry cookware. I know the cast iron is magnificent, but honestly, the cookware was getting too heavy for me to manoeuvre and they were always such a bugger to wash!  The Emile Henry is lightweight, the Flame range goes onto the gas hob, and the dirty cookware goes straight into the dishwasher.

In my kitchen…

…is a little winter rhubarb from our garden.  We never knew that the stems would grow quite red in the colder weather…

We stewed the rhubarb with a little sugar and some of the frozen blackberries that we bought in Marrickville, and served it topped with Pete’s homemade Greek yoghurt and a little maple syrup…

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

If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free  to use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post.  We’d all love to see what’s happening in your kitchen every month too!

Read Full Post »

In My Kitchen, April 2011

Posted in In My Kitchen, tagged , , , , , , on April 15, 2011| 45 Comments »

In my kitchen…

…is a blue Chinese teapot that I bought for my sister-in-law Katey.  She likes her teapots to have a handle on the top, so when I saw this one at the Chinese grocery store for just $6.95, I picked it up for her…

In my kitchen…

…is a copy of Abla’s Lebanese Kitchen.  I borrowed Maude’s copy to make fattoush salad, and was so impressed that I bought my own.  It’s written by Abla Amad, legendary chef of Abla’s Restaurant in Melbourne…

In my kitchen…

…is our all-in-one Römertopf dinner.  I layered orzo and lentils with continental sausage and then topped it with pieces of confit duck…

In my kitchen…

…is a gift from my lovely friend Tezza, a Royal Albert mug based on a hundred year old design.  I’ve made the boys promise that they’ll never put it in the dishwasher…

In my kitchen…

…is a batch of our rocky road, filled with toasted almond slivers and homemade marshmallows.  I coated it in my new chocolate blend, and it’s very moreish…

. . . . .

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

If you’d like to do an In My Kitchen post on your own blog, please feel free  to use this format, and to leave a comment here linking back to your post.  We’d all love to see what’s happening in your kitchen every month too!

Read Full Post »

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