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Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

Stuffed Pumpkin

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , on October 28, 2009| 6 Comments »

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A very easy recipe inspired  by the tv series River Cottage Treatment (we’re big Hugh FW fans!). It was originally made with butternut pumpkin (squash), feta cheese and basil, but butternuts were stupidly expensive at the markets last week, so I used a small jap pumpkin instead.

Give the pumpkin a good scrub to clean it, then cut it into quarters and scoop out the seeds.  If you’re using butternut, just cut it in half.  Put a small pat of butter and a peeled clove of garlic into each quarter, lay them out on a baking tray and bake for about an hour at 190C until tender.  You’re supposed to brush them with oil before baking, but I forgot to.

Scoop out the flesh of the pumpkin, leaving a 1cm border to hold the skin together, then mash it with a generous amount of feta cheese and pine nuts.  Season well, then spoon the mixture back into the shells and bake them for another 15 minutes.  Absolutely delicious and each quarter pumpkin is substantial enough for a meal in itself!

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King of Puddings

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , , , on October 26, 2009| 6 Comments »

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I’ve looked at this Jamie Oliver recipe a hundred times (it’s from his Happy Days with the Naked Chef cookbook), but this was the first time I’d ever made it. Which is completely daft, because we always have every single ingredient in the pantry – it could have been invented with our kitchen in mind.

It’s sweet, simple and comforting – perfect for an easy Sunday evening dessert.

  • 4 large (59g) eggs
  • 570ml (21/3 cups) milk
  • 115g (4oz) breadcrumbs
  • 225g (8oz) sugar
  • 4 level tablespoons jam (I used Pete’s homemade raspberry jam)

Note: I made breadcrumbs from some leftover sourdough – I simply blitzed broken pieces in the food processor.  We fried the leftovers in a little olive oil and scattered them over pasta – very naughty, I know.

1. Preheat the oven to 150C (300F).  Separate three of the four eggs.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the three egg yolks and one whole egg.  Add the milk, breadcrumbs and 85g of sugar.  Give it a good stir to combine.

3. Spread the jam evenly over the base of a pie dish.  Pour the egg and milk mixture over the jam, and bake for one hour, or until the custard sets.

4. Whisk the remaining three egg whites until stiff, then slowly add the remaining 140g sugar, beating continuously.  I used a mix of caster sugar and vanilla sugar for this part.   Beat until the whites are thick and glossy.

5. Dollop the egg white mixture onto the top of the custard, then bake in the oven for a further 15 – 20 minutes until the meringue is set and lightly browned.  Be warned, it will rise up quite a lot in the oven, so make sure you leave enough room between the racks.  Serve with a little whipped cream – there isn’t any butter in the pudding, so you can have just a little cream without too much guilt!

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Bacon Slice

Posted in Recipes, tagged , , , , on October 23, 2009| 7 Comments »

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Still playing with sweet dough, I baked these bacon slices from a recipe in Richard Bertinet’s Dough (have I convinced you to buy this book yet?  It’s bread-life changing..)

Step 1: Make up a batch of sweet dough.  You’ll only need half for this recipe, so use the remainder to make some pain viennois as I did, or fry it up into doughnuts. Or make a double batch of bacon slices…

Step 2: After the dough has risen for the first time, turn it onto a lightly floured bench and divide it into two.  Using just half the dough, roll it out to about 5mm (3/8″)  thick, then cut it into six 12cm (5″) squares.  Put the squares onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Don’t worry if they’re not perfectly square – mine were a bit wonky but they still turned out fine.

Step 3: Spoon a tablespoon of béchamel sauce into the centre of each square, then fold the opposite corners in to meet at the middle.  Lay a piece of bacon over the top of each slice, then cover with another sheet of parchment (to stop it sticking) and a tea towel.  Allow to prove another 45 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 210C (with fan).

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Step 4: Brush a beaten egg all over the dough, then sprinkle a generous pinch of grated cheese over the top (Bertinet recommends Gruyère or Emmenthal, I used Picasso sheep’s milk cheese).  Reduce the oven temperature to 200C (with fan) and bake for about 15 minutes until puffed and dark golden brown.

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Note: Bertinet recommends making béchamel sauce with 25g unsalted butter, 20g plain flour and 150g full cream milk.  This makes enough sauce for six bacon slices.  The sauce doesn’t include any grated cheese, but it would have made a nice addition.  Season with salt and pepper before spooning it onto the dough.

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Chocolate

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , , , on October 14, 2009| 6 Comments »

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It’s Spring in Sydney, and the mild weather is ideal for chocolate making. I love watching the shiny tempered blocks pop out of their moulds.

The large bar below was a birthday present for Tim, made from Belgian milk chocolate.  Once you learn how to temper chocolate, you’ll never be caught short for a gift again.  This gorgeous mould came from Candyland Crafts in the US and I’ve used it at least a dozen times, more than justifying the $1.99 I paid for it.

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A bowl of tempered dark chocolate (Callebaut 811, 54% cocoa) became a chorus of chocolate frogs, studded with roasted cacao nibs…

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…a cluster of plain dark chocolates in assorted shapes (each one small enough to be an acceptable accompaniment to morning coffee)…

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…and some very special truffles, filled with a caramelised white chocolate ganache.  The end result was reminiscent of a burnt caramel truffle.  I’d offer more detailed tasting notes, but Big Boy ate most of them while my back was turned!

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Trivia of the day:

Did you know that a group of frogs is known as a chorus, a colony or an army?  By contrast, the collective noun for toads is a knot.

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Feeding the Masses

Posted in Food & Friends, Recipes, tagged , , , , , on October 12, 2009| 6 Comments »

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I’ve been baking for the school orchestra.

They have rehearsals at this time every year, and it’s become a tradition to send in afternoon tea for them.  I usually make butterscotch bars, but this year I thought I’d try something different.

Nick Malgieri’s Supernatural Brownies (pictured above) are very easy to make, and perfect for feeding a crowd.  The two batches I made cut into over ninety 2½cm x 5cm (1″ x 2″) bars.  I tweaked the methodology a little to simplify it even further.

  • 250g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 225g dark chocolate chips – I used Callebaut 70% cocoa callets
  • 4 large (59g) eggs
  • 1 cup (220g) white sugar
  • 1 cup (210g) firmly packed brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons homemade vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • 1 cup (150g) plain (AP) flour

1. Heat oven to 175C (350F) or 160C (320F) with fan.  Line a 23cm x 33cm (9″ x 13″) baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In a large pyrex bowl, microwave the butter and chocolate in short bursts on high until the chocolate begins to melt, then stir until smooth.  Set aside to cool slightly.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs well, then add the sugar, brown sugar, salt and vanilla, whisking to combine.  Using a spatula, stir in the chocolate and butter mixture, then fold in the flour.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth over the top (the batter will be runny).

4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the brownies comes out clean, about 30 – 35 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.  This recipe makes 24 x 5cm/2″ square brownies, although I cut the slab into 48 smaller pieces.

Of course, I had to make butterscotch bars as well.  The brass players would be very disappointed otherwise.  All up, we’re sending in nearly 180 brownies and bars with Big Boy today!

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