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In My Kitchen, June 2010

June 16, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

In my kitchen…

…is a special cut-resistant glove, knitted from hollow yarn with a wire core. Every month, when the moon is at a particular point in the sky, I turn into a kitchen disaster.  I cut myself, burn myself, and grate the tops of my fingers off.  So I went into Chefs’ Warehouse and told them I needed a glove to wear, just for one week out of every four, which would stop me injuring myself.  After the laughing had subsided, this is what they sold me…

In my kitchen…

…are treasured gifts from our friend Moo. Incredibly generous soul that he is, he arrived with a goodie bag the last time he was over from Adelaide.   The items below are just a small sampling of his largesse…

In my kitchen…

…is Big Boy’s lunch – a large potato cake topped with smoked salmon and Italian mayonnaise.  Potatoes and salmon are one of our favourite food combinations!

In my kitchen…

…are six bottles of Pete’s wonderful vanilla syrup, made using an aged bottle of homemade vanilla extract (March 08) that I uncovered in the bottom of the linen closet.    The syrup is dotted with black seeds which you can’t quite discern from the photos (most have sunk to the bottom).

In my kitchen…

…are more pomegranates!  I won these three from Not Quite Nigella. We  juiced one of them, resulting in nearly a full cup of ruby coloured sweet juice.

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

Posted in In My Kitchen | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments »

School Rolls

June 14, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Every weekend, I bake two large trays of sourdough bread rolls specifically for school lunches.

I make these using a simple folding and cutting technique, which I find much easier than more traditional methods for shaping individual rolls.  The end result is a flat, oval roll which will hold a substantial amount of filling and withstand the rigours of a tossed backpack.

After baking, each roll weighs between 95 – 105g, the equivalent of three slices of bread.  Filled with ricotta and smoked salmon, or in Small Man’s case, Vegemite, they’re the perfect size for school lunches.

. . . . .

After the dough has had its first rise, knock it back and stretch it  out on a lightly oiled surface into a rectangle.  The piece below weighed 1200g.

Fold one side of the dough in as shown…

…then fold the other side in over the top.

Using a serrated knife or a dough cutter, slice the dough into pieces.  I cut 10 rolls from my 1200g of dough, judging the size of each piece by eye rather than bothering to weigh them.

Lay the rolls out on a lined baking tray. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the top of the rolls, and then cover with a tea towel.  Allow to prove.

Before baking, I give each roll a single slash with my lame.  I’m not convinced it makes any difference, given that my dough hydration is quite high, but it does make me feel like a proper baker when I get to wave my razor blade around.

These rolls freeze beautifully, which means I can bake a large batch once a week.  And the boys love them – Small Man has already eaten two rolls off the cooling rack!   Better get them in the freezer now, or I’ll have to bake another lot tomorrow…

Edit: a crumb shot for Sally!

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , | 34 Comments »

Butterscotch Brownies

June 12, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

These butterscotch brownies have many things going for them, but good looks isn’t one of them.

They are, however, ridiculously easy to make, only use one saucepan, and have a delicious caramel flavour that makes them difficult to leave alone.  I baked two trays today – each took me less than 10 minutes to knock up, and under half an hour to bake in the oven.  That’s hard to beat!

The batch above has a mix of walnuts and chocolate chips, whereas the one below has extra chocolate in place of the nuts (as Small Man is nut allergic) and as a result is gooey and flatter, but equally moreish.

I’ve substituted unsalted butter for the vegetable shortening in Beth Polazzo’s original recipe, and I’ve also omitted the specified ½ teaspoon of salt.  That’s our personal preference – we’re not big fans of the salt-sugar combination that seems to be so popular in the US.

Butterscotch Brownies
(adapted from  Beth Polazzo’s Butterscotch Brownies in Molly O’Neill’s New York Cookbook)

  • 75g (½ cup) plain (AP) flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 65g (¼ cup) unsalted butter
  • 215g (1 cup, packed) brown sugar
  • 1 large (59g) egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (I used homemade)
  • 55g (½ cup) chopped walnuts OR extra 90g (½ cup) chocolate chips
  • 90g (½ cup) semisweet chocolate chips

Note: for the all chocolate version, I used 90g broken Callebaut bake-stable sticks (44% cacao) and 90g Callebaut 811 callets (54% cacao).

1.  Preheat the oven to 175C/350F or 160C/320F with fan.

2. Line a  20cm/8″ square pan or a 31 x 14cm/12 x 5½” biscotti pan with parchment paper.

3. In a small bowl, combine the flour and baking powder and stir together with a fork.

4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then add the brown sugar and stir briefly until softened and moist.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes (this bit is important – or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs and melted chocolate).

5. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, quickly stir in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  Add in the flour and baking powder, and stir vigorously to combine.  Gently mix in the walnuts and chocolate.

6. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and gently work it into the corners.  There’s not a lot of batter, so expect a fairly thin coverage over the base of the pan.  Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the top feels just firm.  The original recipe said to test with an inserted toothpick, but there’s usually so much chocolate in mine that it’s hard to judge.

Remove from the oven and allow the brownies to rest in the pan for at least half an hour before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. The brownies will sink a little as they cool.

Expect these to be flat and ugly, and to crack as they’re sliced (use a sharp, thin knife).  Also expect them to be deliciously moreish with a brown sugar caramel flavour and a fudgy, gooey centre.  Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments »

Jumbleberry Crumble

June 10, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Nigella’s Jumbleberry Crumble is a great winter desserts.  It’s easy to make, and very versatile – we’ve made it with everything from apples to rhubarb to berries.

Lorraine, who is Not Quite Nigella, recently wrote about bargain-priced frozen blackberries for sale in nearby Marrickville, and I couldn’t resist picking up a couple of bags ($4.50/kg!!).  Our dessert was made with frozen blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

This recipe makes more crumble topping than you actually need for this amount of fruit, so stash the extra in a ziplock bag in the freezer.

  • 200g plain (AP) flour
  • 100g unsalted butter, cold
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 120g demerara sugar
  • 600g mixed fresh or frozen berries, or other chopped fruit
  • 2 teaspoons cornflour
  • 4 heaped teaspoons vanilla sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180C with fan.

2. Place the flour, baking powder and demerara sugar in a medium sized bowl and stir to combine.  Cut the butter into small pieces, then rub it into the dry ingredients until crumbly (of course!).

3. Pour the frozen berries into the serving dish, and toss them with the cornflour and vanilla sugar.  Top with about two-thirds of the crumble mix (although you really could use as little or as much as you like), then bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the berries are just starting to ooze juice and the topping is brown and crunchy.  You might need to turn the oven temperature up in the final 5 – 10 minutes to brown the top – resist the urge to do this too soon, or the topping will burn before the fruit is hot.

Serve with cream, icecream, or simply on its own (which is how I prefer it!).

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | 22 Comments »

A Study in Molasses

June 8, 2010 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

In Australia, molasses isn’t always particularly palatable – sweet, but also thick, black and often bitter.   The byproduct of sugar cane production, it’s good for cooking, but difficult to eat straight, and one of its more common uses is as cattle feed.  It isn’t a product I use often, preferring instead the sweeter treacle or golden syrup.

So I was both surprised and delighted during a recent trip to Harkola to find three different molasses (molasseses?) made from a variety of base ingredients.

On the left is a jar of mulberry molasses from Turkey – probably the closest to what we know as traditional molasses, but much nicer.  It’s dark, sweet and raisiny with a slightly tannic note, but very edible with a spoon.  It’s much less viscous than sugarcane molasses, with a texture similar to a thick syrup.

In the middle is a bottle of pomegranate molasses from Lebanon, the current in-vogue ingredient in many fine dining restaurants (and food blogs!).  It’s surprisingly tart, more liquid than the mulberry version, and would be brilliant in a salad dressing. Pete thought we could use this in much the same way as sweet balsamic vinegar.  For some reason, its flavour reminds me a little of sherbet lollies.

My personal favourite is the date molasses, also from Lebanon, which Ray at Harkola told me is traditionally combined with tahini and spread on bread.  It has become my newest baking ingredient, and I’ve been using it in cakes and cookies wherever molasses or treacle is called for.  The date flavour is quite pronounced, and again, the texture is quite liquid and syrupy.

Despite all being called molasses, the three different versions taste completely different to each other, and I’m sure I’ll find a use for all of them.   Do you use any of these in your cooking?  If so, I’d love to know what you do with them!

Posted in Food & Friends | Tagged , , , | 25 Comments »

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