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Market Day

October 31, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Some photos of this week’s market purchases…

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The Korean stall had these gorgeous mushrooms – enoki, trumpet, shitake, baby and mature King Browns.  I combined them with some cheaper button mushrooms and a handful of dried porcini to make mushroom soup for dinner.  The different varieties provided the dish with a complex, satisfying flavour.

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Just look at this guy!  Cooked Spanner crabs (known as Kona crabs in the US) were just $6.99/kilo, so I was able to buy three of these for $7.50.  I bought them more for novelty value than anything else, as I’d never seen a crab that looked quite like this.  Most of the meat is in the body, with just a little in the claws and legs.

I picked all the meat, mixed it with Japanese mayonnaise and a little chilli sauce, then served it as a spread on thinly sliced sourdough bread.  Made a fantastic starter, but lots of work – I’m not sure I’d go to all that effort again.  Having said that, it’s always nice to try something different for a change!

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Chocolate Masks

October 29, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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Inspired by this post at Some Say Cacao, I added a mask mould to my last order from Candyland Crafts. Each mask was 11cm long and beautifully detailed.  A boxed set of three made the perfect birthday present for my friend Julie.

Overambitious as always, I tried decorating the finished masks with piped tempered white chocolate. The idea proved to be far simpler  in planning than actual execution.   I am tragically rubbish at piping…

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I ended up with an excess of white chocolate, which I moulded into a white and dark chocolate mask.  It came out looking like carved marble!

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Stuffed Pumpkin

October 28, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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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 It was originally made with butternut pumpkin (squash), feta cheese and basil, but butternuts were stupidly expensive at the markets last week, so I used a small jap pumpkin instead.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

October 26, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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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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Sydney Fish Market

October 24, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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Sydney has a fabulous fish market – the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.  Based at Blackwattle Bay on the harbour foreshore, it’s a great place to spend an hour or so on a Friday afternoon, although any longer than that and the parking costs become prohibitive.

My little Lumix camera and I played tourist last time I was there.  Here are some photos – especially for Dan, Jane and all our other friends who are away from Sydney this spring. We’re missing you, so make sure you come back soon!

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We bought some delicious extra-large Tiger prawns, as well as half a dozen Pacific oysters from South Australia…

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…and some sardine and ocean trout fillets.  The trout was baked in the oven for dinner that night – dressed with just a good olive oil and a little salt and pepper.  Simply perfect!

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Sydney Fish Market
Bank Street
Pyrmont  NSW  2009
Open every day (except Christmas) from 7am – 4pm

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