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Stracchino & Buffalo Parmesan

June 4, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

We have a couple of very grown up cheeses in our fridge at the moment, as opposed to the usual stock of Mozzarella, Pecorino and Jarlsberg.

We’re aging a Stracchino – a soft cow’s milk cheese set with a yoghurt rennet.  It’s locally made and similar to a young Brie.  Left unwrapped in the fridge and turned daily, it will develop a rind and mature in flavour.  Of course, that process isn’t helped by my nibbling at it daily – but despite that, it’s firming up quite quickly.

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This is today’s discovery – buffalo Parmesan. It has a distinct tangy flavour quite different from regular Parmesan, and we’ll serve it at dinner tonight with sourdough bread, Pukara Novello and some wonderful vintage balsamic.

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Posted in Food & Friends | Tagged , , | 3 Comments »

Lime and Vanilla Cupcakes

June 3, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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Inspired by gorgeous cupcakes in a recent Masterchef episode, I thought I’d try my hand at making some.  I found this interesting recipe attributed to a clever lady named Scout, which replaces the butter with cream, thereby making the mixing process faster and easier.

I’ve tinkered with the recipe slightly – using heavy whipping cream instead of the thickened cream originally specified and topping the cupcakes with a lime curd buttercream icing.  The end result is light and moreish, with simple flavours – a far cry from heavier, pound cake based versions.  Which may be why my Pete, who is normally a staunch anti-cupcake campaigner, likes them so much.

Cupcakes

  • 2 large (59g) eggs
  • ½ cup cream (35% fat)
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp finely grated lime rind (optional)
  • ¾ cup caster (superfine) sugar
  • 1 cup self-raising flour

1. Preheat the oven to 175C (with fan).

2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream and eggs together for one minute.  Add the sugar, lime rind and vanilla and beat on high for three more minutes (I use the whisk attachment on my stand mixer).

3. Gently fold in the sifted SR flour.  Line a muffin pan (12 x 1/3 cup size) with paper liners, and divide the batter evenly between the 12 holes.   Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until lightly golden and the cake springs back slightly when tapped in the centre.  This recipe overcooks easily, so watch it carefully to ensure it doesn’t go too brown.  Allow to cool on a wire rack while you prepare the icing.

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Icing

  • 60g very soft unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup icing sugar mixture (confectioner’s sugar)
  • 2 rounded teaspoons of lime curd

Beat the butter with a whisk or beaters until very smooth, then beat in half a cup of sifted icing sugar.  Stir in the lime curd, then add remaining sifted icing sugar and mix well until the mixture reaches a thick piping consistency.   You might need more or less icing sugar, adjust accordingly. Spread or pipe the icing over the top of the cupcakes.

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Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments »

Grizzle Sticks

June 1, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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When Small Man was very young, we would give him grissini to chew on whenever he was cranky or out of sorts.  We called them “Grizzle Sticks” and they were indeed very good at soothing the grizzling child.  These aren’t grissini, but they are reminiscent of them.  I found the recipe at Dan Lepard’s Guardian website and modified it to suit the ingredients I had on hand at 7am on a Monday  morning.  They were easy to make and even easier to eat – Pete D declared that between these and the crackers, we’ve just about nailed beer food.  Below is my amended list of ingredients and the methodology is here.

  • 100g plain flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 scant tsp brown sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 small pinch cinnamon
  • 50g organic dark rye flour
  • 3 tsp dried oregano
  • 50g unsalted butter, softened
  • 30g pancetta flat, weighed after the fat was removed, finely chopped or minced in the mini-whizzer
  • 50ml cold water

Do try this, it’s a flexible recipe that will lend itself to all sorts of inclusions.  I think I’ll try pecorino or anchovies next time…

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | 1 Comment »

A Mountain of Pizza Bases

May 30, 2009 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

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I was so appalled by the price of a decent pre-made pizza base ($4.79 each!), that I made a quadruple batch of parbaked bases today.

It’s easy to do – make the basic dough recipe, let it rise, then divide the dough into four balls and allow it to rise a second time.  Tip each ball onto a sheet of parchment paper and work it out with your fingers into a large flat circle. There are some photos here of the shaping process.

Now, instead of topping it, slip the base (on its sheet of paper)  into a  hot oven and bake for one to two minutes.  We use preheated pizza stones, but you could always put the base on a tray if you don’t have these. You want the dough to puff up just the tiniest bit, but ideally it shouldn’t brown at all.   In our oven, that’s takes a minute and a half, baking four bases at the one time.

Remove the parbaked bases from the oven, discard the paper and cool  completely on a wire rack (this bit is important, or they’ll end up wet and sticky).  The bases can be frozen for ages, separated by sheets of freezer or parchment paper, then well wrapped in clingfilm.

I’ve delivered eight bases to the neighbours and stashed a further eight in our freezer.  We would normally prepare our pizza dough from scratch, but it’s nice to have some reserves for when things get really hectic!

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Edit 31/05: Have just tried making multi-grain pizza crusts as suggested by Patrick in the Aussie Pizza post below.  They’re delicious!  I used Kevin Sherrie’s grain mix (90%) combined with a little bakers flour (10%), omitted the salt (as it’s already included in the grain mix) and increased the total flour weight by about 10% to compensate for the extra grain mass. Here’s a photo of the last slices of the two test pizzas, plus the bases parbaked and ready for the freezer.

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Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | 4 Comments »

Vanilla Extract

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

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Making your own vanilla extract is the easiest thing in the world.  All you need are vanilla beans, vodka and patience.  Split your beans most of the way through with a pair of kitchen scissors and pop them into a bottle ,  fill it with vodka, then let it brew for three months or more.  Give it a shake occasionally and marvel at how quickly it turns a rich, dark amber.

Start with six to ten beans in a 700ml bottle – ten is probably more than you need, but I bought my vanilla pods in bulk, so I have lots to play with.   As the  extract is maturing, I’ll also add in beans which have been scraped out and used for other cooking, so the bottle gets quite full after a while.  Trust your nose – sniff if occasionally, and when it seems strong enough, decant a little out  to use.  You can then top the bottle up with more vodka and allow it to mature again.

After experimenting with various spirits, I’ve found that vodka produces the most aromatic result.  I’ve had moderate success with a mild brandy, but after a few months, it still smells more of alcohol than vanilla.

When vanilla extract is made commercially, chopped beans are boiled up and percolated through a base alcohol.   This is done to maximise the extraction from the beans in the shortest possible time.  By contrast, cold macerating the pods for several months is a gentle process, and the vanilla aroma and flavour extracted from the beans is very pure and clean, without any stewed or cooked overtones. You’ll be able to taste the difference in your baking!

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Use this vanilla extract to make a wicked vanilla syrup!

Posted in Recipes | Tagged , | 34 Comments »

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