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Morning Loaves

November 7, 2014 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Do you bake your own bread?

I do, and have been since December 2006. Of all the things I cook, and all the kitchen skills I’ve acquired, none are as soul-satisfying as baking bread. Every single loaf of the hundreds I’ve baked has been different, making each one seem just that little bit special and exciting when it’s sliced.

I enjoy baking bread at all times, but never quite so much as early in the morning.

When the weather permits, I’ll leave my sourdough on the bench overnight to prove, then wake up at dawn the following morning to bake it. It’s a remarkably untaxing process – I squelch all the ingredients together before going to bed, then simply leave them in a covered bowl until morning. I don’t bother with kneading or folding – my starter Priscilla is so resilient and reliable that she doesn’t seem to need fussing over to make decent bread.

The following morning, I’ll turn the puffy dough out onto a semolina dusted bench to fold, shape, prove and then bake. The house is quiet, punctuated only by the hum of the oven and the peeping calls of the soldier birds. It’s a gentle way to ease into the day, softly manipulating the airy dough and sipping hot tea while it has its second prove.

As the bread bakes, the house fills with toasty aromas. I used to sit by the oven and watch the bread rise, but now that I bake in a covered pot, that’s no longer an option. However, the thrill of uncovering the pot at the twenty minute mark to find a large well-risen loaf more than makes up for it. The finished loaves crackle and sing as they sit on the rack, catching the morning rays as they come in through the dining room window.

I’m not sure I could do regular bakers’ hours with their 4am starts, but I can completely understand the appeal of working in the quiet of the morning. By the time most people are up and having breakfast, bakers have accomplished a full day’s work producing honest, delicious food.

And what glorious work it is! I’m always so thrilled to be able to see the product of my efforts, to tap the hard crackly crust or lay a palm on a still warm loaf or admire the smiling gringe (split) on the top. Having created something so nourishing so early in the morning will set me in a positive mood for the rest of the day.

Do you bake your own bread? There’s nothing quite like it.

Posted in Musings | 103 Comments »

Happenings

November 4, 2014 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

In keeping with my decision to slow down a few months ago, I’m not spending nearly as much time on the internet these days as I used to. That doesn’t mean I’ve really slowed down much, but it has freed up a lot of hours for other things. I thought I’d share some happy moments from the past few weeks with you.

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Our lovely neighbours Liz and Brett treated us to lunch at Spice Temple.

I’d never been before – the food was wonderful but the cocktails were an absolute standout! Each one is named after the Chinese horoscope – naturally I had to try a Snake (cumquat marmalade, vermouth and sake, photo below), while Liz had the Pig. The cocktail list is a fun read and can be found here…

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If you’re in Sydney and you’re not following Lorraine’s blog, then you’re missing out. After reading a recent post of hers, we found ourselves at the Knafeh pop-up store in Strathfield a couple of weeks ago. Our old friends Kevin and Carol went with us, and we were all excited to be driving down a dark street looking for secret food. Pete commented that we always know where the interesting places are thanks to Lorraine!

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The fish tank renovation has been completed, and we now have seventeen male African cichlids and a large, grumpy catfish. They’ve all been named and we stand at the tank practicing to make sure we remember who’s who – Bruce, Shirley, Bulldog, Rainbow Fish, Sushi, Tuna, Marlin, Columbus, Escher, Moby, Barry, Mad Fish, Stewie, Toby, Mack, Hal, Bluebell. And Elvis the catfish, of course.

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Again, thanks to darling Lorraine, we discovered the Strawberry Fields Patisserie in Dulwich Hill, where we enjoyed a delicious pot of rosebud tea and discussed the Alcatraz escape with Simon, the chef and owner (he has the Anglin and Morris wanted posters on his cafe door!)…

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Last weekend we drove to Newcastle (about two and a half hours drive from Sydney) and visited our friend Craig and the lovely Alice at the Baked Uprising cafe (Francesca, Craig said to say hi!)…

I think it’s a wonderful testament to Alice’s creative eye that the decor included a table built from a book press and rescued branches hung from the ceiling…

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We were actually in Newcastle for a combined 40th/50th birthday party, which turned into a surprise wedding! It was an opportunity to catch up with old uni friends – we’ve all known each other since we were 18 years old. We decided an Ellen style selfie was in order…

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While we were away, Big Boy and Small Man were left to fend for themselves. Big Boy sent me a photo of the pasta dish he’d created for dinner – clearly they can manage without me in the kitchen!

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What’s been happening in your world?

Posted in Food & Friends | 80 Comments »

In My Kitchen, November 2014

November 1, 2014 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

In my kitchen…

…were Halloween chocolates, ready for little Trick or Treaters…

In my kitchen…

…are a dozen bottles of Rochester Ginger. I buy a case every year from the lovely importer Rob and include the bottles in our Christmas gift hampers. Rob sold this year’s case to me at the discounted price of $195 (he matched the special they had on offer last December) which included free metro delivery to all capital cities (and 50% freight discount to everywhere else in Australia).

I’ve just spoken to him and he’s happy to extend the $195 price to any FJALC readers who would like to buy a case. Please just mention that you read about it here. Best of all, they’ll gift wrap the bottles if you ask!

Rob’s contact details are on the Rochester Ginger website.

In my kitchen…

…is a large ricotta slice, made to our original recipe, but substituting Pete’s Greek yoghurt for the sour cream. We think it’s even better this way! We spent a couple of months in 2009 experimenting with ricotta cake recipes and the end result was this simple and delicious slice…

In my kitchen…

…is a new egg holder. Inspired by Moya’s post last month, I bought this little red ceramic tray to hold the eggs needed for baking – it stops them rolling all over the bench…

In my kitchen…

…are tissue paper flowers. Some people meditate, I make paper flowers and watch QI…

In my kitchen…

…are three incredibly old tins of cherries. They don’t have an expiry date, but I think the stamp on the bottom implies that they were packed in 2002. They were bought from the Jam Factory in Young – does anyone know if it’s still there?

In my kitchen…

…are sour cherry marshmallows – our latest flavour experiment. They’re my favourite, although Pete prefers the passionfruit ones…

In my kitchen…

…are the last of the HSC care packages. In total, Roars and Alex got three each…

In my kitchen…

…is mulberry pie! Our neighbours’ tree is fruiting and they brought over a large bowl of berries…

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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 do so. We’d love to see what’s happening in your kitchen this month!  Please link back to this blog, and let us know when your post is up, and we’ll add it to our monthly listing. Please upload your post by the 10th of each month.

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Here are this month’s posts…

Giulia @ Love at Every Bite (Canberra, ACT)

Emily @ Cooking for Kishore (New Jersey, USA)

Fran @ The Food Marshall (Canberra, ACT)

JJ @ 84th & 3rd (Sydney, NSW)

Clare @ The Life of Clare (Geelong, VIC)

Christine @ Food Wine Travel (Brisbane, QLD)

Shaheen @ Allotment2Kitchen (Wales)

Mel @ The Cook’s Notebook (Brisbane, QLD)

Diane @ Photographs and Recipes (Massachusetts, USA)

Nicole @ Miss Food Fairy (Melbourne, VIC)

Moya @ Food and Tools (Bahrain)

Johanna @ Green Gourmet Giraffe (Melbourne, VIC)

Fran @ Life in the Food Lane (Houston, Texas, USA)

Jane @ The Shady Baker (Broken Hill, NSW)

Danielle @ The nOATbook (Melbourne, VIC)

Heidi @ Steps on the Journey (Ohio, USA)

Beck @ In Search of Golden Pudding (Canberra, ACT)

Claire @ Claire K Creations (Brisbane, QLD)

Faye @ Veganopoulos (Melbourne, VIC)

Laila @ Table of Colors (Finland)

Tania @ The Cook’s Pyjamas (Perth, Western Australia)

Lisa @ I’ll Be There With A Fork (Brisbane, QLD)

Emma @ SurreyKitchen (Surrey, UK)

Marian @ Apricot Tart (Coffin Bay, South Australia)

Maree @ Around The Mulberry Tree (Gippsland, VIC)

Clara @ Heritage Recipe Box (Boston, MA, USA)

Liz @ Spades, Spatulas & Spoons (first IMK post! Oakland, CA, USA)

Sandra @ Please Pass the Recipe (Melbourne, VIC)

Andrew @ Andrew Faith (Blue Mountains, NSW)

Becca @ The InTolerant Chef (Canberra, ACT)

Melissa @ The Glen House (Ireland)

Vicki @ Boiled Eggs & Soldiers (Sydney, NSW)

Kim @ A Little Lunch (Oklahoma, USA)

Mandy @ The Complete Cookbook (Sundays River, South Africa)

Liz @ Bizzy Lizzy’s Good Things (Canberra ACT)

Liz @ Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard (Gold Coast, QLD)

Debi @ My Kitchen Witch (Sheffield, UK)

Tandy @ Lavender and Lime (Gordons Bay, South Africa)

Sandy @ Vegans Eat Yummy Food Too! (Sydney, NSW)

Gretchen @ Feeding My 3 Sons (South Carolina, USA)

Jason @ Don’t Boil The Sauce! (Melbourne, VIC)

Maureen @ Orgasmic Chef (Sunshine Coast, QLD)

Tania @ My Kitchen Stories (Sydney, NSW)

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella (Sydney, NSW)

Jennifer @ Milk and Honey (Gippsland, VIC)

Anne @ Anne Lawson (Melbourne, VIC)

Sherry @ Sherry’s Pickings (Brisbane, QLD)

Kirsty @ Make it Bake it Snap it (Canberra, ACT)

Francesca @ Almost Italian (Melbourne, Victoria)

Joanne @ What’s on the List? (Adelaide, South Australia)

Charlie @ Hotly Spiced (Sydney, NSW)

Kari @ Bite-Sized Thoughts (London, UK)

Misky @ The Chalk Hills Kitchen (West Sussex, UK)

Glenda @ Passion Fruit Garden (Perth, Western Australia)

Nancy @ Plus Ate Six (formerly Jamjr, Shanghai, China)

Posted in In My Kitchen | 163 Comments »

Truffles Au Chocolat

October 29, 2014 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Getting older is a strange, idiosyncratic process – things seem to change in ways that are completely unique to the individual, and often without warning or logic.

Over the past few years, my capacity to digest cream, milk, yoghurt and some soft cheeses has diminished. It’s not quite a dairy intolerance, as I’m fine with butter and hard cheeses, and it’s not a true lactose intolerance, because Lacteeze tablets make me as sick as a dog.

For anyone else with these limitations, this chocolate truffle recipe is a godsend.

It’s adapted (only very slightly) from an old French recipe in the brilliant Alice Medrich Bittersweet cookbook…

The truffles are made with egg yolks and butter rather than cream,  and they were the perfect thing to make with the leftover yolks from our raspberry marshmallows…

  • 300g Callebaut 811 (54% cacao) dark chocolate callets
  • 150g Cacao Barry Tanzanie Origin Chocolate (75% cacao)*
  • 150g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 2 large egg yolks (as fresh as possible), at room temperature
  • 125g (½ cup) boiling water
  • 55g (½ cup) Dutch-processed cocoa

*substitute a different 70-75% cacao dark chocolate if preferred.

1. In a heatproof bowl, either in the microwave or over a saucepan of boiling water, stir together the butter and chocolate until melted and smooth. If using the microwave, heat in 30 second bursts on high, stirring between each round until smooth.

2. Put a small saucepan with an inch or so of water on to simmer (if you haven’t already done so in step 1). Tip the yolks into a small stainless steel bowl or the top part of a double boiler and stir in the boiling water. Place the bowl over the simmering water and heat very gently, stirring constantly, until the eggy mixture reaches 71C. Be careful not to scramble the eggs!

3. Quickly pour the egg and water mixture through a sieve into the chocolate and butter. It helps to have a second pair of hands for this. Stir gently until completely combined and smooth.

4. Pour the chocolate mixture into a lined 20cm square tin or equivalent (I used my biscotti tin), smooth out the top, cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours until firm.

5. Sift the cocoa into a small bowl. Remove the set truffle mix from the fridge and allow it to soften for 30 minutes (this helps reduce cracking), then turn it onto a clean board and carefully remove the paper liner.

6. With a long, thin-bladed knife, cut the block into small cubes – mine were about 2cm each. You can squish together any that crumble apart a bit…

7. Toss the cubes in the cocoa powder. Store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to two weeks, or freeze for up to three months.

These truffles are rich and decadent, with a very dark chocolatey flavour and velvety texture. Because they need to be stored in the fridge or freezer, they’re not quite as versatile for gift giving as our other chocolates, but they’re a wonderful treat to take to a dinner party. It’s recommended that you let them sit on the bench for about 20 minutes before serving, but I find them irresistible cold, straight out of the fridge.

So..is it just me, or have any of you had to exclude certain foods from your diet as you’ve gotten older?

Posted in Recipes | 76 Comments »

Inspiration: Chris Hadfield

October 27, 2014 by Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

I’ve just watched this TED Talk by astronaut Chris Hadfield and found it so inspirational that I thought I’d share it with you.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with Commander Hadfield, he’s a retired Canadian astronaut who last year spent six months in command of the International Space Station. Apart from his work on the station, he also chronicled life onboard the ISS and shared it with the world via Twitter and Instagram.

He’s an amazing, inspirational human being. You might also enjoy his rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity!

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Posted in Cool Things | 17 Comments »

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