Tag Archives: food

Bircher Muesli or freezer surprises

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Apple something or other that was for sure. Puree, pectin, juice?…

I don’t know what it was, as I wasn’t clever enough to leave label on it in the freezer. All I know it was apple-y, it was sweet and it was mighty fine.

The Monkeys had me grinding spoonfuls of it off the frozen sides of the tub into their sweet insistent mouths.

“More! More!” They demanded like noisy, needy little baby magpies.

Alright, alright… It’s ok, Mama doesn’t really want any of this sweet frozen apple-y goodness that she found way back in the freezer…not much anyway.

Bircher Muesli is one of those tasty meals in a bowl that you know is good for you and you can cater to your own taste buds. There are so many ingredients that you substitute one for another  and still get a great tasty bowl full. Dry ingredients start with oats, then you can add…slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, sesame, hazelnuts etc. Adding to that your wet ingredients, a grated apple, apple juice, milk, mashed banana, whatever tantilizes your taste buds. Leave it over night and then in the morning top it off with a dollop of yogurt, and some fresh or poached fruit. Imagination is your friend here.

It’s filling, low GI, and tastes like you should get a second bowl full.

Bircher Muesli

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup almond meal

1/4 cup linseed meal

1/4 cup pecan pieces

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup apple puree

Popped it all in together and then in to the fridge overnight for the dry ingredients to absorb the wet. Added a dollop of homemade yoghurt and a hand full of blueberries on top.

scones

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I never seemed to have mastered scones. They have always been a hit or miss kind of affair. Some times delicate airy morsels begging for a little jam or cream. At other times hockey pucks. That if stuck together, could make a rather solid house for a pint-sized person. As a teenager I once made scones that had so much bicarbonate of soda in them that everyone’s mouth tingled for an hour after eating them, (I wanted to make sure they got that ‘lift’.)

Let’s just say my scones weren’t winning awards any time soon.

So with a canny eye, and a raised eyebrow, why would I be posting a recipes for scones?

As I finally cracked it, well I think I did. I finally got results that I felt were worthy of placing on the table instead of scuttling out the back when the hockey pucks were offered up. What changed? Back to Sally Wise’s presentation at the Taste Festival in Hobart. Wise by name and wise by nature it seems as I can finally say scones and I are friends, and it’s all thanks to watching her whip some up in just a few minutes.

Perfect thing to make for a relaxing long weekend.

Scones

3 cups s/r flour

1 cup cream

1 cup of water

Lightly mix the ingredients all together in a bowl. Once combined, on to lightly floured bench, pop your dough on, and then lightly knead with your finger tips. Flour the rim of a glass (or another cutter of some sort) and cut them out.  On to a tray, and then bake at 220C for 20mins.

 Just the thing to team up with your favourite seasonal jam.

sweet potato dhal- frugal Friday

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Dhal

Cheap to make. Healthy to eat. And tasty.

There is a lot to like about dhal. I use red lentils as they cook pretty quickly and they are an easy one to get by The Monkeys (on a good day.)

I will make a very basic dhal and then dress it up with what ever I have going. This week was served with some basmati rice, a dollop of natural yogurt, a spoonful of tomato chutney and some fresh chopped cucumber/ tomato. Use what ever you have though…some chilli for a kick in the pants is always good too.

Sweet Potato Dhal

In a pot add

2 good slurps of vegetable oil

a diced brown onion

3 cloves diced garlic

an inch of fresh diced ginger

a couple of shakes of

cumin

coriander

tumeric

brown mustard seeds (if you have them, I didn’t for this one)

fry until smells deliciously fragrant

add 1 1/2 cups dried red lentils

2 cups of water

stir it round and pop the lid on, (at a medium heat)

chop up your

sweet potato

and whack that in the pot, along with another

2 cups of water

salt to taste

stick the lid on and keep the temperature on low until the the lentils have cooked themselves soft and the sweet potato* is cooked through.

You can use any vegetable that is seasonal. I’ll quite often use pumpkin, sweet potato or silverbeet.

hot cross buns

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 Not long after I first started this blog last year, it was Easter, and I was inundated with posts taunting me with hot cross buns. Delicious little bready morsals. I scrutinized, I dreamed, I gazed longingly, I especially admired the sourdough ones. Then I got side tracked and I didn’t do anything about it. Maybe next year I muttered to myself.

Easter started rearing its head again and the taunting hot cross bun posts started tempting me with their alluring photos, and seductive spices once more. Plump sultanas and glazed tops…Oh what to do? Should I try them? Should I give them a crack?

 Of course you should, said the little tiny baker on my left shoulder.

Yeast or sourdough?

Sourdough!! Said the little baker with a firm kick to my head… duhh!

Right.

Sourdough it was. But which recipe? Internet, nothing was quite right. Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook?… Nah, not quite right either. Real Food Companion? Closer, but not sourdough. Back to hack basics again then. Let’s play.

Batch One.

Not bad.  Consistency is good, soft, chewy and still light. Needs a bit more salt and lacking a bit in the spices. Definitely needs more oomph factor. I was feeling lazy and couldn’t be bothered rolling them into balls, so did a slab, used a divider and then gave another prove. This resulted in a non eye-catching brick like piece. For the glaze I did straight honey, which was too annoyingly sticky.

Batch Two.

Upped the spices and the salt. Added mixed fruit instant of just sultanas and currants. Wasn’t quite enough prove time though, so there were a few too many large holes once cooked. Still feeling lazy and went with the slab again. This time, dividing it just before cooking hoping that would make them less of a brick slab. Not really, still a great wedge of hot cross bun. Taste though, I was happy with and wouldn’t change anything further. The glaze was diluted a little and less sticky.

Third batch

I did a commercial yeast variation to see how they would be. Was feeling less lazy and actually rolled them, although was a bit sloppy with the sizes and the crosses. Verdict…still demolished by The Monkeys, but my heart still lies firmly in sourdough. Time factor is definitely a plus though when you are using commercial yeast. Not the whole day process that can be sourdough. (See the bottom of post for regular yeasted recipe… which looks remarkably similar to the sourdough one. For a semi sourdough recipe see the EDIT at the end.)

Hot Cross Buns-  

(sourdough)

100gms currants

100gms sultanas or mixed fruit

2 tbls brandy

150mls hot water

Mix together and soak the night before.

Dough Mixture

250-300gms starter (100%)

600gms strong bakers flour (4 cups)

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp dark malt flour

1 tsp cardamom

100g sugar

250mls water/milk*

100g softened butter*

(* omit these if you want vegan ones)

Mix all together, except for the salt and then leave for a while, 20-45mins (autolyse period.)

Add 2 tsp salt. Mix together. Prove for an hour or so. Quick fold on lightly floured surface. Back in to bowl to prove for another or two. Fold. Prove again. Shape into a big square to fit the tray. Prove.  Use divider to shape into buns. Add the crosses.

Cross mixture

1/2 cup flour

1 tbls sugar

1/2 cup water

Mixed together and then into piping bag.

Bake at 210C for 20-25 minutes. Glaze when still hot. (1 tbls honey, 1 tbls water mixed together)

Hot Cross Buns-

(dried yeast)

100gms currants

100gms sultanas or mixed fruit

2 tbls brandy

150mls hot water

Mix together and soak the night before.

Dough Mixture

2 tsp dried yeast

600gms strong bakers flour (4 cups)

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp dark malt flour

100g sugar

250mls water/milk*

100g softened butter*

(*omit these if you want vegan ones)

Mix all dough ingredients together, leaving out the salt and leave for 20-40 minutes, (autolyse.)

Add 2 tsp salt, mix together. Prove for an hour or so, and give a quick three way fold. Leave for another hour or so. Divide dough into even balls and roll. Placing on tray. If you are feeling lazy, pop the slab on the tray and divide just before baking. Another prove for 45 minutes or so, and add the crosses.

Cross mixture

1/2 cup flour

1 tbls sugar

1/2 cup water

Mixed together and then into piping bag.

Bake at 210C for 15-20* minutes, check them if the are golden and sound hollow with a little tap, pop them out. Glaze when still hot. (1 tbls honey, 1 tbls water mixed together).

**********

*My yeasted ones cooked quicker, than the sourdough ones.

(This post submitted to yeastspotting)

***********

EDIT- Each year I have tweaked these, until finally I have a hot cross bun that I’m really happy with. There is a semi sourdough recipe that I have been using a lot here if you like the taste of sourdough but need to speed things up just a little.

semi sourdough hot cross buns

Chocolate Brandy Layer Cake

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The man looked at me.

It’s for cooking with, right?

Ah yes, yes it is.

Now how did he know that the brandy I was attempting to buy, was for cooking and not straight consumption? How did he know that I wasn’t hot footing it home, with The Monkeys in tow. Home to make Brandy Alexanders for cocktail hour for when my dear Mr Chocolate got home from a long days work. Cocktails matched with an assortment of jellied canapes and devilled something or others.

I don’t know how he knew, but he knew. I mustn’t have had the Brandy Alexander cocktail look going on that morning. Instead, I had the wholesome cook look happening… or was it the flustered mama shopping with kids in tow look, I can’t remember now.

I explained that yes, he was right, it was for cooking, I needed it for a cake and some hot cross buns, and I had run out of my brandy stash. He cocked an eyebrow, and looked at me as if I had just started beatboxing I’m a little teapot….

Cooking all that?…Is that because of My Kitchen Rules?*

Um no, no it isn’t…

Chocolate Brandy Layer Cake

150gms softened butter

140gms caster sugar (3/4 cup)

2 tps vanilla

3 egg yolks

40gms cocoa (1/3 cup)

300gms s/r flour (2 cups)

150gms yogurt (3/4 cup)

3 egg whites whipped to peaks

Cream softened butter, sugar and vanilla essence together. Add egg yolks, yogurt, cocoa and flour. (looks quite stiff at this stage.) Add whipped egg whites by folding through the mixture. Pop into  a greased, lined springform pan and bake at 180C fpr approx 55 minutes.

Allow cake to cool in tin for 15 minutes and then out on to a plate.

When completely cool, cut cake into thirds, (3 discs).

Mascarpone mixture

vanilla bean mascarpone

150mls cream

1 cup icing sugar

I made my own mascarpone from 450mls cream (details on how to make it are here.) Then whipped 150mls pouring cream to soft peaks, adding the vanilla bean mascarpone, and 1 cup icing sugar. Keep an eye on it, don’t let it over beat. You are looking for soft peaks, holding itself together.

60mls hot brandy  needed now

On the first cake layer, drizzle 1/3 of the hot brandy followed by a little less than 1/3 of the mascarpone mixture and then add some grated dark chocolate, (I used 75% cocoa). Second layer of cake on, and the same format. Brandy, mascarpone, grated chocolate. For the last layer, spread a thin layer of the mascarpone first, (this will keep any footloose crumbs at bay.) Then add the remaining mascarpone and grate more dark chocolate over the top.

The cake held together really well. It wasn’t intensely chocolatey or sweet. The yogurt and mascarpone kept it lovely and moist to eat, (even 4 days later being kept in the fridge.) The light was falling fast and so were The Monkeys, (dinner was calling) so the photos didn’t do this little cake any justice, but I’ll definitely be making it again.

* My Kitchen Rules, a cooking competition programme with teams of two competing against each other.

Fruit and Nut Sourdough

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Each week I make a loaf of sourdough just for me. For me, me, me.

Anyone else is quite welcome to eat it too. However, The Monkeys usually clamp their lips shut and swiftly shake their heads at the offer and there are usually far too many fruity pieces in there for Mr Chocolate to happily call these loaves his own.

So, I make one up for me. It does the whole week and I get to start the day off in a way that kicks starts the happy tastebuds.

Add a cup of chai tea drunk from my favourite op-shop green mug and the day begins.

I’ve played with The Almost Uber Healthy Loaf, a Spiced Apple Loaf, Dan Lepard’s Raisin and Cinnamon Loaf and now this little buddle of goodness. Packed full of all things good and healthy, there is no guilt at all when I slap inch thick peanut butter on it.

Fruit and Nut Sourdough

300gms starter

100gms (about a cup) mixture of pecan halves, linseed meal, sunflower seeds

1 tps dark malt flour

25gms (1/2 cup) unprocessed bran

150gms sultanas, chopped prunes (they were squishy and soft already, if they were really dried I would have soaked them first.)

1 tps cinnamon

190gms strong bakers flour

300mls water (approx)

1 1/4 tps salt

almonds to decorate

The usual mix, rest period, add salt, mix again. Prove, fold, prove, shape, prove. Baked at 240C, for approx 20mins and then lowered to 200C for approximately another 10 minutes. The toasted whole almonds on top give a lovely crunch to the slices.

This post submitted to the fabulous yeastspotting

Pasta Frittata- Frugal Friday

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Pasta frittata. So darn tooting easy, it’s not funny.

About 5 minutes before you want to eat dinner. Get that left over cooked pasta out of the fridge. Depending on how much pasta is there, add a few eggs. Use a fork to mix it through, you want the pasta well coated. In a thick bottomed frying pan add a good couple of slurps of olive oil, then pop in your egg pasta. Spread it round until it’s even, whack the lid on, medium heat and it’s ready when there is no runny bits of egg.

Too easy.

Want a bit more taste to it? Add any cooked vegetables that are also lingering in the fridge, (garlic roasted vegetables, steamed broccoli, garlicky zucchini etc). What ever you’ve got, stick it in with the pasta and egg mixture, and pop that lid on.

Or keep it plain, and serve with a seasonal salad.

As this is a very budget friendly, minimal effort, easy peasy, healthy kinda dinner. It will leave ample room to savour the Chocolate Brandy Layer Cake for later.

Buon Appetito.

pregnant bellies

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There are four pregnant bellies in my life at the moment. All with beautiful rounded baby bellies and all due within 10 weeks of each other.

Seeing one of my friends recently, and it’s hard to keep my hands to myself. That swollen belly seems to radiate all that is good in the world.

My hands draw nearer, it’s like there is a magnetic force pulling them. There is an energy that seems to surround her swollen tummy. An unseen aura whispering “I’m here, I’m here..’ I try to hold back but my hands draw closer, willing and wanting to connect with the still growing life force within my beautiful friend’s belly.

She indulges me. One gentle double hand placed on her growing belly.

Pregnancy does funny things to taste buds. Odd things you may never have eaten before become an item of ‘must have now’, only to be replaced by something completely different just a few hours later.

Mr Chocolate learnt very quickly to act on these impulses if it was something he liked as well. Mountainous burger with chips and caramelised onions on the side?

Quick for the love of god, quick!

If he was at work, and the taste for a burger was indicated through a text message from me. He would most assuredly be greeted by me on the couch with a bowl of cereal, by the time he had hurriedly made it home through peak city traffic.

Sorry babe, window period closed.

A soft sigh would be heard, shoulders would slump and perhaps a few mutterings of maybe next time, could be heard.

Lobster pasta with Lemon Meringue Pie could be turned in to a white bread and cheese sandwich, (followed by a bowl of cereal) in the matter of minutes.

You had to be quick, as the taste buds set the pace. Dictating what to eat and what not to eat at a frantic pace.

For any men who are reading this and are yet to experience this hormonal taste bud dictatorship, just go with the flow. Your blossoming partner will be back with regular taste buds in no time.

So my advice. Go get that peanut butter covered wagyu burger while you can.

piggy options for a city gal

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To market, to market,

to buy a fat pig

home again, home again,

jiggety jig…

Today it’s all about the pig.

It’s been a lengthy porcine process, searching and asking around, and it’s still far from over. What I wanted, was to find some piggy products coming from a pig that has had a chance to frollick in the paddocks, rolled in the mud and has nuzzled the earth. A pig that has been farmed in an ethical fashion. Has a taste a good pig should and can be bought without handing over a small mountain of money. A pig, that I could find out a bit more from the people who had reared it, and of the whole process of birth to abbatoir for the ham intended pig.

Could I do it? What piggy options does a city girl have?

Living in the city surrounded by more city, shopping in city food areas… is it possible to get that kind of information and pay those kind of dollars without it becoming a pain in the pig trotters?

Let’s see.

probably the best tasting ham I've had

First up. Pig products are available everywhere. A lot of people like their porcine products. Bacon and ham get regular look ins for many family meals. Butchers and super markets sell a whole range of products for reasonable prices. The ham, salami, pork products that are readily available however, usually come from conventionally farmed beasts. Animals that are farmed intensively, with breeds selected for their rapid growth and maximum dollar.

A taste comparison between the two is easily distinguished. From what we had bought in the past, a comparison between a wet salty pale ham compared to a much more flavourful darker sweet meat, was really hard to compare. They weren’t even in the same field…*ahem*

I was looking for free-range, heritage breed pork products that I could access relatively easily. I didn’t want it to be eaten every day of the week but as a special occasion in small amounts every few weeks or so. A bacon, lettuce and tomato roll once a month, yep that would do nicely.

Supermarket, nothing to be found there, standard pork products. Butchers in my local area… The conventional ones either raised an eyebrow and scowled at me, within an indignate no, they didn’t know where exactly the pig was from, and yes of course it was free-range if it says it is. Now I don’t want to be a poop, but if it’s free-range, I’d love to know where it’s from and what sort of breeds they are using. If they don’t know, could they find out. Difficult. One organic butcher in my area came up with the goods though. Pasture Perfect ham and bacon, yes ma’am, up north somewhere they come from. With a little googling around, yes indeed. Pasture Perfect is based in Ashford, NSW. (Have a peek at that their website if you would like to see some truly cute pictures of their black Berkshire  pigs.)

I liked what I saw but what other options are there within my area, so I delved a little deeper.

Feather and Bone– Suppliers of sustainably raised meat. Has a large range of regular products along with some seasonal meats. Sign up for a really informative weekly email and they’ll also let you know what’s on offer for the week, and importantly where the meat has come from.

Melanda Park– located in Ebenezer, NSW. “A marriage of heritage and modern breeds…” Distributed by Feather and Bone.

Ormiston Free Range Pork– located in Mudgee. Offers farm visits and runs pig handling courses. Products can be delivered to certain neighbouring areas and are sold through one Sydney retail outlet along with Pyrmont Growers Markets.

Tewinga– located in northern NSW. Distruted by Feather and Bone.

Pasture Perfect– Certified organic pasture raised Berkshire pork. Stockists to buy from.

At the farmers markets I’ve been going to lately, pork products is not something I’m regularly coming across, it seems to be a bit hit and miss. Some times the products are there and sometimes not. I did see a stall a few days ago that had a range of products from South Australia. When I was in Hobart Rare Foods also had a great looking range, but not a lot since. Maybe with customer demand the market will increase and I will see more of these products (and local ones) regularly at my usual haunts. Or maybe I just haven’t searched hard enough. Unfortunately I don’t feel I can just accept “free-range” without questioning exactly how they’ve been kept and how free range that actually means.

Our food environment seems to be rapidly changing and it’s really hard to keep up with what’s happening. For the moment it seems generally most people are happy to eat conventionally farmed pig, in time to come I’m wondering whether this will change. For me, I would much rather pay more for my meat, eat it sparingly and know where it has come from. Knowing how and where the animal was raised, and what sort of breed it was. Compared to not knowing and paying less. Yes, it takes more of an effort, and may not be as convenient as buying at the nearest supermarket or corner butcher…but maybe things weren’t meant to be so convenient?

Piggy Interests-

Black Berkshire– Kuro (black) Buta (pig)- A heritage breed of pig originating from Britain. Prized meat in the pig world.

Rare Breeds Trust of Australia

* From one corner of the world, to another. I know I’m lucky enough to have readers from all over and this company information won’t be relevant to a lot of people. So please feel free to mention a local company that is truly free-range, organic or you know more about the particular breeds used and how they are reared. It may help others in your own local area find these great products, that are quite often harder to find.

custard biscuits

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As a kid I was rather attracted to anything with custard in it. My mum’s egg custard using our backyard chook eggs was a firm favourite, along with a coconut custard pie that she would sometimes make. Always offering to ‘wash’ the pot for her, I would scrape out every last tiny spec left on the bottom of the pot. This was the beginnings of building my strong custard foundations.

My sister and I next discovered that custard powder was an easy way to make your own after dinner treat. Just add milk, cook and your away. A lovely bowl of sloppy sweet goodness. (My sister using so much custard powder in there that the spoon would stand straight up in it.)

My grandmother always used to keep ready-made custard in a carton in the fridge, for when ever hungry grand kids came to stay. I’d eat my weight in it for dessert, followed quickly by breakfast over the top of my weetbix, (these sorts of things you can get away with when you bat your eyelashes, and try to look like a hungry waif. Grandma was always keen to feed me up.)

Outside the home, if we ever went to a bakery it would always be a custard tart, or a custard slice (vanilla slice) that I would choose. There was no need to consider anything else as clearly custard reigned supreme in the bakery choices.

These days my custard consuming as been curtailed a little. The palate is a little more picky and the metabolism a little more sluggish than my frantic teenage appetite for all things custard. Although I did recently introduce Little Monkey to a beautifully delicate French patisserie custard slice. He was keen. As he elbowed his way through to the last portion that I had stupidly been slower to eat. Looks like the little fella might be following in similar custardy footprints.

Custard Biscuits

Cream together

200gms softened butter

100gms (1/2 cup) caster sugar

then add

70gms (1/2 cup) custard powder

225gms (1 1/2 cups) plain flour

1 tps vanilla essence

mix together, and shape

I used a piping bag to shape these, or you could easily roll them into balls and squish them down as well. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes, or until a light golden colour.

sweet potato leaves, it’s Frugal Friday

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Sweet potato leaves have come up a few times in my Foodconnect box. At first (along with my red amaranth) I didn’t know what to do with it. A little playing though and another healthy leafy green vegetable to add to my growing list of all things good.

Now what to do with it?

It cooks up similarly to regular spinach, quickly and in a wilty kind of fashion. I used it here with potatoes, as I seem to have discovered there are good potatoes to be had in this world. Who knew!

In my trusty flat bottomed wok, (or use any old pot).

I added 2 good slurps of olive oil

an onion and diced garlic

pop in some already cooked chopped potatoes

give it a one two

add some sliced capsicum (peppers)

and the plucked whole sweet potato leaves

wilt it all on down for a minute or two

serve and drizzle with a little extra olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

feeding the troops with Anzac biscuits

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Monkey Boy has a multicultural day at school this week, which asked everyone to bring in a plate of food from their respective cultures. I needed something quick, easy, nut free and not requiring a whole lot of thought process. Also something I could do the weekend before, so it had to store well.

Anzac Biscuits you didn’t fail me.

Out of my trusty CWA cookbook, the ever present Anzac Biscuit recipe lay proudly on its page. An eggless biscuit (cookie) initially created to send to troops in far off lands during war time. Wives, mothers and daughters made these biscuits for their loved soldiers, using ingredients that they could easily get hold of and could still be eaten after a long transportation time.

Maybe this time I would even follow the whole recipe to the letter. No short cuts and no changes… Imagine that.

On closer inspection of my pantry I discovered I didn’t have some of the ingredients, so would have to adapt. (I clearly wasn’t meant to follow recipes to the letter.)

I think my biscuits were a bit softer and paler due to less bicarb soda and using the self raising flour instead, (if you want them crunchier, just cook them for a touch longer). Still good to eat though, and I didn’t need to put in that much sugar as was originally called for. As the only troops that were going to be eating my ANZAC biscuits were a class full of excitable five year olds.

ANZAC Biscuits

125g melted butter in a bowl

now add

3 tablespoons golden syrup  (*1 tablespoon)

in a little cup

2 tablespoons boiling water

and

1/2 tsp bicarb soda  (*1 tsp)

add the bicarb mixture to the golden syrup mixture, then add

100g (1 cup) rolled oats

90g (1 cup) desiccated coconut

110g (1/2 cup) raw sugar  (*220g sugar)

150g (1 cup) plain flour

(*original recipe amounts)

Roll in to balls and squish down. Bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until golden.