Tag Archives: recipes

Apricot and Sunflower Sourdough

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I have four new comers in my little kitchen at the moment and I love them all equally.

A flat bottomed wok- who knew cooking could be so quick and easy with this little fella.

A hand made wooden Huon Pine mini rolling pin- beautifully made. I fell in love with the workmanship and needed a smaller one than my broken handled marble one. It really is the perfect little roller. Light and smooth…(not generally like my pastry.)

A super sharp lame (French blade for cutting my sourdough)- slash, slash, slash!

and….my new Banneton. Otherwise known as Brotform or Brotformen…Other, otherwise known as a little basket to prove your bread in. This I have to say is my favourite. Lovingly stored away at night, ready to work its banneton magic on my bread the next day. If I tucked it up and gave it a good night kiss, I wouldn’t be surprised.

… Mr Chocolate might be though.

Apricot and Sunflower Sourdough

200gms starter

2 1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup dried chopped apricots

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 tps salt

3 heaped spoonfuls natural yoghurt

water: enough for elastic dough consistency

Mix ingredients together, then leaving for an hour or so. Into fridge for a lovely long and slow ferment for 12 hours. Out of fridge and fold the dough. Leaving to prove for approximately two hours. Fold again and popped into my lovely, lovely new banneton. Prove until, I couldn’t stand the excitement any longer and had to pop the dough in the oven to see how my new basket had shaped up. Baked at 250C with steam on top shelf for approximately 20mins and then down to the bottom shelf for a further 10 minutes.

This loaf I have made a few times now and I’m really happy with the results. It keeps beautifully and still toasting well a week later. Topped with the Lime and Cumquat Marmalade and my morning begins.

* This post submitted to Yeastspotting.

a rather tall birthday cake

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Birthday cake. It’s funny how as I’ve gotten older my taste buds have changed. No more would dry old chocolate cake with chocolate icing do for my birthday. As a kid though, you couldn’t hold me back. There would be months of mental planning of what type of cake to ask mum to make for me. Much flicking through the always dependable Womens Weekly cookbooks. There were so many things to be considered, it was the one day of the year where you could pick what ever you wanted to eat, followed by what ever cake you desired. For a couple of years running I quite liked a chocolate cake with lemon icing. Nothing flash, just slapped on and a couple of candles. Yes please…

Now though. I’m a little over chocolate cake. I still have to make them for Mr Chocolate (obviously) and the The Monkeys are rather keen too. However for my own, I wanted to play with something different. I still ponder for far too long on what cake to make, (but that’s half the fun isn’t it? The pondering and the wondering?) I had the image in my head, and I think I had the right sort of taste on my tongue. Now I just had to get it to work…

A rather tall birthday cake

 

Three layers of meringue

9 egg whites

500 gms sugar

In a mixer beat egg whites until they are stiff and then slowly add sugar in small amounts. Mixture should become stiff, sugar disolved, with lovely peaks. On some parchment paper lay 3 disks of meringue. Large, medium and small. The smaller one with peaks and the other two, flattened. Now bake at 120C for approx 1hour 45 minutes. Allow to cool.

Creamy mixture in between…

250gms mascarpone

300mls cream

1 tps rose water

scraping of 1 vanilla pod

1 tps vanilla extract (you might not need it, depends on your vanilla pod.)

1/2 cup sugar

In bowl add mascarpone, scrapped vanilla pod, rose water, sugar and whip. In a seperate bowl whip the cream up and then carefully fold through the mascarpone mixture.

Blueberries and Strawberries…

Time to get those layers happening. Meringue, mascarpone, berries, and then again. With the peaked meringue at the top.

Verdict?…Actually pretty good. I still love the combination of mascarpone and vanilla, I’ve used it a few times now and I think there just may be a few more times to come. The meringue, I hadn’t made before, but it was actually pretty fun to make. I really like the fact that it is so light, and the berries were just a good addition. A contrasting fresh flavour with the sweetness of the other two.

An easy cake that speaks of summer.

So will I be making it again? Yes, I think I just might.

M’hanncha

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M’hanncha. A traditional Moroccan dessert, meaning “the snake”. I’m not sure I quite got to the snake… but I gave it a red hot go.

I had seen Jamie Oliver make this dessert on his latest TV series and thought it looked delicious. After I was given his lovely cookbook as a present a little while ago, the delicious recipe again beckoned to me. Whispering its moroccan song from the books pages. The recipe needed to be made. Now I just needed a kitchen with more bench space than mine (you need two metres of rolling room). A visit to my mums kitchen and I had the bench space I needed.

Time to get cracking.

Mixture looks good, and it comes to the pastry part and rolling….oophh!

He made it look so easy! Was my pastry no good? Was I too slow? Were my arms too Neanderthal? Was my technique decidedly lacking when it came to putting the thing in the tin?… Probably yes to all the above. After much huffing, puffing and sighing, it was plonked in the oven and resigned myself to the fact it wasn’t going to be the standout dish I had hoped for.

However…It was delicious!

Didn’t look a thing like the book. Not a tooting thing, but the taste got me by. Thanks Jamie.

Chocolate Cherry Biscuits

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For Christmas I’m thinking of getting three t’shirts printed. One for Mr Chocolate and two for The Monkeys. What would the T’shirt have on it?…

I Love Biscuits

Seriously, the love those three have for their biscuits is quite strong. A biscuitless household is not very often. This recipe The Monkeys and I whipped up, (as I had seen a ‘Cherry Ripe’ ad, and the chocolate had embedded itself in my mind- who said advertising doesn’t work…sort of.)

With pudgy toes standing on a chair, and sticky fingers eager to help. An egg was cracked, flour was strewn, butter was softened, biscuit dough wedged in to floor boards, chocolate chips were nibbled upon and biscuits were eventually made. Watching both their faces as they tasted and tested, grinning from ear to ear as they discover the wonders of a new biscuit.

Choc Cherry Biscuits

125 grams softened butter

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 beaten egg

1 tps vanilla

3 tbls glace cherries

1/2 cup choc chips

1/2 cup desicated coconut

3/4 cup s/r flour

3/4 cup plain flour

Cream butter, sugar, vanilla together. Add the egg, and mix in. Add rest of ingredients. Mix well. Roll in to balls and slightly flatten. Bake until light golden at 180C.

Potato and Rosemary Sourdough- Frugal Friday

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There always seems to be one more loaf of bread to make. If I had the time, and sizeable pants. I would happily be making a different type of bread 7 days a week. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I don’t have that sort of time and my pants aren’t that stretchy. So if I have a bready idea I usually have to sit on it until we are out of bread again or a suitable meal comes up that we can accompany the bread with it.

Frugal Friday seemed like a good accompaniment. A simple salad and a wedge of bread.

Potato and Rosemary Sourdough

sourdough

3 partially roasted roughly diced potatoes

3 rosemary stems

This little number was a normal white sourdough. The potatoes I had cooked half way through while I had one tray of biscuits in the oven and the second tray being free. Sourdough folded once before popping into the fridge, for an overnight ferment. During the fold,  2/3 of the cooked potato were folded through, leaving aside the remainder 1/3 for the next day. Also adding 1/2 the rosemary roughly chopped again. When it came to shaping time the next morning, rolling out  a short fat snake shape and loosely spiralling round. Lightly pressing in the remaining potato and roughly chopped fresh rosemary. Allow for another prove, approximately 1 hour, a good grind of sea salt all over the top of the dough. Then popping it into the oven at 250C, with steam. Bake until golden and hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.

Strawberry and Black Pepper Jam Tarts

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The queen of Hearts she made some tarts

All on a summers day

The knave of Hearts he stole those tarts

And took them clean away.

****

The humble jam tart is always an easy one to whip up for when people come over, an easy little dessert, or an afternoon treat. If you have some pastry already in your freezer it makes it even easier.

First roll out your pastry and cut out to your desired shape. (Really you can use what ever you have at hand. A big long tray can also look great. Just cut the pieces to suit then.) For a pastry recipe, you also try here.

Grease tray, and place strips of baking paper down. All this does is makes it super easy to flip out when they are cooked. Rather than baking blind, I pricked the pastry with a fork and baked until golden at 180C. When the pastry shells are cooled, you can add ANY jam you want. It all tastes good. For these little numbers. I melted a little dark chocolate and then drizzled a small amount on the inside of the shell. This just gives a thin layer of chocolate underneath the jam mixture. Then spooned a strawberry jam mixed with freshly ground pepper. The pepper isn’t overwhelming just gives a gentle hint of… ooohh, whats that?

The King of Hearts called for the tarts

And beat the Knave full sore

The Knave of Hearts brought back the tarts

And vowed he’d steal no more!

****

it’s all gone a rye

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When I was a little kid all I wanted for lunch was a white sliced sandwich in triangles. Ideally with devon, tomato sauce and slapped together with so much butter it would make even a French chef frown. Why did I want that? Because that’s what I didn’t have. That’s what other kids had.

I had the sensible bread with grains or wholemeal, with nutritious things inside. Up until about 9 years old I could potentially have a cheese, chutney and sprouts sandwich. This was my mum’s idea of a delicious sandwich, and perfect for a healthy growing-at- a-cracking-rate young girls lunch. At 9 years old though, enough was enough. My palate wasn’t that developed yet. Not developed enough for chutney and sprouts anyway.  Although I never threw my sandwich out, I did hastily eat it hoping it would just quickly fill me up and no one would see it and say ….ewww whats that? On the odd occasion it may have found itself under my bed…where it may have sat there, next to a book (The Secret Seven) and slowly grow its own penicillin…

Alright that only happened the once, but at 9 years old I decided that I would take over the reins of making my own sandwiches. No more chutney and sprouts thanks. Salami and cheese would be fine. Salami and tomato. Tomato and cheese. They were the three combinations I had pretty much throughout my school career. Until I got to my final year of highschool and I stepped it up a notch and had capsicum and cheese. They were certainly exciting sandwich times.

How things have changed now though. As an adult…phew. Bread and all its loveliness. All the wonderful concoctions you can have for a simple sanga. Since embracing the heady world of sourdough, those concoctions have got even more enticing. This Apple Walnut Rye included…

* So will The Monkeys be having white sliced bread with devon and tomato sauce for their school lunches? Hell no! Do you know what’s in that stuff?!

Apple Walnut Rye Sourdough

200gms starter

225gms of rye flour

225gms of plain flour

200mls water (approx)

1 1/2 tps salt

1/2 chopped apple

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

a shake of cinnamon

Mix up rye dough as usual, when it’s time for the first fold, add apple and nuts. Folding them carefully in. I did an over night ferment, then baked at 250C until top was golden looking. Then popped it out of the tin and baked a further 10 minutes, while turning the oven down to 200C.

The top came out a little messy, but I was happy with the consistency and it just feels so healthy when you eat it. I’m loving this one for breakfast at the moment. And to totally cancel out the health factor, slap some peanut butter on there- so thick you could walk on it…mmmm.

Light Rye Sourdough

350gms starter

300gms rye meal

300gms bakers flour

480 mls water

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 1/2 tps salt

Mix ingredients. Wait for 20 minutes, then add salt and mix again. Let it prove for 1 1/2 hours. First fold. Prove for another 1hour. 2nd fold. In oiled tin, rise for another hour. 11 hour ferment in fridge. Out for 1/2 an hour on the bench. Slash. Then baked at 250C for 20mins top shelf, (steam) then a further 15 mins on the second shelf.


*This post submitted to Yeast Spotting

Banana Chocolate Pecan Cake

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Hello…what have we here?

Banana Chocolate Pecan Cake

Oh Mama…delicious

How about a little more?

*****

Banana Chocolate Pecan Slice

50gms dark melted chocolate

75gms melted butter

3  bananas

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups s/r flour

Bake at 180C for approx 20-25 minutes.

A surprisingly tasty and simple cake. I had left over melted chocolate, and bananas that needed attention. Not too showy. The honey, banana and chocolate all seemed to harmonize well together. Not one of them jumping up and and vying for attention. Little Monkey approved.

Caramelised Onions on a simple sanga

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For two weeks I had been thinking of caramelised onions. Yep, I could have put my brain to better usage but no, it was all about the carmelised onions. On a pizza, teamed with a sausage, in a tart….oh caramelised onion what was I going to do with you?

Nope, I think it had to be a simple open sanga (Australian slang for sandwich).What you need is a loaf of your favourite bread. I used a three seeded sourdough. Now slice it up, and add your caramelised onions.

But how to make Caramelised Onions?

Slice a brown onion and pop it in a pot, add a good slurp of olive oil and give it about a 2 minute head start. Once its wilted down a bit add, two dessert spoonfuls of brown sugar and 2 good slurps of balsamic vinegar. Cook it until it’s reduced down, and gotten thicker.

Pop it on your bread, add a slice of your best cheese, and grill it. We used a tasty little St Claire from Tasmania. Mr Chocolate and I couldn’t stop smiling while we were eating this, it just tasted so good. A truly simple meal that has you begging for just a little more.

Morroccan Pumpkin with Cous Cous- Frugal Friday

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a good slurp of olive oil

some finely diced garlic

sliced onion

knob of diced ginger

good sprinkle of cumin

another good sprinkle of coriander

make it a dash of cinnamon

pop in some cut up pumpkin

cook it all until the pumpkin is soft

now add some english spinach roughly chopped

season it

now wilt it down

slap it on a mound of cous cous

add a dollop of natural greek style yoghurt

be generous with some dried chilli* (or fresh)

and serve it up

Frugal Friday dinner made in a very short space of time

 

* chilli gives your dinner some attitude… I like my meal with attitude

 

Lime and Coconut Cupcakes

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To the girl,

who wants to discover making sourdough

who will happily spend an hour discussing the intricate possible ingredients in a delectable dish

who softly sighs at the thought of a whole cellar full of her own preserved foods

that isn’t afraid to go skip diving with me (freeganing)

who will look at ceilings and bench space, wondering whether it’s possible to cure her own meat in a one bedroom apartment

who has spent the last 5 years perfecting the definitive banana bread

whose eyes would sparkle at the thought of a croquembouche challenge

who brought a watermelon to my home and now has Monkey Boy with hearts in his eyes, as there is nothing finer for him than watermelon

who has been living on the other side of the world and has been gone for far too long…

It’s wonderful to have you back my girl…

****

Lime and Coconut Cupcakes

125gms softened butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 grated lime

juice of 2 limes

1 beaten egg

2/3 cup desicated coconut

1 1/3 cup s/r flour

Cream butter, sugar, honey, egg together. Add lime rind and juice. (Mixture will look a little curdled) Fold through dry ingredients and bake at 180C until golden.

icing

1 tablespoon mascarpone**

50gms softened butter

1 cup icing sugar

juice of 1 lime

In a mixer add all ingredients together until they combined and have a gorgeous creamy icing texture.*

* I didn’t pipe it, but it would look better if it was done that way. (Some days just aren’t piping days…not even for friends you haven’t seen for years. Sorry W!)

** I had made my own mascarpone recently so had some to spare. You could easily just keep it as a butter icing though.

Pan de Leche- the starfish

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Ahhh….the monkeys off my back.

Not MY Monkeys, but this monkey, (my Monkeys are frequently on my back.)

The starfish. No more shall I go to sleep muttering the words…starfish, starfish….no more shall I wake with bleary eyes, poke around for my days clothing, and wander as if pulled by an invisible chain to the kitchen muttering…starfish, starfish…

After stumbling upon this post, mentioning it to Celia who in turn sent me the instructions, then prompted by Heidiannie, then again asked by Joanna, who also sent me this post….I really just had to do it then didn’t I.

Pan de Leche dough sounded right for it. Pliable, not as eggy as a challah, it rolled perfectly and tasted like brioche. Got to love anything that tastes like brioche.

Pan de Leche- the starfish

200mls luke warm milk

2 tps dry yeast

1 egg

100gms softened butter

1/4 cup raw sugar

450gms flour

3 tbs olive oil

1 tps salt

Mix yeast in luke warm milk and set aside for 10 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients together (I used a mixer with dough hook) and also adding milk. Once mixed together, knead well until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave until doubled in size. Divide dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each portion out into a long snake, (leaving one aside to become a disk). Each snake should be the same length.

From here on in please refer to these posts, (one and two) as they will describe what to do far better than I will. The only difference being for the centre, I made a dough disk of about 1cm high to fill in the hole and then wound round a three strand plait, then tucked in again for the centre. Just before popping it in the oven, I brushed it all with milk. Baked at 220C until tips golden and then turned the oven down to 180C for a little further cooking.

* I’ve had a few posts about bread making recently. For so many people bread is a daily staple that plays a big role in the days meals. Making your own I can’t recommend it enough. It certainly doesn’t have to be like this, nor sourdough (although I’m sure you would love it). A simple bread maker machine quite often is enough. Comparing it to so many available shop breads, there really is no comparison in taste. Even if you only made one loaf a week it’s worth it.