Milk and Cookies

Chinese New Year 2009

2009-02-10T08:38:00.003+11:00

It was fortunate that the height of the Chinese New Year celebrations were not spoiled by the onslaught of snow that hit London later that same night. The air was bitterly cold and it began to snow in sporadic sessions here and there, but it was not enough to cripple the celebrations as yet. Gerard St in London's Chinatown was packed with revellers, all with cameras at the ready. I never felt so less out of place with my camera in hand and it was more a question of who didn't have their camera than who did.

Here's a few pics of what went down that day:

Dragon's Beard candy in the making. It can be likened in texture to Fairy Floss (Cotton Candy) or Pashmak, a confection that is traditionally made using honey and rock sugar. There were two of these stalls demonstrating how apparently easy it was to make the candy. A little rolling, a little rubbing, then some pulling and a little slight of hand and there you have yourself some Dragon's Beard candy. It was like a magic trick. They were selling them for £3 per box.

A familiar sight at any Chinatown you go to are the ducks hanging from the restaurant windows inviting hungry passer-bys into the shop. Sweet buns were also selling fast.

It started snowing quite quickly, but disappeared as fast as it appeared. It later turned into the infamous snowfall that crippled London the next day.

As you can see, it was blaringly obvious everywhere you went what year it was on the Chinese zodiac, the year of the Ox. This man was getting really into character.

Everyone followed the beat of the drum and the dance of the dragon as it made its way through the streets and warded off evil spirits as it is fabled to do.

Chinatown became a sea of red, as lanterns floated above you along the laneways. And trinkets for good luck hanged across each stall goading children and adults alike.

Snow Day

2009-02-05T09:36:00.007+11:00

Last Monday, most of Britain was covered in what has been touted as the heaviest snowfall in 20 years. Most of the London public transport ground to a halt, as it's already fragile transport system couldn't cope with what they claimed were "adverse weather conditions", even though Paris and Italy, who were hit with the same amount of snow didn't even bat an eyelid. It's amazing that such a progressive city like London can be halted by a foot of snow, especially when so many other places seem to manage just fine despite getting larger snowfalls than we do here.

But what these supposed adverse weather conditions did bring was a chance for most of Britain to have the day off work and school. All my routes to work had been suspended by the morning and even if I had decided to hoof it work, I wasn't sure how I was going to make it back home in one piece. And I already had a slight taste of the temperamental nature of the London tubes, especially the District Line, when trains were delayed because of leaves on the track! Not sure what kind of leaves these were, but I was envisioning giant killer leaves with sharp tendrils and a cantankerous disposition. So the only thing left to do that day was to call it a snow day and make the most out of London being turned into a winter wonderland.

So we trudged out into the white expanse and made a snowman, got into a few few snow fights and most of all just frolicked like we were 10 again. There's nothing like snow to bring the kid out of anyone. People were out and about despite the cold, strangers were smiling and talking to each other, which in a city, is almost as rare as the abominable snowman, and people were snapping away at every possible angle like giddy tourists. When you see normally nonchalant Londoners taking photos, then you know this isn't something that happens everyday.

Keen For Quinoa

2009-02-01T00:28:00.001+11:00

You might be interested to know that I've been storing up fats this winter, hoping to insulate myself from the icy climes that my Australian disposition is unaccustomed to. And with the storing up of fats comes, well, not surprisingly enough- an unwelcome heftiness around the belly, however, I find myself still feeling an overall sense of coldness inside.

So despite all this fat storing, my condition hasn't changed. There's something impertinent about this cold that seems to seep through all my layers, regardless of what seems like the most impermeable thermal layering on my part. Perhaps I'm just not meant for this weather? But I really do love London, even her rainy days, just not the way she bites in the cold. All I have to say is thank-God for double-glazed windows, something I've come to love over the past few months.

So, I'm afraid that this pot-belly I've acquired ain't getting any smaller and this weather is the perfect breeding ground for the flu. And, after flicking through my flickr account, I've stumbled upon a forgotten dish I made last June using quinoa- that much revered grain of the Incas. Just like now, this was made at a time when I was needing something nutritious, but something that didn't seem too healthy. Like when your parents try to hide vegetables into your food hoping you were none the wiser. Despite my penchant for desserts I do love healthy meals, although if someone ever tells me they eat only bread made of sprouted grains and drink nothing other than non-homogenised, unpasturised milk, and everything raw, I'll probably give them some look of bemusement.

This dish is healthy, but doesn't wreak of wholesomeness in that elitist sort of way that looks down on anything that has touched a stove. The quinoa grain, grown in the heights of the Andes is a quiet achiever, unbeknownst to most, quinoa boasts a solid reputation for its nutritional potency. Packed with vitamins– phosphorous, magnesium, zinc and iron, plus loads of fibre, it can pride itself as the only grain that is a complete protein, containing all 8 amino acids required by the body. And not to mention it's gluten free, so it's perfect for coeliacs; but really, it's perfect for anyone. So don't mess with the quinoa.

Frankly I don't know why quinoa isn't getting more of a rap. It's perfect. It's the kind of food that you can feed your kids knowing you won't have to disguise them as something else less healthy. And it's possibilities are endless, it might even oust rice as my favourite starch of choice, as it's just as fluffy but packs a bigger punch.

Aside from harping on about quinoa, you might know about my fascination with Eumundi Smokehouse sausages, namely in:
In The Closet, And A Really Good Pizza Recipe
Australians All Let Us Rejoice
All The Way, With Carbs Today
Lifting The Fog
And this post is no different. This time I used Chicken and Chilli sausages. It was perfectly juicy and even when a little overcooked, an oversight on my part, it didn't dry out.

I cannot mention it enough how much I miss Eumundi Smokehouse products, although I might have found some answers to this stark absence of Eumundi in my life. Aside from the various farmer's markets around London, there are a number of online grocers and butchers that are selling a large range of gourmet sausages in the UK. Here are some to name a few, if you happen to live in London:
Abel & Cole- organic grocer
Heap to Home- mail order sausages and bacon
Biggles- gourmet sausage supplier (wholesale and retail), home delivery, Marylebone store.

This quinoa dish is something you can easily whip up and eat in no time. Also it's completely versatile and open to adaptation, maybe toss a few root vegetables in with the quinoa, or eat it with a side of broccoli instead. The possibilities are infinite. I shows it doesn't take that long to get a proper meal going and this is certainly proof. Half an hour in a kitchen to eat something wholesome and sound, or a microwave dish zapped in 60 seconds devoid of any flavour and nutrition- I know which one I would choose.

Quinoa Lunch Bowl
Inspired by this recipe
Serves 4

FOR THE QUINOA
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small brown onion, diced
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
250g mushrooms
1 cup Quinoa
500ml stock (whichever is your preference, in this recipe I used chicken)*
sea salt and black pepper
parsley, roughly chopped
8 gourmet sausages
*You might need to add more stock or water if you see that the quinoa is drying up.

FOR THE GARLIC GREEN BEANS
olive oil
5 cloves of garlic finely chopped
400g green beans, cut into thirds
sea salt

MAKING THE QUINOA
In a medium pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
Fry onions until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic, chilli and mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.
Add the quinoa and stock and stir to combine.
Cover pan and allow to simmer for approximately 20 minutes or until the quinoa has taken all the liquid and is translucent. The quinoa should be soft with a slight bite, if not, then add some water and cook further.
Meanwhile, grill sausages until cooked. Slice before serving

MAKING THE GARLIC GREEN BEANS
Heat olive oil in a pan.
Add garlic and beans and fry until beans have become a bright green colour.
Season with salt.

Assemble qunioa, sausages and green beans into a bowl and serve.

Rhodes Bakery

2009-01-21T11:59:00.020+11:00

A not so recent excursion out to Greenwich– and I say excursion because the Jubilee line was closed and it took us two interchanges and a bus ride to get there– brought us, through sheer providence to a corner bakery that you could almost pass by unaware if not for the large array of sourdoughs and artisan breads in the window.

Inside you will find shelves stacked with loaves to the tune of granary bloomer, seeded farmhouse and spelt with apple and cider. Along the front window you will also find a small drum of olive oil that you can fill up your own bottles with. Splendid! Then there's a tower of scones sitting atop a glass cabinet and brownies and coconut macaroons on a side table, out in the open and within arm's reach of any swindling fingers to swipe. Restraint is of the utmost while standing near this table. And behind the glass counter are a boastful display of sandwiches, pastries and cakes, whether you're feeling like something sweet or savoury.

The shop is quite narrow, so there really isn't much room for umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether you should get the pain au chocolate or strawberry tart. Or even if you are contemplating eating in or taking out as there isn't much in terms of seating. And if you do find yourself waffling between snacks, you will end up doing cha-cha moves, stepping back and forth letting more decisive customers pass in front of you. The place looks like it's busy most of the time.

I was yearning for a little bit of cream tea, although they had run out of clotted cream, so that was out of the question. I don't know how I can go back to normal cream with scones when I've tasted the hedonistic delights of pure-fat heaven that is clotted cream. If not for a little bit of tact while in public, I could well be seen eating that stuff out of a tub as if it were ice cream. So instead I decided for something completely different and had the goat's cheese, spinach and tomato tart. And you might be asking why no picture? Well, I scoffed the thing into oblivion even before my other hand could reach into my bag and grab the camera. It was good, and I was hungry.

So if you ever find yourself in the south east of London, check out this small but formidable bakery. They also have a stall at the Borough Markets if Greenwich is a little bit of hike to get to. They pride themselves in "real" bread and it shows, their repertoire for artisan breads from around the world is quite impressive, from German sourdoughs to Norwegian Northlands cake, which I have yet to try.

And if you, like me, were thinking Gary Rhodes– he was the first Rhodes that came to mind– then you are mistaken. It's actually Michelin-star chef Paul Rhodes who was the brainchild of this bakery that started in 2003 right in Greenwich. So it was an obvious choice to make their flagship store right there.

Rhodes Bakery
37 King William Walk
Greenwich
London SE10 9HU
PHONE: 020 8858 8995

Lifting The Fog

2009-01-21T00:20:00.004+11:00

Happy New Year!

Where did all the time go? Months spent outside the blogosphere must equate to years. While others have kept up their posting at such a prodigious rate, I on the other hand feel like I need to reacquaint myself with the blog.

It seems that the London fog had clouded my head and sucked out every will to write, albeit, none of my will to eat. I had no intention of going on hiatus, as such, which must be the blogger’s equivalent to the celebrity stint in rehab. I in fact, had every intention of keeping up the posts at the same rate, if not even greater than in Sydney– but it just didn’t pan out that way. The excitement and responsibilities of moving to a new city, the anticipation of travel and my lack of kitchen paraphernalia all contributed to the derelict state of the blog. But it’s time I dust the cobwebs off and start the old girl back up again.

Now here’s something from the vault that has yet to see the light of day– a Chorizo and Pea risotto that I made back in August last year, not long before I left for London. Perhaps it’s not the most obvious choice for a comeback, it’s rustic and almost too quotidian– and especially if you are reading this in the heart of the Australian summer, it’s not exactly the sort of summer fare that relieves you from the blistering heat. But in the dead of one of Britain’s coldest winters in decades, this is sort of thing that really warms your cockles and staves off those sudden chills.

During these winter months, sometimes there’s nothing better than a meal devoid of any pomp and pretension and just serves you up want you want. Comfort. It seems also most hackneyed, but the idea of comfort food will never be out of place. Aside from nourishment, we all know the sensual and consoling nature of food. Just watch Ratatouille and let Remy show you the power food has over one’s sensibilities and lift us out of our momentary fog.

So to lift this seemingly pedestrian risotto out of banality, I decided to use Testun di Pecora Con Foglie di Castagne. The testun, I picked up at the Pyrmont Grower’s Market last year from Formaggi Ocello. It’s a bit of a mouthful to say, but the testun is simply a sheep's milk cheese covered in chestnut leaves. It’s aged for no less than 28 months, and at $120/kilo, it’s earned its worth in flavour.

The cheese has a subtle nutty taste, salty, with hints of sharpness and a nice sweet finish that is characteristic of many sheep’s milk cheese. I’m not sure exactly if the chestnut leaves are responsible for adding that nutty flavour to it but I imagine the wrapping serves a great purpose in imparting flavour.

The addition of the testun di pecora does lift this risotto out of the familiar and gives it that little oomph that perhaps something like the addition of truffles in pasta would do. Ok, perhaps that is a stretch, as truffles are in a league of their own, but the cheese does infuse a nuance of flavour that sets it beyond the norm.

I should add that the chorizo I used was a picante that I also procured from the markets at the Eumundi Smokehouse stall. How I miss their preservative-free gourmet sausages- this seems to be quite lacking here in England. Their love of pork becomes blaringly obvious when at the grocery store or the markets you will see shelves stocked to the brim with all manner of pork sausages, but when all you are wanting are some lamb merguez, or even just beef and Guinness, you leave feeling a little bit empty-handed. And I’m not particulary one for supermarket-brand sausages, filled with all sorts of preservatives and numbers and letters I cannot pronounce. Usually I stay away from anything with too many numbers in its ingredients list.

However, I have found a stall at the Greenwich Markets that sells lamb merguez, but when I came back to get some they had sold out. I was only gone for an hour! Which makes me suspect this could be the only place in London selling lamb merguez.

So there you have it, my first post of the year. I’ll try to be a little more proactive with the blogging, but thank you for your emails of concern when I dropped off the radar.

Chorizo and Pea Risotto
Serves 4

1.1 litres chicken stock
1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 chorizo picante, diced
400g arborio rice
dry white wine
1 cup freshly shelled green peas (frozen is also fine to use)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
50g butter
125g freshly grated testun di pecora (or any other hard sheep’s milk cheese)

Heat the stock to a gentle simmer in a medium pot.
Meanwhile in a wide saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and fry onions until soft, 3-5 minutes.
Then add the garlic and chorizo and fry until chorizo is crispy.
Add the rice and stir until the rice becomes slightly translucent.
Add a splash of white wine and stir.
Begin to add a ladle of hot stock and continue to stir rice.
Keep adding ladlefuls of stock, stirring until each batch of stock is absorbed. The rice should be soft, although not gluggy; there should be a little bit of a bite to it. Use more or less stock depending on the softness of the rice.
When the rice is just about cooked add the peas and cook for another 2-3 minutes, season with sea salt and pepper.
Remove pan from heat and stir through the butter and testun di pecora.
Place a lid on the pan and allow to sit for 2 minutes before serving.

Green With Envy

2008-10-09T00:17:00.006+11:00

image courtesy of SMH Good Food Month

If you're in Sydney for the month of October then you have no excuse to miss the myriad of events for Good Food Month. As for me, all I can do is watch and grit my teeth in covetous annoyance that I am not in the country for perhaps the best month in the food year. If there was one pick for the whole of Good Food Month, I would recommend getting yourselves to the Sydney Food and Wine Fair in Hyde Park on November 1st. Aside from being able to sample dishes from the best Sydney bars and restaurants, your eager appetite can raise money for the AIDS Trust of Australia. Everybody wins, what more could you ask for.

So take heed this advice, do not miss out on Good Food Month and make the most out of all the free events and classes on offer. There isn't a better opportunity to get yourself more involved and immersed in the Sydney food scene than this month. I'm a little biased but Sydney has probably one of the best and most vibrant food cultures in the world so don't waste any time.

And please, if not for the love of food, do it for me, the poor little Aussie food blogger stuck in London unable to partake in all the delicious fanfare but can only sit here in envious discontent about the insurmountable hurdle that is geography.

Check the website for more details.

If you are interested in getting the lowdown on what has earned the badge of being the best in Sydney check out these articles from the S ydney Morning Herald.

It was great to see Victoire win best bread, as I've always been a devotee to this small but formidable Balmain bakery, keep that bread arising!

And it was also great seeing Mamak, a favourite, cheap, late-night haunt of ours, get some acknowledgement for being one of the most authentic Malaysian restaurants in Sydney. If you don't know where to start, try the Nasi Lemak, a traditional Malaysian breakfast dish, you won't go wrong with it.

Gail's Garden Party, Hampstead

2008-10-07T00:24:00.012+11:00

The invitation's a little smudged but you get the gist. Just follow the smell of baking bread.

Can a garden party without an actual garden, in fact be called a garden party? Well, I'm not sure if the small patch of grass along the laneway where the Gail's Bakery party took place could be considered a garden but nonetheless, the amount of cakes and pastries made up for the lack of greenery. Gail's Garden Party, held annually in Hampstead was every carb lover's dream, with enough cakes, sandwiches, breads and sweets to make your blood sugar curdle.

A tower of delight- cannelles, iced lavender and almond cake and some flourless chocolate cakes in the foreground.

There was the chilli chutney stand, Spanish chorizo and exotic sausages and the odd cheese stall peppered throughout, namely the iconic Neal's Yard Dairy, however most of the focus was on Gail's magnificent selection of baked goods. There was more flour and sugar in this one narrow laneway than you could shake a stick at. I was in my element.

Multigrain and artisan loaves; beautifully glazed challah bread; Neal's Yard Dairy stall; blue vein cheese.

Precision slicing of jamon; panini central; chorizo picante for those who like it hot; stuffed green olives wrapped in sardines.

Slices, muffins and bread sticks, all part of the enticing window display at Gail's Hampstead; orange and poppyseed cakes; classic carrot cake; pistachio filled meringue.

With a grin from ear to ear I made my way through stall after stall of goodies to ease that grumbling tummy. After a sun-dried tomato sandwich and some cheese, I decided on some iced lavender and almond cakes and a couple of incredibly beautiful cannelles- my new vice.

Front counter goodies- iced lavender and almond cakes, beautifully moist and aromatic.

I have never come across cannelles being sold at bakeries in Sydney, so seeing so many around and about London really is a novelty. My first taste were at the Borough Markets, 3 cannelles for a pound; they were delicious, a little chewy, but for my first ever cannelles I didn't know what to expect. The cannelles at Gail's were a little bit more spongey and light, less chewy and more airy. So I'm not sure which one is more authentic, or whether they are both, all I know is I'm happy to be polishing off either one right now.

Gail's cannelles were soft, light and airy, and not to mention incredibly moreish.

It's not a party without a bit of booze, wild boar salchichon; cookies, pastries and quiches at the outdoor Gail's stand; German sausage sizzle.

Gail's Bakery Hampstead
64 Hampstead High St
London NW3 1QH
Phone: 020 7794 5700
Email: hampstead@gailsbread.co.uk

Gail's Bakery Notting Hill
138 Portobello Rd
London W11 2DZ
Phone: 020 7460 0766
Email: portobello@gailsbread.co.uk

Gail's Bakery St John's Wood

5 Circus Rd

London NW8 6NX

Phone: 020 7722 0983

Southbank Food Festival: Slow Food London

2008-10-01T01:07:00.003+10:00

It seems that I have fortuitously stumbled upon a glut of food festivals here in London of late, and I'm not complaining. I'm welcoming any opportunity to eat well and see London at the same time, and it appears to me that the food culture here is as lively as I had imagined.

And what shall I say about the weather? Even though today, London is at its typically rainy best, the past few days and weekends have been gloriously warm and sunny. I was quite the cynic and had scoffed incredulously at the prediction of sunshine and warm weather in the last few days, although have since been eating my words. An Indian summer seems like the perfect primer before the cold snap hits.

Weather aside, the Southbank Food Festival was held a couple of weeks ago although it's taken me some time to actually get my act together to write up a post. What's new- procrastination, it's the underlying motif of the blog. So, the Southbank Food Festival was an understated 3-day celebration of the Slow Food London movement, that championed the principles of sustainable living and farming, and basically sought to enlighten and challenge people to think more about the food they were eating.

There were about 40 different stalls set up around the Southbank, by the Thames, and there was a tent dedicated to cooking demonstrations throughout the day teaching people stuff like how to feed your family for under a fiver (£5) and how we can all use sustainable products more. My most favourite demo of course was by the lady who owned Choc Star who showed us how to make a chocolate, almond and orange terrine. The best part of the demo was of course the end, where we all got to have a taste.

As fast food encroaches upon most of eating habits it was more than encouraging to know that there is a movement to counter the insidious thing that fast food is doing to the culture of eating, farming and mostly our health. That's why farmer's markets are so great, you can meet and actually get to know the people rearing the animals and growing the vegetables that you are eating, and you know the food isn't stuffed with nasty hormones and preservatives that will one day turn you into a mutant.

So here are a few snaps of day 2 of the Southbank Festival. My recollection of the actual stalls are getting a bit foggy but I'll try my best to give you at least, somewhat vague descriptions.

Different varieties of apples from Franklins Food Emporium in Kenington; can't resist a cupcake shot wherever I go, can I? Beautiful pot of flowers, mushroom medley frying in a large pan.

Middle eastern spices and sauces; almond semolina mini cakes, simply divine; cheese, cheese and more cheese!

Slow food stall; cross-section of salami; hard cheeses.

One of my favourite stalls, Choc Star, the home of the most decadent chocolate terrine made with Valrhona chocolate, the van travels around the United Kingdom sharing the joys of eating chocolate with people, look out for the van it could be coming to your town; some sourdough breads.

The tiniest cafe I've seen, a quarter of the London Eye; espresso drip; beautiful crusty bread.

Artists making their mark on the pavement; French cheeses along the Thames sunset; frying up some Churros.

Crates of organic Worcester apples; squash to brighten up your day; more crates of apples; organic sparkling apple juice.

Artwork around the Southbank.

Textures and patterns around the Southbank; Rabbit pasta.

Thames Festival, Spetember 2008

2008-09-15T23:55:00.006+10:00

The Thames Festival held on the South Bank was on last weekend and was a bevy of market fare, food stalls and entertainment. And to top it all off the weather was incredibly genial and sunshine surprisingly forthcoming that day despite some clouds overhead. We warmed ourselves while having lunch on the Southwark Bridge looking out at the expanse of the river, St. Paul's Cathedral and the ubiquitous construction cranes that seem to dot the London skyline.

The real reason for making our way to the festival was the Feast on the Bridge. The whole of Southwark Bridge was closed to all traffic to make way for food stalls from different cuisines and cultures and two long dining tables that stretched almost the length of the bridge.

There's nothing like a pig and a pint to start off this feast; London skyline.

Stir crazy, this stall was very popular.

There's nothing like a cupcake tower to soften any sweet tooth like myself; a colourful spread of Caribbean food including a chick pea salad; strawberries and cream, an English classic.

One of my favourite stalls on the bridge, a middle eastern bazaar of goodies including burgul pockets filled with eggplant, baklava and pistachio birds nests.

An interesting find, deep soup ceremony at low tide; feasting on the longest dining table I've ever seen; beautifully russeted pears; burnt sugar- all things caramelised and sweet; what's a burger without some ketchup, squeeze on.

The smell of corn on the grill is mouth-watering; confections at Cocoa Loco; Richard Howard oysters, the same ones from Borough Markets; view from the fourth level balcony at the Tate Modern looking down on people learning to Salsa.

The imposing figure of Tate Modern against some patches of blue sky, live music and salsa dancing; St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge; the crowds along South Bank.

The markets by night, curry and jambalaya livens up the night air.

Hungry in London

2008-09-12T22:40:00.003+10:00

Sounds like a title for a personal ad, but yes I am in fact hungry in this big old town. I've been in London for almost a month now and haven't a clue where to go for good food. I must admit that I have been trying to eat on the cheap lately, and cheap doesn't always equate to good. Wow, eating out in London can really eat into your budget. I had been warned before I left, although never really paid any mind to such sagacious counsel until it was my own pounds that had to be spent.

So, right now I have been straying from anything too pricey, but once the pocket gets filled with a few more pounds, I'm definitely not opposed to some fine-dining here and there.

So I'm putting out the call to any Londoners out there or anyone else in the know, for places I should wine and dine or do it on the cheap. Fancy eats, cheap eats, pub grub, be it your favourite places to go and secret finds please direct them all my way. I can't stay hungry (and poor) for much longer.

Also, I might have mentioned in previous posts but I have a bunch of dishes I made in Australia that have never made its way onto blog yet. So look out for those in the next few weeks. I don't have an internet connection at the moment, and am making use of free wi-fi in London, so posts are probably going to be more sporadic than before, until I am once again reunited with the world.

More Markets

2008-08-28T08:04:00.004+10:00

Borough Markets, London; cherries; yes indeed you are looking at a shark; an open bowl of truffles, the temptation!

As promised here are the rest of the photos from London's renowned Borough Market's. There's a lot of things to catch your eye and it is quite simply a feast for the senses. As some of you have commented, these markets are a little pricey, but the great thing is, it doesn't cost anything to look around and try a few samples. Perfect snacking for poor tourists.

Aside from the markets, there are a few cafes and shops just on its outskirts that are worth a look. I didn't really get a good chance to have a proper gander through them all but we did happen to stumble across a great little coffee shop called Monmouth Coffee.

It's quite a rustic little cafe with a wooden communal table filled with all manner of bread, jams and breakfast condiments and an array of pastries on a adjacent table. The coffee was fairly cheap, about £2 and I don't normally drink coffee, as I'm caffeine sensitive, but GT seemed to give it two great big thumbs up. You know the kind that comes with a cheesy grin. Considering I didn't writhe in disgust as I normally do when I have coffee that's been burned, this place is a absolute winner. And if the queue is any indication of how good the coffee is, well, the line snakes all the way outside and around the corner in the mornings, so be prepared to wait for good coffee. But the great thing is that they are quite efficient and you actually don't wait for too long. Let's just say it's a welcome departure from the ubiquitous franchise coffee shops that seem to overrun London. We did also have the chocolate truffles from Monmouth, wow were they incredible.

Aside from Monmouth, the equally famed Neal's Yard Dairy is just around the corner from the cafe and it is definitely worth going into the shop. From what I have read it seems like Neal's Yard was started by the same people responsible for Monmouth, so you know that the have a deep affinity with food and are interest in making good food.

Berries were the flavour of the month and in every corner you look there they were, here are blackberries, blueberries and redcurrants; and more mushies

Fresh food is always plentiful at BM, fresh snapper, artichokes, and all manner of green beans; also an interesting find at the beer place- black chocolate stout

Nuts and dried fruit; dried chillies hanging at the Spanish shop; cute Scottish dog; Beef bourguignon

All flavours of focaccia; French charcuterie display; shortbread owls; and yet again more mushrooms, this time Giroles from Poland for £10

Yes, I do love taking photographs of mushrooms, here are some oyster mushies; L'Aventure lets you fill empty bottles with your choice of wine or olive oils, I can't actually remember; more mushrooms and more sausages

Striking aubergine-coloured artichokes; turkish delights and a box of lavender

Well I hope this trip to markets has been a satisfying peek into the food culture of London. Much like you, I'm just discovering it for myself. I have noticed in general that Londoners love their sandwiches. I've never been anywhere, where there a several pre-made sandwich bars all metres away from each other. I guess the convenience is the main attraction, especially for those who have tight lunch breaks. But I must admit although sandwiches to me are a little blah, they are a much better and healthier option than say, Burger King or McDonald's if you need something in a hurry.

So that's all for now, I have a whole stack of dishes I made in Sydney that I haven't had time to post, so there's no doubt you will be seeing them in the next few weeks.

New town, new look

2008-08-27T07:31:00.010+10:00

Bet you were wondering if I actually got to London did you? Yes, I did arrive safely and surprisingly not at all jet-lagged. I must attribute the lack of jet-lag to the many years of doing shift work, I've been able to throw my body clock out the window, and who needs one anyway it never did me any good.

Aside from wondering where this blogger has been for the last couple of weeks, you will probably be wondering why this blog has been left in a state of limbo. Well to be frank, I haven't felt like blogging since I got to London. Actually I haven't felt like doing a lot of the things I am normally in the habit of doing back in Sydney. Take one for example of my many vices- sleeping in, well I haven't had a sleep in since I got here and it's not because I have a job to go to, it's because I instinctively get up at around 8 am every morning. It's quite peculiar seeing as snoozing until just before midday was my thing, it was the thing I was known for and the thing that made me, me. So what's happened to me?

Cheery red vine tomatoes, gigantic wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano and lots of artisan breads

Being in this (northern) hemisphere must have turned things upside down as I also don't get my usual cravings for sugar. Now I'm all about savoury things, that's all I want to eat. Which isn't such a bad thing when there's always lots of beer to wash down the food, but when I walk by glass casements filled with beautiful pastries, my heart skips a beat but my stomach doesn't even jump.

In order to somewhat alleviate this effect from the change of hemisphere, we decided to head down to the famed Borough Markets just south east of London. The great thing about these markets is that it's open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and unlike the Grower's Market in Sydney, which is once a month and starts at the crack of dawn, the earliest it opens on a Saturday is 9 am, which in my opinion is a much more reasonable hour and goes on until 4pm. So there's plenty of time to sleep in on a Saturday and turn up around midday for some lunch.

I won't go into too much detail about the markets as I think the photographs tell a better story, but I will say one thing, I do love a market that has a stall with every type of beer imaginable. Mmmmmm, although didn't find any Duff Beer.

Richard Howard Oysters, gigantic oysters and clams with a splash of lemon juice and red wine vinaigrette for £1.70 each. GT gulped them down too quickly for me to take a photo but apparently were very delicious, although it took a while to get the fishy taste out of his mouth.

Had a slight chuckle at the sausages after I was told they were an acquired taste; buckets of olives and a stall selling an array of mushrooms.

I nearly fell over when we came across this stall displaying huge chunks of dark, milk and white chocolate, I tried to sneak in a bite but couldn't muster up the courage; more mushrooms the black ones are trumpettes, and quite the price.

Beautiful bunches of lavender; pumpkins; strawberries and gorgeous Spanish ham hanging from the rafters.

A little laneway to escape the crowds; a leg of pork; to my delight a tower of flourless chocolate cake- they were giving out free samples so I indulged in a couple; this is the stall that sold every kind of beer you can imagine, it's awesome.

So there you have it a little sneak peek into what I have been up to in London for the past two weeks. We did the tourist thing and visit all the attractions, I might post a few of those later on. Stay tuned for part 2 of pictures from Borough Markets, and don't worry I won't take as long as I did before.

And as you might have noticed M&C has a new and slightly improved banner. I thought, since I'm in a new place, the blog needs a new look. Granted the look hasn't changed much, but hey who would ever turn down a make-over? I know Ricki Lake guests that would be banging down doors to get one.

Borough Markets
8 Southwark St
London, SE1 1TL
PHONE: +44 (0) 20 7407 1002

OPENING TIMES
Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 12pm - 6pm
Saturday 9am - 4pm

Nearest Tube: London Bridge Station

On My Way

2008-08-11T15:53:00.008+10:00

I guess there isn't much to say other than, Goodbye! I'm off on a jet plane en route to London tomorrow via Kuala Lumpur. So exciting!

So really, it's not completely and utterly good bye, but just a farewell to good old Sydney. I'll sure miss her sunny days, resplendent turquoise beaches and great seafood, seeing as there probably won't be much of two of those three things I just mentioned in the UK. I just had a look at the weather forecast in London for the next couple of days and it looks bleak all round. Just my luck, thanks England, you're living up to your reputation. Glad I'm packing the umbrella.

So I guess, it's so long for now, the next time I'll be seeing you is in London-town and I hope you'll be following my adventures up in the other hemisphere.

Zumbo love and tagine for breakfast

2008-07-25T17:54:00.009+10:00

Every time I try to sit down with the laptop to write up a post I somehow get distracted by some other pursuit and next thing you know, there hasn't been a new post in weeks. It reminds me of a Simpsons episode [2F13] where Bart makes a collect call to Australia and gets distracted by Millhouse's offer to go downtown to smell a bakery that's caught on fire.

Milhouse: [at the window] Hey, Bart! The bakery caught fire and all of
downtown smells like cookies! Wanna go smell?
Bart: Yes...yes, I do. [leaves phone off hook]

It seems like the prevailing trend for the blog in the past few months, is a post primed with an apology from the blogger. And what do you know, here I am again saying sorry for not posting in weeks. Let me sweeten you up and buy back your affection with some pictures of food.

About the same time we were at the Good Living Markets in Pyrmont, we also stopped by every Sydney pastry-lovers mecca in Balmain. Yes, we found ourselves once again at Adriano Zumbo; his winter collection of pastries had just come out and our noses were pressed up against the window in an attempt to have a peak at what he had to offer this season. The shop was fuller than usual, and it looked like many of those in Balmain and I'm guessing around Sydney had caught wind that Mr. Zumbo had a new collection out. So just like the fashionistas do during fashion week, the pastry-hungry came out to view what sugar-fads he had conjured up.

Call me a Zumbo sycophant, boot-licker, or suck-up, but I have to say that he is one of the premiere patissiers in Sydney doing fascinating and unique things with desserts. And I'm not sure if this is an exclusive news-flash, but the word on the street is that he is opening up a cafe somewhere in Balmain so people can actually sit down and savour the pastries with a coffee or tea. If you have been to the shop, you will know that all it literally is, is a glass counter and a little aisle, so there isn't much room for savouring until you get home.

And, not to give Zumbo fans any false hope, this little rumour was confirmed by one of the insiders behind the counter. So I am very excited, although at the same time gutted I won't be here for the opening. I wasn't going to camp out for the iphone's release but if I was going to be in the country, you might have seen me with a sleeping bag and newspaper somewhere in Balmain in sheer anticipation for its opening. My only hope is that it will still be around when I come back, and I don't see any reason for it not to be.

There's another reason why I love Balmain and it's these 2 words- breakfast tagine. Kazbah on Darling is another Balmain favourite of mine, especially for breakfast. I've never seen a place so coveted for breakfast other than Bill's; the trick is to either book your table or come early, breakfast on weekends goes till 3pm, but I've never seen the place empty or devoid of queues on a Saturday morning.

The breakfast tagine consists of lamb mince, sucuk, feta, spinach, capsicum, caramelised onion, tomato, eggs and a side of Turkish and pita bread for dipping and mopping up the juices. They make the tagines to order and depending on how many people are having it, it's only $17.50 per person, which is quite good considering the eggs benedict is already $16.50. So for $1 extra you can get a whole lot more.

Breakfast tagine for 3 people, more than enough, with an average of 2.3 eggs per person.

There's no better way to spend a day than to eat your way through Darling St, there's much to be to had in terms of food and the small boutique shops are great for finding odd and quirky gifts. When confronted with the mesmerising array of goodies at Adriano Zumbo, I recommend choosing one of each flavour of macarons (they change daily) or a chocolate fondant, a rich flourless chocolate cake that is so good you wouldn't want to share.

And for Kazbah, there's no going past the breakfast tagine, although the foul medammas is also superb.

Good Living Pyrmont Grower's Market: July 2008

2008-07-07T01:39:00.005+10:00

Every morning it's a fight, for someone who counts sleeping as one of her main fortes, it not easy getting up to go to the markets early on a lazy Saturday morning. Even when I am completely aware that the rewards of going to the markets far outweigh sleeping in till midday, somehow this rationale doesn't seem sensible enough when still tucked in the confines of a toasty bed.

But this weekend was different, seeing as this Saturday would be my last opportunity to visit to the Good Living Grower's Markets at Pyrmont Bay Park before I head overseas, I mustered up just enough coherence to pry myself from the snug confines of my bed. Slowly but surely, thoughts of what spoils could be gained from an early visit to the markets, began to ease me into waking life.

Most of the usual fare and wares were on show with the exception of a new beef stand peddling their gourmet sausages (which was quite good) and from my cloudy recollection a new patisserie stall. But other than that the markets consisted of familiar faces I have now come to know at the grower's markets, although notably absent was our favourite Gympie Farm jersey cow butter people. It was quite a downer, as we had run out of their butter for months and was looking forward to purchasing a new tub to spread on my La Tartine pumpkin loaf.

But aside from that minor disappointment, the markets were nothing short of a veritable feast and after an hour and three bags full of shopping later, we knew we had to call it a day lest we suffer scoliosis of the spine from carrying the not so orthopedic friendly biodegradable eco-bags. Good for the earth, not so good on your back.

One acquisition I am particularly excited about and would happily exchange the rest of my bounty for is a Testun di Pecora con foglie di castagne from Formaggi Ocello. At $120/kilo, it's not bargain, so we only bought a tiny sliver or this cheese could easily eat up at most of our market budget. This testun di pecora is a sheep's milk cheese covered in chestnut leaves and aged for 28 months. That's over 2 years of developing it's taste and it really shows in the cheese. Now I'm no cheese expert so I won't go into the nitty-gritty, but the cheese is surprisingly flavoursome, with hints of piquancy and sweetness, compared to other pecorinos which can be bland and subtle in taste.

Come back later for a look at the this pricey little piece of dairy but for now have a look at how our morning at the markets went down.

Forgotten Something?

2008-06-27T11:29:00.004+10:00

Forgetting a birthday- be it your partner's, your mother's or your best friend's, it's a cardinal sin. And whenever it happens, the guilty is always the worthy recipient of scorn and derision, and usually, what's coming to the accused is always warranted. Birthdays are important things, and should be celebrated accordingly- with festivity, and whenever possible with lots of food and alcohol. But what happens when you forget your own birthday?

Well, it's not exactly my own birthday that I have forgotten; now that would almost be equivalent to suffering retrograde amnesia, but it's actually the blog's birthday that I have neglected to remember. It's true, Milk and Cookies turned 2 years old, a good 8 weeks ago, and the momentous occasion almost passed by without so much as a mere mention or acknowledging it with a hip-hip-hooray and a little rendition of "for he's a jolly good fellow". Shame on me! Perhaps I was too distracted by my up-coming travel plans.

Born on the 2nd of May 2006, how could I forget that (slightly embarrassing) pioneer post that kicked off the whole odyssey into baking and eating? And the only way to exonerate one's self from the embarrassment and shame of forgetting their own blog's birthday is to make a cake celebratory enough to compensate for the indiscretion. Yes, for any baker, cake is the answer to most of life's quandaries.

I had always wanted to bake one of the celebration cakes featured in Dorie Greenspan's book Baking From My Home to Yours. But I've always had this aversion towards seemingly complicated cakes, especially layer cakes that looked so labour intensive. They look all great and majestic in the pictures; tiers and tiers of scrumptious layers towering towards cake heaven but ten mixing bowls and several whisks later you find yourself knee-deep in batter you no longer have the will to bake.

I'm more one of those 10 items or less chicks, nothing complicated, no fuss, no mess. I usually don't go for recipes with so many steps that include beating, melting, sifting, whisking, folding, sprinkling and a lot of waiting around for things to bake then cool and settle before you go on to the next step. Call me the impatient baker but I'm all for simple desserts; that's probably why you see so many small cakes on this blog. They're quick to bake, and the quicker they come out of the oven, the quicker I can get to eating them.

In saying this, my curiosity was getting the better of me and I was imagining what it would actually be like to be the architect of one of these tower of Babel constructions. It's mortifying to say but I think this has to be my first proper attempt at a layer cake. Be it a cake of only two layers, but a layer cake nonetheless. And all this time I had the audacity to call myself a baker, tsk tsk. There goes my reputation.

Also, I figured that going through the whole process of making this layer cake would be the only penance that could justify my wrongdoing. After all the blog has treated me so well over the past two years, it was the least I could do for such an oversight. So off I went, on my day off work to make a cake worthy of forgiveness.

There's not much I can say about this cake that you wouldn't already gather from looking at it. It looks delicious and it tasted just like it looked. The cake is all Dorie, except for the cream filling. I just thought that there needed to be something to soften the richness of the chocolate cake and the cream does this really well. There's also much to be said about my frosting skills (or lack of it) with the blank patches at the bottom edges of the cake, but hey, for my first reluctant hand at this I think the blog and I can finally move forward and put this whole thing behind us.

This cake is dedicated to the blog and to another great year of blogging. And with the blog going into a new chapter in the next coming months it's only fitting to set-off the move to London with this cake, I guess making layer cakes aren't all that bad (as she takes another forkful to her mouth).

And a big thank you to all the well wishers who voiced their delight and excitement about my up-coming move to the United Kingdom, I cannot wait.

Cocoa-Buttermilk Birthday Cake
Serves 12
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours

FOR THE CAKE
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
110g bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (optional)

FOR THE CHOCOLATE MALT BUTTERCREAM
150g bittersweet chocolate, chopped coarsely
¼ cup (packed) brown sugar
2 tbsp malted milk powder
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup boiling water
180g unsalted butter, at room temperature
pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
1½ cup confectioner’s sugar

FOR THE CREAM FILLING
200ml pure cream
2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Butter 2 x 22cm round springform cake tins, dust the insides with flour and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

MAKING THE CAKE
Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer in a large bowl; beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy.
Add the sugar and beat for 2 minutes.
Add eggs one at a time, then yolks, beating 1 minute after each addition.
Beat in vanilla extract.
Reduce mixer speed and add the dry ingredients alternatively with buttermilk, staring and ending with dry ingredients. Mix only until each new batch is blended into batter.
Add the melted chocolate and fold in with rubber spatula (optional).
Divide batter between two cake tins.
Bake for 26-30 minutes or until cakes feel springy to the touch and start to pull away from the sides of the tins.
Transfer cakes to racks and cool for 5 minutes.
Run a knife around the sides of the cakes and unmould. Peel off parchment paper and invert and cool to room temperature.

MAKING THE BUTTERCREAM
Melt the chocolate with half the brown sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat.
Whisk the malt powder and cocoa together in a small bowl, pour over 3 tsp boiling water and whisk until smooth.
Gradually whisk in hot malt-cocoa mixture with melted chocolate- it should be dark smooth and glossy. Set aside.
Beat butter until soft and fluffy and add the remaining sugar and beat for another 2-3 minutes, until well blended.
Beat in salt and vanilla.
Scrape in chocolate mixture and mix until smooth.
Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar and beat for a couple of minutes, then add the remaining tablespoon of boiling water and beat until well blended.
It should be thick enough to use immediately. If it doesn’t hold its shape then beat it a just a bit more.

MAKING THE FILLING
Whisk cream into stiff peaks, it should be able to hold its shape properly.
Sift in confectioners sugar and fold into cream.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Place one layer top side up on a cardboard round or a cake plate protected by strips of parchment paper.
Spread the top of this layer with cream filling.
Cover with second layer.
Frost the sides and top of the cake either smoothing buttercream for a sleek look of using a spatula, knife of spoon to swirl for more exuberant look.
Refrigerate the cake for at least 1 hour to set the frosting then bring it to room temperature before serving.

We Interrupt this Blog with a News Flash...

2008-06-13T17:07:00.006+10:00

You might not have noticed but posts have been particularly sparse on the blog lately, and it partly has something to do with the little announcement that I am making on the blog today. The news flash, might be exciting for some, or not so much for others but either which way there are no doubt still many food possibilities that lie ahead on the blogging front. So don't worry, I'm not going to turn into a knitting blog or anything. Not that I dislike knitting blogs but it's just that I don't know how to knit, not even a sock puppet, or a scarf, so I say stick to what you know.

Well, eating is what I know, and food, especially those of the sugary persuasion will still be the focus of the blog, and really nothing will change except for my location. So let's see if you can guess where Milk and Cookies is headed to this August for two years? The clue is in this dish.

Guessed it yet? I'm pretty sure this clue is a dead give away. So indeed, it's true, to the possible dismay of many Londoners, I am going to the land of the eternal pub crawl or at least I hope it is, and will be checking out what the city has to offer in terms of food.

Hey, maybe I'll run into Jamie Oliver at the Borough Markets and ask him why my banana and honey bread more resembled baseballs rather than bread rolls. But I'd much rather run into Rick Stein any day, I love how he's such and advocate for British food and produce no matter how much of a bad rap it gets. Too bad he won't have Chalky with him though, that dog was the shiz.

But there you have it, I'm on my way to the northern hemisphere, I'm doubtful about how it compares to its southern counterpart, but I guess it's home for a couple of years.

So I'm sure you don't need a recipe to make bangers and mash, but here's one for the onion gravy that I pinched from Jane and Jeremy Strode of Bistrode.

Onion Gravy
makes about one-half cup

100g unsalted butter
1 tsp brown sugar
2 medium onions, sliced thinly
1 tsp red wine vinegar
200ml beef stock
sea salt
fresh cracked black pepper

Melt butter in a heavy-based saucepan over low heat.
Add sugar and onions.
Cook slowly until caramelised, about 30 minutes.
Add vinegar and cook for another five minutes.
Add stock and season with salt and pepper and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce has thickened.

O Blogger Where Art Thou?

2008-06-01T18:00:00.005+10:00

Call it a hiatus or call it indolence, call it whatever you want but all I know is that it has been far too long. 5 weeks in fact. It escapes me how I managed to fall off the blogosphere for so long, but I did. And although I'd love to say that I have been trekking on camel-back through the sub-Saharan desert, or navigating icy waters with Greenpeace thwarting harpoon attacks on orcas, there's no such story to tell.

I have been able to do a few photo shoots for publications that will be out later this year (more on that closer to the release date), and taking on a few other things bigger than my plate will allow, but other than that I haven't been doing much at all, well nothing noteworthy or blog-worthy that is. There are a few developments that I will be announcing in a couple of weeks but aside from the ordinary shenanigans that occur in daily life, it's been business as usual, minus the fact that I have managed to circumvent any chronicling of my eating and baking activities on the blog.

I have to say that I haven't been in the groove lately, my mojo for baking hasn't dried up but it seems to have gone astray, or at least into a narcoleptic state. I guess the past few weeks the blog has been going through it's own existential crisis, asking the why am I here, and what am I doing with myself questions. Especially, in light of the world's current state, it's becoming harder and harder to find the real relevance of food blogging. With over half of the world unable to meet peoples' basic nutritional needs, is it really pertinent to be writing about food in such banal and trifling tones?

And this by no means is intended to condemn anyone who loves to eat and eat well, hey, I'm in that group of people too. And although I haven't had the urge to bake and write about food for a few weeks, it's safe to say that my appetite for eating remains insatiable. I guess speaking sincerely, this is what has been going on the blog for a few weeks now, just a quiet reflection on the reason why I blog. And it's naive to think that any one thing is going to solve world hunger, and this post is nothing about that.

Like many of you reading, I love eating, I love food, I love taking photos of my food and I love blogging about it, and I don't think we should stop this discourse on account of those who cannot engage in it. No one should feel remorse for the pursuit of their passions, but I guess my point is that after a little self-reflection, I don't consider this passion mere trite, but I have come to realise that this space we have to write and share about food is a privilege.

So I'm sorry to get all metaphysical on you.

It happens sometimes, when I have too much time on my hands. But if you came here for a recipe, then a recipe you shall get. This is definitely one for those who have some time on their hands as it takes a whopping 3 days to complete.

I've been cooking a heap of recipes from the Australian Gourmet Traveller website lately. I'm obsessed with poring through their archives, gazing with green-eyed envy at the spectacular food photography and styling, wishing I could only emulate their splendidness. I came across this recipe for parfait, and was enamoured by the photograph. I didn't even know what exactly a parfait was, except for what I had learned about it from Donkey on Shrek- which was that parfaits had layers and you'd be a fool not to love one.

So armed with that knowledge I decided it was high time I find out why this dessert was so perfect. If the French couldn't find a better way to describe the dish than to just call it perfect, then I don't know what else could be better. Now 3 days is a long time to find out why a dessert is exceptionally good. I was tempted to just go find a patisserie and get one just so I didn't have to wait so long. And I guess if you are really the impatient kind and cannot bear 3 days of torture, then you can probably just wait overnight. Nonetheless, this isn't your quickie dessert.

"You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits. Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious."
-Donkey

But, if your patience can endure the stretch long enough to wait for this dessert to come into perfection then you won't be sorry. The reward is a the velvety rich texture of white chocolate espresso cream sandwiched between a crunchy hazelnut meringue, dripping in a topping of espresso caramel sauce. If that's not how you describe perfection then I stand corrected, but I'm pretty sure this is as close to perfection as you can get.

The recipe can be a little fiddly, and with all the steps of having to leave mixtures in the refrigerator and freezer overnight, it can test your patience. But the pay-off far exceeds the trouble you have to go. My parfait isn't as pretty as the one on the Gourmet Traveller website, but I bet it tastes just as good. And I must warn, this dessert only lasts as long as your appetite will allow, and in our case, we polished off the whole thing in less time it took to write this post.

White chocolate-espresso parfait sandwiches
Serves 8-12
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

NOTE: You will need to begin this recipe 2 days ahead.

600ml pouring cream
25ml espresso coffee
3 pieces of lemon peel
330g white chocolate, coarsely chopped

FOR THE HAZELNUT MERINGUE
4 egg whites
110g (½ cup) caster sugar
110g (2/3 cup) icing sugar, sieved
50g ground hazelnuts
20g Dutch-process cocoa, sieved

FOR THE ESPRESSO CARAMEL
150g caster sugar
75g maple syrup
1 tbsp espresso coffee
40g butter, coarsely chopped

Combine cream, coffee and peel in a saucepan, bring just to the boil over medium-high heat, strain over chocolate in a bowl and whisk until smooth.
Cool, whisking occasionally so chocolate doesn’t separate from cream, to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
The next day, whisk chocolate mixture until soft peaks form.

MAKING THE MERINGUES
Preheat oven to 100ºC.
Using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites and a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.
With motor running, gradually add caster sugar; whisk until glossy.
Using a metal spoon, fold in icing sugar, hazelnut and cocoa.
Trace 2 rectangles using a 20cm x 30cm cake pan as a template onto baking paper-lined oven trays. Spread meringue evenly onto rectangles; bake for 40 minutes or until crisp. Cool on trays.

MAKING THE CARAMEL
For caramel, combine sugar, maple syrup and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase heat to medium-high and cook for 3-5minutes or until syrup thickens.
Remove from heat, add espresso, swirl to combine.
Add butter, swirl to incorporate, then cool.

Place a meringue rectangle, trimming edges to fit, into a 20cm x 30cm baking paper-lined cake pan.
Drizzle with half the espresso caramel, top with white chocolate mixture and drizzle with remaining espresso caramel.
Top with remaining meringue and freeze overnight.
Remove, cut into squares using a wet sharp knife and serve immediately.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

2008-04-26T05:50:00.002+10:00

We just got through day 13. I'm suffering from umbrella fatigue. Yes, it's been the 13th day of continuous rain in Sydney; from drought to drenching, the pendulum does swing both ways. And I guess now it's official, autumn is here, and I have to say a begrudging thank you for making it so obvious that you've arrived. Say hello to soaked hems, muddy feet and one constantly wet dog. I'll just try to think of it as one less bath I have to give him.

I know posting on the blog has been quite scanty of late, must be that crisp autumn air forcing me into hibernation. But the advantage of this is that my motivation for baking grows even the more as the weather gets colder. Keeping those oven fires burning is one way of staving off the chills.

Sydney houses, are notoriously known for not being able to stand up to the colder months. Many overseas friends living here who come from much colder climes always gripe about the inadequate amount of insulation in our houses. And coupled with the lack of central heating in most homes, it makes the winter months even more unbearable.

Our comparably mild winter probably doesn't warrant builders making houses with central heating a standard thing, but no matter where you're from cold is cold, especially at 6am when the dread of getting out of bed to take a shower overcomes you. I guess keeping the oven on is one way to get around this minor setback.

I made these cakes earlier this month but decided to give it an encore appearance at around day 7 of our marathon rainfest, while holed up at home just watching the spate of storms come and go. It was either build an ark or bake a cake and seeing as I was sitting on a pile of passionfruit, I made some cakes. If I was going to go down in a deluge, I might as well go down with cake.

With my priorities in the right place, I spent the better part of a day baking. With no central heating in our house, Jack (the dog) and I spent the rainy afternoon in front of the blazing oven, our makeshift fireplace. I'm sure he spends his time loitering around the oven just in case a rouge piece of food happens to accidentally fall out and magically land in his strategically poised mouth. He's quite the optimist, but it's still nice to have his company, no matter what the motives. He likes to think of himself as the sous chef, although most of the time he's more like the cleaner, mopping up spilled ingredients. He doesn't mind.

Right now, passionfruits are ubiquitous, so there's every reason for you to buy a whole lot. Here in Sydney we get the smaller round and wrinkled variety that have that distinct deep purple colour. They look quite strange and unassuming on the outside, and they weigh almost nothing but once you cut through that purple woody exterior there's a wonderfully rich and intensely brilliant daffodil yellow pulp inside.

By itself the pulp can be a little too tart to eat, but ripple a few spoonfuls through some vanilla ice cream or yoghurt and you have yourself a killer dessert. And if you are familiar with the Australian picnic staple, the pavlova, then you know that it's the passionfruit that gives it its bite.

The cakes are actually lime flavoured, but only subtlety. The passionfruit syrup is what gives the cake its kick. And like many other tangy fruits, a little bit of sugar takes this a dish a long way and livens it up a bit more. Add a dollop of whipped cream and you have all the insulation you need to get through a rainy day.

Baby Lime Cakes with Passionfruit syrup and cream
Serves 10
Recipe from Australian Gourmet Traveller

FOR THE LIME CAKES
125g soft butter
165g (¾ cup) caster sugar
2 tbsp finely grated lime rind
3 eggs
120g (½ cup) sour cream or plain yoghurt
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour

PASSIONFRUIT SYRUP
110g (½ cup) caster sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) lime juice
3 passionfruit, pulp only

PASSIONFRUIT CREAM
300ml thickened cream
1 passionfruit, pulp only (optional)
30g pure icing sugar, sieved

Preheat oven to 170ºC.
Beat butter, sugar and rind using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, add eggs and beat to combine, then add sour cream or yoghurt and beat to combine.
Fold in flour, then spoon mixture among 8 greased and floured 150ml-capacity dariole moulds and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Cool for 5 minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For syrup, combine all ingredients and ¼ cup water in a small saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until syrupy. Makes about 1 cup.

For cream, combine ingredients and whisk until soft peaks form.
Refrigerate until required.
To serve, pour half the warm syrup over cool cakes and serve with passionfruit cream and extra syrup passed separately.

Weekend

2008-04-20T20:08:00.005+10:00

Don't be alarmed, I am still alive. Although, I've been experiencing the giddy highs related to the consumption of too many Adriano Zumbo pastries.

As cramped and as hole-in-the-wall his shop may be, people flock and people queue, in single file, just to be able to get to the front of the line to tell that person behind the immaculately styled glass counter what fares you are after. Usually it's a little piece of this and that, or perhaps a splurge on a decadent Zumbo dessert or a handful of macaroons if your budget will still allow.

Walk too fast and you will almost miss it, that narrow, unassuming little piece of real estate on Balmain's Darling St. Walk too slow and you might not get there in time as the place is almost always cleaned out before close. You might be stuck with a quiche or a plain brioche if your not hasty, not that these aren't worthy, but the real spectacle are his speciality desserts, tarts and macaroons that change every now and then. The stuff way down the back of the shop, that's what the mob's all after.

I've long been touting Balmain as a food lover's mecca, pastries, breads, butchers, cafes and gourmet stores line it's main street and it's a wonder why they have only just decided to capitalise on all its gastronomic potential. I could literally eat my way through Darling St, and this week you are actually encouraged to. The Balmain Rozelle Food Week starts tomorrow the 21st of April until the 27th of April, so if you are lucky enough to be in Sydney, then head over down Victoria Rd or over the Anzac bridge and make your way down Darling St, sampling the finest fare these providores have to offer.

If you are interested in this event then download the whole program by clicking here.

And in case you were wondering what I got from Adriano Zumbo, there were the mandarin and chocolate macaroons. Worth their weight in edible gold leaf, oh boy were they good! And a Miss Marple, which is a crepe shaped into a cup filled with mascarpone creme, strawberries, oranges and some Grand Marnier topped with a glorious sugar lid. It's art you can eat.

Have a great week guys and and I hope to be back blogging with something almost as delicious very soon.

Getting Seriously Stoned

2008-04-08T21:24:00.002+10:00

There's been a chill in the air of late. Autumn is well and truly here and although summer may well be done and dusted, some of it's late harvest has decided to stick around for a farewell party. Yes, stone fruits are something to look forward to come summer, but there's always enough left behind to tide you over till the beginning of autumn. In a last ditch effort to relive summer days, I suggest getting stoned.

Of course I'm not talking about sparking up a doobie and getting fried, but rather enjoying the last that summer has to offer in its stone fruits. I'm having summer weather withdrawals right now, seeing that we never really got to have a proper one on the east coast. So this was my way of sparking up some lost memories of summer.

And really, what's a summer without a peach? The quintessential image of biting into a ripe one, its juice dripping from the corners of your mouth, can make up for all the lucklustre weather we have had for months. They said it was going to last till March and it certainly did, and it looks like we just sailed right into autumn without even the slightest bump. Maybe there was the odd lightning crash and tree falling on one's roof, but other than that, as far as I'm concerned we've been in autumn since December.

So this is my long overdue swan song for the summer we never had- almond cakes topped with roasted peaches. There's only one way to bid her farewell and it's with the best she had to offer. So rosy blushed peaches was an appropriate choice for a goodbye offering.

I actually made this a few weeks back, although never had time to blog about them for a while. I found the peaches at the Entertainment Quarter Farmer's markets going for a song and couldn't pass them up. Then I happened upon a recipe for Almond cakes with roasted apricots on the Australian Gourmet Traveller website, and you know when you see a recipe that you simply must have right now, well that sheer impulse overcame me and I was bent on making this that very same day. I'm sure the droolworthy photograph on the AGT website helped in stoking the urge for them right away.

Seeing as I didn't have apricots but had a heap of cheap peaches lying around, well, you know what I did. When life gives you peaches, you can decide to make a cake.

Peaches, like many other stone fruits, roast very well and there's very little you can do to improve on its flavour. So you might as well stick to the basics, a little sugar and little bit of booze and you have yourself a top notch dessert. It's amazing what wine does to a syrup. The booze of choice for this fare was a Seppelt Rutherglen Tokay that we bought on our last trip to the Hunter Valley- a sweet, honey flavoured dessert wine that was ideal for a fruit based dessert.

I have to say that the almond cakes didn't turn out as dark as they were pictured on the website, so I was a little worried I had made a mistake. But after tasting the cakes, there wasn't anything to worry about. Not sure why there was a lack of colour, but at least it wasn't lacking on taste. Two thumbs up for this recipe and perhaps a better and less illegal way of getting stoned.

Almond cakes with roast Peaches and orange blossom fool
Serves 6
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: blowtorch (optional)

110g (½ cup) raw caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
8 peaches, halved, stones removed
4 pieces of orange rind, removed with a peeler
80ml (1/3 cup) dessert wine
1 tbsp orange juice
3 tsp orange blossom water
300g crème fraîche
30g brown sugar, sieved

FOR THE ALMOND CAKES
120g (¾ cup) pure icing sugar, sieved
50g almond meal
35g plain all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
2 tbsp finely grated orange rind
2 eggwhites, lightly whisked
90g butter, melted and cooled

Preheat oven to 200ºC.
Using a blowtorch, scorch the peach skins until they blister. They should peel off easily.
Combine sugar and vanilla seeds in a bowl and scatter over the base of a roasting pan large enough to hold peaches snugly.
Place peaches, cut-side down, in a single layer in pan, pressing into sugar.
Turn peaches and scatter over orange rind.
Combine wine, orange juice and 2 tsp orange blossom water in a jug and pour around apricots.
Roast for 10 minutes or until just tender and golden.
Set aside to cool, then, using a slotted spoon, remove 4 peach halves from syrup and process using a food processor until smooth. Set aside.

MAKING ALMOND CAKES
For almond cakes, reduce oven to 170ºC.
Combine dry ingredients and rind in a bowl, add eggwhite and fold through until just combined.
Add butter, stir to combine, then divide among six shallow pie moulds, smooth tops and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and centre springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.
Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack placed over a tray.
Spoon a little apricot syrup over cakes and cool completely.

Combine crème fraîche, brown sugar and remaining orange blossom water in a bowl and whisk until thick and smooth. Fold through apricot purée to form a ripple effect. Top each cake with 2 apricot halves and a generous dollop of fool. Serve with syrup to the side.

Trolling around Thainatown

2008-03-28T23:37:00.002+11:00

I rarely ever do restaurant reviews on this blog as there are so many other blogs that do it so much better. Not one to impose on already well trodden territory I steer away from reviews not only for the latter reason, but simply because I don't eat out nearly as often enough as other bloggers who do reviews. Oh yes, and I'm unable to take a decent photo inside a restaurant for the life of me.

Reviews in my opinion are so relative and mostly based on comparisons from previous experiences and tastes of certain cuisine. I don't think I have gathered enough food mileage to be able to be an expert in anything. But sometimes in a serendipitous, fluky way, you happen to have your camera when you go out for a casual lunch and next thing you know, you are taking a photo of ever dish.

I may not be an authority on most cuisines, but I think I have eaten at enough Thai restaurants and eateries to be able to gather an opinion about the food. And I have to say that although there's an abundance of Thai places in Sydney, the bad far outweighs the good. Thai cuisine is usually marked by its depth of flavour; the beautiful cohesion of taste sensations and textures. It's usually a splendid symphony of sweet, sour, spicy and herby, put together with such harmony. There simply are too many Thai restaurants serving bland and watered down versions of the real thing.

Simply put, when the menu says, "this dish is very spicy", I want the dish to deliver on its promise. I want it to be flaming hot enough for me to be able to breath fire afterwards. There are just too many renditions of seemingly spicy dishes that just aren't that spicy at all. If my brow isn't sweating, then you really haven't done your job. And I'm not even one of those people with high levels of tolerance for capsaicin.

Which brings me to Chat Thai. Chat Thai is a little bit of an anomaly, as in that even in the midst of a million other Thai eateries in that part of Pitt St which has been affectionately coined Thainatown, there is always a line of people outise waiting to get in, even at 11:30pm. Spoilt for choice in the midst of Thainatown, there is something about Chat Thai that people are willing to wait in line, outside, sometimes in the cold and rain.

Some say that it's usually the most dubious looking eateries that are the most authentic and the best priced, and to some extent this has been proved correct. This however cannot be further from the truth when it comes to Chat Thai. Although a handful of their dishes take a short detour from the original, the flavours are truly Thai at heart. And when they say spicy, they mean it.

The restaurant's interior can fool you, it doesn't look like a Thai restaurant that would serve traditional Thai fare, and serve it well. It looks more like an uppity bistro than an Asian eatery. But nothing could be further from the truth, it's just a plus that the place comes with soft mood-lighting, modern brown tables, rustic brick walls and to my surprise, friendly staff that make up for the wait you have to make for a table during peak hours, which can be up to an hour and a half.

To be honest, I cannot recall what we had that day. I was too engrossed in the eating part, that I forgot to remember the dishes for the blogging part. Hence the reason why I don't do reviews. All I remember is that there was a pad thai somewhere in the mix, a staple at any Thai place. And if they can't get a pad thai right, then there's really no point in wasting your time. But the heartening thing is their pad thai was good. Good enough that every last morsel was scraped off the plate.

So if anyone is in Sydney looking for a Thai place whose kitchen doesn't close at 10, then head over to Campbell St and put your name on the list for a table. If you come late enough, you won't have to wait that long. Chat Thai has several other locations around the city although I've only been to the one in Haymarket. Weirdly enough, it's the only one not featured on the website.

CHAT THAI
20 Campbell St
Haymarket, Sydney NSW
Phone: (02) 9211 1808
Open: 7 days 11am-2am

All The Way, With Carbs Today

2008-03-24T17:59:00.002+11:00

No matter how bad a rap carbs get, I'm still a staunch advocate for the stuff. How anyone could go on a diet deliberately eschewing the stuff is a mystery to me. Although for the sake of your hips, I do know how the formidable temptation of starch can be too much to bear. And sometimes under the weight of that incredible urge you give in. All the way.

I'm going through a pasta phase right now. And I've had it almost everyday this past week. If there ever was a fixation in my life right now, aside from the shopping thing of course, which probably is more gender-based than anything else, this pasta thing is probably it.

The Italians really knew how to do carbs- with their beautiful breads and pasta, they really knew how to throw a carb party. I know that there's some contention concerning the true the origins of pasta, but it's without myth or lore that the Italians were the ones who made pasta their own art form. Turning this dough of wheat and eggs into a myriad of shapes and forms. If there is an Italian nearby, I suggest you go and give them a kiss.

But enough with public displays of affection; did I mention I have also fostered an addiction to Eumundi Smokehouse sausages. I've mentioned it before, how I go ga-ga over their range of gourmet sausages and not to mention their chorizo. And although a kilo of the Russian Farmer's sausages will set you back over $30; it must be all that Vodka in it, there's no price you should put on good taste.

And you know a good thing when you smell it, as you enter their small shop in Dulwich Hill, you are hit by the aroma of spices and a curtain of smoked meat hanging from a bar suspended above the counter. Everywhere you look it's meat. And there's something to be admired about a butcher who doesn't hold back with the spices and the booze. I say the more the merrier.

Their products are all made of natural ingredients and contain no preservatives. So it's best to eat them as soon as you buy them, which is really nothing to complain about. The sausages I used for this pasta were their lamb merguez sausages, a combination of lamb, red wine, coriander, parsley, pepper, mint and chilli. When fried, it exudes a perfume that rouses the palate and gets any carnivore's attention.

And why not put the two loves together, pasta and sausages. It's simple gourmet, and I'm sure country folk everywhere tending to pasturelands in the back of nowhere have been enjoying the staple of pasta and sausages for a long time wouldn't even bat an eyelid at this dish, but it's classics like these that never go wrong. I'm not sure if an Italian would call this dish a real classic, but it's simple enough with pasta, sausages, tomatoes and a splash of white wine thrown in for good measure.

I can't think of a better way to relieve those autumn cravings for comfort than with a classic pasta dish. You can use pretty much any shape you want, I like slurping my way through it, so linguine was the way to go, but if you prefer the pasta without the loud, sloppy sucking then penne or rigatoni would do just as well.

EUMUNDI SMOKEHOUSE
402 New Canterbury Road,
Dulwich Hill, NSW
Phone: (02) 95690205
Opening Hours: Thur-Fri 11am to 6pm; Sat 7am to 2pm

Their products are also available at a number of gourmet farmers markets and gourmet food stores. Contact Eumundi for more stockists.

Sausage and Capsicum Linguine
Serves 4
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

6 (750g) sausages, skins removed and chopped into 4cm slices
1 red capsicum
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
50g (1⁄4 cup) tomato paste
50ml dry white wine
1 can (400g) crushed tomatoes
sea salt
½ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
500g dried linguine
freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Roast the capsicum in a preheated oven at 220ºC for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and peel skin off.
Deseed and cut capsicum into 2cm-wide strips.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add sausages and cook over medium heat, turning, for 5 minutes or until golden. Transfer sausages to a bowl.
Add onion and garlic and sauté over low-medium heat for 3 minutes or until softened, add chilli and sauté for another 2 minutes.
Add tomato paste and stir for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens, then add sausage, capsicum and white wine and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat sausages and reducing liquid by half.
Add tomatoes, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then simmer for 10 minutes or until sauce is thick.
Stir through parsley.

Meanwhile, cook linguine in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente.
Drain and transfer linguine to the frying pan and combine with sauce.
Divide sauced linguine among plates and top with any remaining sauce from frying pan and serve with parmesan.

Hit and miss: Martha makes good, then goes bad, Part II

2008-03-12T18:10:00.006+11:00

This post is the part where she goes bad.

If you haven't read the little disclaimer at the beginning of the previous post, then I suggest you do. Just in case any Martha zealots out there decide that they need to defend her honour down to the last perfectly clove-dotted glazed ham and immaculately pressed apron. I know that a lot of you who have been defending Martha think I'm an absolute retard that is incapable of following a recipe, but I'm willing to overlook that.

If my problem is a matter of comprehension, then I admit, I am an idiot. But when parts of the recipe are missing, or there are omitted ingredients and inaccurate instructions, then I would like to know who the idiot really is? Her recipes can be at times lacking and at other times convoluted to the point of ridiculous. For someone who wants to make it easy for everyone to be able to cook and bake, she does a horrible job of it. And it seems that I'm not the only one who feels unanimously about the hit and miss factor in Martha's recipes.

This recipe is a little different in its degree of suckiness in that, it hasn't failed to include any vital instructions or ingredients, everything in the recipe was there, except for the flavour. It appears that Smitten Kitchen's Deb, also had the same problem with the recipe and many of the commenters on the Martha website feel the same way. I decided to make my own go of it, just to make sure their sentiments were in fact true, and lo and behold- the pretzels are as bland as cardboard.

And when I say they are like cardboard, this is no attempt at euphemism, they are literally as flavourless as paper. There isn't a hint of chocolate in these pretzels, and be careful not to over-bake them even the slightest amount, as they will turn into volcanic rocks- flavourless volcanic rocks. A bitter disappointment when the recipe is introduced as the "sweet versions of the salty snack".

Oh Martha, Oh Martha. How do you get away with this? How do you continue to publish such rubbish without even checking them first? But the good news is that, were not all doomed to never have the sweet taste of chocolate pretzels on our lips, someone did do their homework and came up with a chocolate pretzel recipe that works. Rivka of Not Derby Pie has redeemed us all with her version of choc pretzels that is proven to work and most importantly taste like chocolate.

Check out the better version here.

The version I have posted below is the original Martha version, just because this is the one I used to make the pretzels pictured above. But I actually would not suggest making them unless you are willing to make some changes. Better yet, just click over to Rivka's recipe and have all the work done for you!

Chocolate Pretzels
Recipe from Martha.com
Makes 24 small pretzels

¼ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tsp good-quality instant espresso powder
3 tbsps boiling water
110g (½-cup) unsalted butter, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp coarse salt
1 large egg
2 cups plain all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk
coarse sugar (like demarara or pearl) for sprinkling

Stir cocoa and espresso powders into the boiling water in a small bowl until dissolved; set aside.
Meanwhile, put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until creamy.
Mix in vanilla and salt.
Reduce speed to medium-low.
Mix in egg, then cocoa mixture.
Gradually add flour, and mix until a smooth dough forms.
Turn out onto a piece of plastic; pat into a square.
Wrap dough, and refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 24 equal pieces.
Roll into balls. Shape balls into 12-inch-long ropes.
Twist each rope into a pretzel shape. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Preheat oven to 160ºC.
Whisk egg yolk with 1 tsp water in a small bowl.
Brush cookies with egg wash; sprinkle with sanding sugar.
Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until dry, about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of you pretzels.
Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

NOTE: Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 1 week.

Hit and miss: Martha makes good, then goes bad, Part I

2008-03-03T14:14:00.000+11:00

First of all, I would like to preface the next two posts with a reminder that everything said on this blog are my own personal views and judgements. We all have them, they are called opinions, everyone's entitled to one. And in the free world that we live in I don't think anyone should get nasty comments or emails when you do not agree with the personal statements made by another person. I'm all up for healthy, civil discussions, but if you want to get all spiteful and bitchy then may I suggest you call Ricki Lake or Maury.

Now that's been said let's get back to our normal programming...

There it goes again, that precarious thing that teeters to and fro on a delicately balanced see-saw of emotions- that is my relationship with Martha's recipes. That see-saw teeters more so on the side of loathe rather than love but my disdain for Martha is not at all unfounded. For lack of a more gracious way of saying this, frankly some of her recipes suck.

Thankfully not all of them suck and thankfully for you, you won't have to be reading a tirade of Martha gibes today. No, I'm saving that for the next post, hoorah for free speech! Anyway, let's not get sidetracked. Here is another Martha recipe that has worked for me. Brilliantly in fact, it almost seemed unnatural to call it a Martha recipe. I must have a knack for picking all the dud recipes on her website and now am too paranoid to spend any money on of her cookbooks.

I would like to think that the recipes in her published books would be more fool-proof and complete, in comparison to the ones featured on her website. It seems that the uptake of recipes on the website is prodigious, although is a little light on the copy-editing and corrections. Most recipes are lacking important instructions and missing ingredients.

But, I did pledge an optimistic post on Martha today and here it is, her recipe for Molasses Sandwich cookies. They were a hit with everyone at a picnic we had earlier. The only thing I would fault is that the cookies are way too sweet. I mean wa-aaaay too sweet. The cookies are pretty sweet on their own but when sandwiched with a molasses filling in between, the sugar levels and diabetes inducing properties soar way beyond appropriate.

There's enough sweet in these babies to cause permanent tooth decay. So I would suggest reducing the sugar in the cookies by half and reducing the amount of actual filling by half also. That is what I did second time around and even then, the cookies aren't lacking in sugar. I think the presence of the molasses actually brings out the sweetness of the sugar even more, so I would err on the side of caution and ease up with the saccharine.

But with the right amount of sweetness, these sandwich cookies are the perfect thing to take with you to a picnic or a party. Your fellow pickinickers or party goers will thank you for bringing the party along with you. As these things have enough sugar to liven up any deadbeat gathering and will have guests potentially hanging off the chandeliers or perhaps doing a nudie run through the park. Now who wouldn't bake these just to see that?

So there you have it, another successful Martha recipe, this is the part in the title where Martha makes good. I've had a bigger share of misses than hits with her, although not documented on this blog, but this does take the hit tally up one.

Although coming up next: why there's more hate for Martha again than there is love. This is the part where she goes bad.

Molasses Sandwich Cookies
adapted from Martha.commakes 30 cookies

NOTE: this is the modified version using half the sugar from the original recipe. If you want to try the original, then just double to sugar for the cookies and double the ingredients for the filling.

1½ cups plain all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
½ cup packed light-brown muscovado sugar
110g (½-cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
¼ cup unsulfured molasses

FOR THE CREAMY MOLASSES FILLING
75g softened unsalted butter
1½ tbsp unsulfured molasses
1 cup icing (confectioner’s) sugar

Preheat oven to 180ºC.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until combined.
Beat in egg, then molasses, until smooth.
On low speed, gradually add flour mixture until a dough forms.
Drop rounded measuring teaspoonfuls of dough onto two ungreased (or parchment-lined) baking sheets, about 4cm (1½-inch) apart.
Bake until centres are dry to the touch, 12 to 15 minutes; rotate pans from top to bottom and front to back halfway through.
Cool 1 minute on baking sheets; then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

MAKING CREAMY MOLASSES FILLING
Whisk butter with molasses until smooth.
Gradually whisk in icing sugar, until smooth and spreadable.
Makes about 1 cup.

Spread a rounded measuring teaspoonful of Creamy Molasses Filling on the flat side of a cookie; place another cookie on top, and gently press.
Repeat until all cookies are filled.
NOTE: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 day, or refrigerate up to 3 days (cookies may soften during refrigeration).

From Feet to Sweet

2008-02-26T16:00:00.005+11:00

Hello... It's been a while, hasn't it.

They say it takes a village to raise a child but I think the same applies to many other things. Like how the past couple of weeks has taught me that it does indeed take a village and a half to get your friends married off successfully. I will think again, very carefully, before I play match-maker and set up two friends lest I endure the back-breaking labour of being a bridesmaid all over again.

Of course, I only quip about the taxing effort that goes into helping a friend plan a wedding, it's no doubt laborious but being a bridesmaid for a precious friend is always a barrel of laughs and I wouldn't trade all the tuile and chiffon in the world for it.

But now that all the festivities are done and dusted, all that is left to do is catch up on much needed sleep and get back into the routine of normal life- with say normal thngs like blogging. Yes, the fact that I had a blog completely eluded me all this time while I was up to my knees in questions like "Is this green too green, or does this pink look like a dusty rose, or a vintage rose?" And all you had to tide you over with, all this time was a post on my mediocre madeleines that stunk of feet. I'm sorry.

I did promise a madeleine recipe to follow that wasn't so odourous and rank as the ones before and here it is. I made these a while back as an attempt at re-creating the apple and cinnamon madeleines I tried at the markets by Manna From Heaven- an Australian handmade biscuit company that believes in using only quality ingredients. To this day I am still yet to taste a better madeleine. They are extremely moist and delicately sweet and smell incredibly unlike feet! Manna From Heaven only make these madeleines in limited numbers and only during autumn/winter. So you have to be quick to catch them or else they are pretty much gone before you have enough time to take a whiff.

I don't know exactly how Rachel- MFH's founder, gets the madelines to be so moist, but they are incredibly irresistible. From what I gather, traditionally, madeleines are quite dry cakes and are made moist when dipped into or eaten with tea. An example of what I would say are traditional madeleines are Adriano Zumbo's madeleines which almost demands you to have a drink ready in your hand before you choke on the little cakes that stick to the roof of your mouth.

I would have to say that Manna From Heaven's apple and cinnamon madeleines are a welcome departure from the traditional. Although Adriano Zumbo's madeleines, and pretty much everything else in the Balmain store are nothing short of a masterpiece, but when you don't have a spare drink lying around I would probably opt for the moister kind.

I have to say that re-creating a recipe from memory is not an easy thing. I pulled together all my madeleine recipes and tried to build my own using the techniques and measurements from them all. My version of the apple and cinnamon madeleines is nothing near the exquisiteness of Manna From Heaven's, although it is still delicious. Slightly moist and aromatic, there is nothing better for an afternoon snack.

Next time, I might try using a little bit more melted butter and apple puree to get a wetter batter. I am not sure if this will work, but baking in the name of research isn't such a bad thing, is it?

Apple and Cinnamon Madeleines
makes 24 madeleines

150g plain all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
100g unsalted butter, softened (plus more for greasing)
50g light muscovado sugar
75g caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly whisked
½ cup pureed apples
granulated sugar for coating

Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Brush madeleine moulds with butter.
In a small bowl sift together flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon, set aside.
Cream butter and sugars in another bowl until light and creamy.
Add eggs and apple puree and beat until combined.
Sift in flour mixture and fold until the flour has been incorporated into the wet mixture.
Place a heaped teaspoonful of the mixture in each mould and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tops are golden.
Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes in tray.
Unmould and lightly coat madeleines with granulated sugar.

Of Feet and Madeleines

2008-02-06T17:01:00.000+11:00

I’m still rather reluctant to share this recipe with you. Most things I share on the blog are things that have worked out for me; actually, this goes for all things I have posted on the blog. I’m by no means an expert chef, you know that, but my reasoning is, if it works for me then it will most certainly work for you. And so a recipe gets posted.

So why then am I sharing this recipe that has dismally failed on me, with you? I'm not exactly sure why, I think that cruel, self-deprecating part of me just wants to lay my shortcomings out on the table. One of those flaws is that I'm hopeless at savoury foods. I have my moments here and there, but as a whole, I'm a little lacking when it comes to dishes that don't contain sugar.

So now that the truth is out in the open for everyone to gawk and snigger at, let me share with you my grim rendition of what I suppose was a perfectly delectable recipe for cornmeal and shallot madeleines. I saw the words cornmeal and madeleines and thought what an interesting take in making madeleines with cornmeal. It certainly piqued my curiosity and when I discovered that I had all the ingredients on hand, including a tub of Gympie Farm crème fraîche from the farmer's markets, I was even more stirred to give it a go.

Casting all my savoury food failings aside I embarked upon this recipe with all hope that it would turn out a treat. And while I was following the instructions to the letter, I had every inkling that it would be successful. After all I was using great ingredients and all I needed to do was execute the recipe as instructed. Right?

Hmm, I don't know exactly where the train-wreck ensued, probably somewhere between putting the madeleines into the oven and then taking them out. They looked all right and the smelled okay, but they tasted almost like feet- crunchy yellow, onion-scented feet. I realise that many of you probably came here to be swept up by some delicious dish that incites drool to drip from the corners your mouth, but I guess this time I fail you.

So the madeleines didn't exactly taste like feet, they tasted quite buttery in fact. But aside from it's distinct onion smell, there was a slight scent of feet. I'm not exactly sure, but I imagine that your olfactory senses have a lot to do with your sense of taste, so the fact that the madeleines smelled somewhat of feet, made it seem like it tasted like feet. It almost feels inappropriate to be speaking about such a charming thing as a madeleine but sometimes you just have to call it as it is.

I must point out that the madeleines weren't a complete failure; some people did enjoy then, although some of those people included my mother, so she probably doesn't count. And when you have a glass of wine to wash it down with, you really can't tell the difference between onions and smelly feel, can you? And if you can still tell the difference, then it’s probably indication that you need to take another swig from your wine glass.

If this recipe, even after being likened to feet, still wets your appetite then by all means give it a go and let me know if you have a better result. I would be very interested to know. I had such high hopes for it that I am fairly certain that it is more likely human error that caused the slight tang of feet, rather than the recipe itself. I guess my only advice to heed is that don't serve it to guests before trying it yourself. Luckily this was only served to my hapless family who grinned and bore it through to the last mouthful.

Coming up next: Madeleines that don't reek of feet.

Cornmeal and Shallot Madeleines with Crème Fraîche
Recipe from epicurious.com
Makes 12 medium-sized madeleines

1/3 cup minced shallot
2 tbsp cold unsalted butter
1/3 cup polenta (yellow cornmeal)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
1 large egg, beaten lightly
¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream plus additional as a topping
3 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 200°C.
In a skillet cook the shallot in 1 tbsp of the butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until it is softened and let the mixture cool completely.
In a bowl stir together the cornmeal, the flour, the baking powder, and the shallot mixture, add the remaining 1 tbsp butter, cut into bits, and blend the mixture until it resembles fine meal.
Stir in the egg, the crème fraîche, the water, and salt and pepper to taste and stir the batter until it is combined well.

Preheat a 12-hole madeleine tray in the middle of preheated oven for 2 minutes, remove the tins from the oven and into each hole spoon a heaping 2 tsp of the batter.
Bake the madeleines for 6 to 8 minutes, or until edges are brown.
Turn them out onto a wire rack, and let them cool completely.
Top the madeleines with the additional crème fraîche.

NOTE: The madeleines may be made 3 days in advance and kept chilled in an airtight container.

Woke up to...

2008-02-05T14:23:00.000+11:00

I had a really late night getting up to all sorts of shenanigans in the city last night and then fell out of bed this morning, correction- afternoon, to find that there was an article today in the Technology section of news.com.au about the Ausssie blogs nominated for the 2008 Bloggies, which happens to include this blog. It was actually quite amusing, seeing as I rate myself as one of the least technologically savvy people on the Internet.

This blog is held together through sheer providence and a lot of guesstimation; let's just say if the blog were to manifest itself in the real world, it would be held together with a glue gun and a lot of paddle pop sticks. But it is nice to be mentioned amongst the other illustrious nominees, who run some of the most popular and articulate blogs in the country.

And then I also found out that I had come first place in last month's DMBLGIT hosted by The Food Traveller. The photo is of grapefruit soufflés that I baked in its own skins. The recipe is here is you are interested.

Wow, I am definitely feeling the love right now and I'm hoping it won't come back to bite me in the you know what. All I can say is that I appreciate all the applause and certainly hope I won't turn into a one trick pony and will endeavour to keep the blog looking pretty and sounding fresh for you all.

Click here to see the other winners.

This blog is brought to you by... a monkey...?

2008-02-03T21:02:00.017+11:00

I've been blogging for sometime now and it never occurred to me until recently that I have never formally introduced myself. You know the fundamentals- who I am, where I'm from and that I have a penchant for anything sugary. But that's really about it.

The web can be a good buffer between you and the real world and as much as I would like to remain an enigma, that dark horse, mysteriously blogging from her unassuming little corner of the world, I thought that it would be nice to actually introduce myself properly and break the ice.

Hello!

I'm a Jennifer, but it's usually Jen or Jenni that i'll answer to. You might even find that I will respond to "hey you" or "oi!", I'm really not that fussy.

I was born in Manila Philippines, but now am a naturalised Aussie, since I was 6 years old. I call Sydney home, although right now I am living in London, United Kingdom. As that Peter Allen song suggests, I still do call Australia home and no matter where I am, I always wish I was back home in Sydney. The land of (seeming) eternal sunshine and BBQ's, where thongs are worn on your feet not on your derriere and the public holiday is a sacred institution, as much as beer and sport.

London is my home for the time being, but Australia is always going to be a great place to live and if you are ever here in Sydney for a visit, make sure you give me a holler. Here are a few recommendations on where to visit, foodwise.

Fine Dining- Tetsuya's, Aria's, Becasse and Astral to name a number of world class dining places.
Quintessential Sydney- Harry's Pies for a late night bite, North Bondi Italian for the signature Sydney view, Sydney Fish Market to sample the finest seafood Sydney has to offer or Doyles at Watson's Bay for that stunning view of the harbour.
Thai- Chat Thai in Haymarket, Spice I Am in Surry Hills, Sailor's Thai at The Rocks.
Bakeries/Pastries- Bourke St Bakery in Surry Hills, Adriano Zumbo and Victoire in Balmain, Brasserie Bread in Botany Bay, Epi d'Or in Kirribilli and La Gerbe d'Or in Paddington's Five Ways.
Chinatown- check out everything it has to offer and cross over George St and venture into what's is now affectionately coined as Thainatown.
Red Light District Bites- Hernandez Cafe for the coffee and the bohemian atmosphere, Burgerfuel for gourmet burgers and live it up with the young, hip and happening at Favela, The Lincoln and Dean's Cafe. Juju's for some late night karaoke and immersion into Japanese culture. There's also Guzman Y Gomez, which isn't your regular Taco Bell. Venture down Darlinghurst Rd and you will stumble across gems like sushi happy hour at Zushi and a barrage of tiny cafes, all good.
Breakfast- Fifi Foveaux and Bill's in Surry Hills, an early morning bite and a walk afterwards from Bronte Beach, Campos Coffee at Newtown, Brasserie Bread if you are in the area, Sonoma Bakery in Glebe.

Just to name some off the top of my head.

WHY THE PRIMATE ALTER EGO?

Most of you think I look like a chimpanzee and I don't blame you. My profile picture looks a lot like a chimp. But it's not what you think. I am not hiding behind this furry face because I think I look like a hideous beast and couldn't bear showing my face in in public.

Frankly, I didn't know if this blog was going to be any good, so it was easier to go ahead with blogging and risk shame, failure and my ego knowing I had this monkey façade to hide behind. The web can be a mean place, and there are a lot of crazy people out there that pick on you for no reason. I thought having a monkey front this blog would deter people people from being too unkind.

And besides if you catch yourself abusing an innocent monkey you might want to think twice about what kind of person you really are. Look at him, how could you ever be cruel to that face? How?

Now that the food blogging scene has proved less intimidating as I thought it would be, It's high time for me to finally emerge from my cover. And it doesn't seem so bad to be out in the open. But, I do still prefer to keep my monkey frontage, just because he's a little easier on the eyes. Just look at him there, looking so jet-settingly cool in his swanky London hotel room.

WHY BLOG?

Hmm, that's a good question. I kind of fell into this blogging this unassumingly. I decided to start a blog without knowing anything about it and a year and a bit later, here I am still baking. I guess, I always wanted to write and never had an outlet, I always loved taking photographs although never had a chance to showcase them, and always wanted to cook but never had the courage. I guess this blog just became the perfect conduit to house all those passions. And I guess, it was the perfect way to indulge all of these hobbies anonymously, until I could safely come out, so to speak.

And besides all that, all evidence suggests that I am Asian and female, which are two very strong factors that basically predetermine that I must blog about food. Funny that, I never thought of myself as fitting into a stereotype but there it is, a female Asian food blogger- the perfect demographic for the discourse of food online.

THE PHOTOS.
I am completely self-taught, with absolutely no formal training. And I say it often and I'll say it again- that sometimes my amateur-dom does show. I don't have a fancy camera, or a fancy lighting kit, my "studio" is my bedroom, which houses a makeshift area in which I take all my food photos, amongst all my clothes, shoes and dirty laundry- tres chic!

I inherited an old SLR film camera from my dad when I was 17 and basically taught myself how to use it. So it slightly amuses me when people email and ask for photography tips because I feel so inadequate. Currently I am using a Canon EOS 300D SLR digital camera. Because I am a cheapskate, I only have the lens that came with the camera which is an EF18-55mm 3.5-5.6f Canon Zoom lens. It does the job for now, but I am planning to buy a 50mm 1.4f USM Canon lens, which will give me better bokeh and in general, prettier pictures.

OTHER THINGS ABOUT ME... THAT YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED TO KNOW

I got stitches in my head when I was 4 after an accident in the bathroom.
I used to be terrified of swimming in large bodies of water.
I get adverse reactions to insect bites and eating melons.
Ignorant and stupid people along with dictators and terrorists aggravate me.
I've never won a running race but beat a bunch of boys at Tekken on Playstation (Score:20-8). Nintendo Wii is my next frontier.
Am tone deaf, but very skilled at the triangle, tambourine and egg shaker.
Prefer to drive a manual (stick) than automatic.
I have a dog named Jack who is a constant source of laughter. He loves cockroaches and ladies perfume.

I don't know how long this zeal for blogging will go on for, but right now that desire is still raging. I will only continue to do it as long as I am loving it. So if my gusto for it will ever start to wane, then I will probably have to retire or take a short hiatus and get my bearings back.

Anyway there it is, a little snapshot of who this blogger is...

Soft-centred

2008-02-02T21:26:00.000+11:00

With the weather dithering between sunshine and rain, it's hard to know what kind of meal to go with. Shall I go for something heavy to blubber-up for the cold or do I go for something light and refreshing? It's the same kind of dilemma when you go out- should I bring a cardigan or will I regret having to carry it in my already stuffed bag, ten blocks away from the car? Sometimes you just have to put your money on the fact that although it's mid-summer, it's probably going to rain.

According to the bureau of meteorology, the east cost is currently experiencing the La niña weather phenomenon, which basically means that it's going to rain- a lot. And it has. On the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about the lawn going brown or having to wash my car so often. So this La niña thing isn't all doom and gloom- it has its ups.

So when the outside is just too disagreeable to contend with- like earth shattering claps of thunder, stray bolts of lightning that could possibly strike you at any time and a wall of rain that's falling sideways, it's best to stay indoors and let nature's fury pass. And while passing the time indoors, I decided to make use of all those spare hours by making a chocolate tortini- a soft-centred chocolate tortini to be exact.

The recipe is from chef Luke Latimer of Onesta Cucina in Bowral, which is in country NSW. I found the recipe in the Australian Gourmet Traveller accompanied by one of those really enticing photographs, worthy of a magazine cover that lure you into buying the thing and then makes you crave the dish so much that you would give up your first-born for a taste. Luckily I have no offspring of my own. But what I could possibly give up is a perfectly sunny day in exchange for one chocolate tortini, topped with all sorts of sweet and creamy condiments that will make your dietician shudder.

The dish is almost in danger of bordering on being too good. And what is great is that the recipe is designed for when you have time to wile away. This is exactly what rainy days are made for, sitting around and wasting away the hours, probably in front of the television or with a good book. And if you are too self-righteous to admit to loving those lazy days then that's just too bad. Doing nothing is tons fun.

The original recipe calls for a raspberry sauce although I was all out of raspberries and in this rain, I wasn't going to venture out berry-picking; I was all stocked up on blueberries though, so I decided to create a port-based blueberry sauce to go with the tortinis instead. The result is a gorgeous deep mulberry-coloured syrup that is the perfect accompaniment to the richness of the tortini.

The tortinis are under-baked intentionally so that the centres remain soft and when you cut into one of them, the lovely dark-brown centre oozes out from the middle. It's artwork in motion. You can also top the tortinis with a dollop of cream, however I decided to use mascarpone because that's what I had lying around.

I know it sounds extremely pretentious in that snobishly foodie sort of way, but I would recommend only using high quality chocolate for this dessert, as you probably would for most desserts because you will definitely taste the difference in the end. In this case, compound chocolate just won't do. Actually I wouldn't even recommend using compound chocolate in anything as it lacks the complex flavours that true chocolate has. So is that uppity enough for you?

If and when there's another rainy day to give you all the time in the world, head over to the Monthyly Mingle at What's For Lunch Honey. There will be a great selection of comfort foods that will see you through a rainy day and then some.

Soft-Centred Chocolate Tortini with Blueberry Port
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller
Serves 6

FOR THE TORTINI
160g dark chocolate(70% cocoa solids), coarsely chopped
160g unsalted butter, coarsley chopped
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
75g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
50g (1/3 cup) plain all-purpose flour
Mascarpone cheese, to serve

FOR THE SAUCE
150ml Tawny Port
100ml water
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
2 punnets blueberries

MAKING THE TORTINI
Melt chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, stir to combine and cool.
Using an electric mixer, beat eggs, yolks and sugar for 8 minutes or until thick and creamy.
Gradually add flour and whisk to combine, then add chocolate mixture and whisk for another 5 minutes.
Divide mixture between 6 lightly greased and floured 10cm-diameter round pie tins, place on an oven tray and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 170ºC.
Bake tortini for 10-12 minutes or until they are firm but their centres are soft.
To serve, remove tortini carefully from pie tins and place on plates, top with a scoop of mascarpone, drizzle with blueberry sauce and serve immediately.

MAKING THE PORT AND BLUEBERRY SAUCE
Combine port, water, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add the blueberries and reduce heat and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the liquid becomes syrupy.
Set aside to cool.

Australians All Let Us Rejoice

2008-01-26T11:09:00.001+11:00

It's AUSTRALIA DAY today so I won't consider it too garish to get a little patriotic say a big G'day to all of you! And if you were thinking that we are all putting that trite little shrimp on the barbie then think again, first of all we call them prawns down here and were most likely going to be putting snags or chops on the barbie. Yes, snags or chops. Sausages or steaks.

You have to love the Aussie lexicon. It's baffling and nonsensical to the outsider; we love to attach silly terms to words that are in perfect working order and love to shorten everything, but if you are Australian it makes perfect sense. Like a cup of tea being a cuppa, chewing gum becomes chewie, breakfast being breakkie, and anyone called Darren, Karen and Lauren will indubitably be given the nickname Dazza, Kazza, and Lozza. I love being Australian.

Another thing quintessentially Australian and proudly so, is the barbie- the barbeque. Now I'm pretty sure it wasn't the early settlers who thought up this way of grilling meat over hot coals, I'm sure it was around for a lot longer than that. But what we do pride ourselves in are our barbies. Most people will get together today and put a few snags on their barbie, have a beer and good laugh. We're not into formality and being all ceremonious about things, and the barbie epitomises all that is casual about the Australian lifestyle.

There's something about meat that is cooked over an open flame that just makes it taste better. All that smoke and fire permeating the meat, charring the outside and leaving the inside tender. It's a joy to behold and even more so to eat.

Right now I'm on a bit of a sausage bent. I have it with my pasta, I have in my sandwiches and I have it on my pizza. Right now I'm obsessed with finding good sausages all over Sydney and for this moment my taste buds go ga-ga for any sausage by the Eumundi Smokehouse people. They are a small business operating out of Dulwich Hill and if you're in Sydney and you like your meat, then this is your Mecca. They also have stalls at several markets like the monthly Pyrmont ones and the Farmer's Market in the Entertainment Quarter and most of their stuff can be found at organic wholefood stores like Macro and Aboutlife.

Their chorizos are probably one of the best I have tasted in Sydney, and at $32/kilo for the Russian Farmer's sausage, it's gold for the discriminating carnivore. As much as the shop is filled with exotic fare, there are also simpler stuff that I find are a delight- like the beef and Guinness, lamb and rosemary, chicken and leek, Tolouse and Italian sausages. My personal favourite is the lamb and rosemary. When you cook them up, the kitchen fills up with that distinct aroma of lamb, and soon enough it's perfume has summoned everyone to the kitchen.

I went to the farmer's market at the old Fox Studios lot this week to get my ration of sausages for the weekend and it seems that most of Sydney had the same idea. By the time I had arrived at the Eumundi stall most of their sausages had already sold out including the lamb and rosemary, so I was left with what was still there. Not that the stuff left behind was second-rate. It's actually top-notch stuff that I thoroughly enjoy today.

So have a barbie and get a few sausage sangas (sausage sandwiches) and beers into your belly, be up standing for the national anthem and enjoy this beautiful land we call Australia.

Eumundi Smokehouse Sydney
402 New Canterbury Rd,
Dulwich Hill, NSW
Phone: (02) 9569 0205
Opening Hours: Thursday-Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday 7am-2pm

In The Closet, And A Really Good Pizza Dough Recipe

2008-01-25T23:40:00.002+11:00

I'm still a little embarrassed about the little spiel I did earlier about my recent nomination. I sort of stayed away from the blog for little while for fear that my readers had turned on me and thought I had become some sort of sell-out. I don't know why I feel like that but I'm still a little awkward about getting recognition for the blog, it's nice when other bloggers say nice things about me, but when all the appreciation suddenly becomes official, I somehow get all gawky and reluctant.

I guess I'm not sure what the appropriate reaction is, I guess gratitude and excitement would seem apparent, although I'm not sure whether I should be all glaringly blatant about it and in the spirit of blogging- share all things with you the reader or whether I should be all rock and roll about the whole thing, just cool and aloof- no skin off my back whether I win or lose.

At some points I manage to border on being apathetic about the whole thing but my inner dork just wants to be all giddy like a school girl about it. There's no fighting that geek inside, so I just can't help but be all Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars about the whole thing. I'm sorry.

But the weird thing is I'm still a little reluctant about the blog. Yes, this blog; the blog that I have been writing on for the past year and half; the blog that I have been disclosing what I eat, what I do, what I hate, what I like. Yes that blog. Bizarre I know but surprisingly some of my friends don't even know I have a blog and my own mother only found out accidentally. It's not that I'm ashamed of the blog. Quite the contrary in fact, especially when I didn't even really know what a blog was before I started.

Let's just say that I'm a little self-conscious about my thoughts being there for everyone to read. Laughable you might say because contradictorily I am writing about my thoughts on a blog for everyone to read, but I am somehow comfortable in the fact that most of you don't really know me other than through the blog. It's not that this blog is my opportunity to peddle a fake version of myself, but I am uncomfortable about people I know reading my writing. Weird but true.

I've never admitted to it until now but I have a real problem about people I know reading and criticising my writing, I don't mind them seeing the photographs, but it's the words that I have a complex about. It mortifies me for a second when I know that one of my friends have discovered my secret hobby. It's probably equivalent to being caught naked in a public street. I don't know why but I'm still in the closet when it comes to blogging.

But what I don't have any qualms with shouting from the roof tops about is pizza. I could literally have pizza as my last meal on Earth, provided that it's good pizza and not that doughy, processed meat topped garbage that some establishment to try peddle as "pizza". Yes you know who you are.

There's as many recipes for pizza dough as there are combinations of pizza toppings, so I don't like to say that this recipe is the be all and end all of all pizza dough recipes. Although this recipe is from the cookbook The Silver Spoon, touted as the bible for Italian cuisine. So I wouldn't dare question or even dare critique over 55 years of culinary history. All I know is that this dough is simple and it turns out a treat.

I don't usually like to do recipes for pizza except for the dough itself. I think you should be able to put whatever you fancy on it. Hey, you rolled out that dough, you waited around for a couple or so hours for that dough to prove, you kneaded that thing until you developed really toned forearms, you deserve to pick your own pizza toppings.

And with pizza, I think the only rules that apply are- the dough shouldn't be too thick and secondly don't overload your pizza with too many toppings. Don't be tempted to put every left-over you find lurking in the fridge on your pizza, it's not a garbage disposal, so don't over-top. But other than that just go for what floats your boat.

I went with a sausage and bocconcini pizza- it was good.

MY PIZZA TOPPINGS:
Eumundi Smokehouse Beef, Spinach and Tomato Sausages
Bocconcini
Crushed tomatoes
Basil leaves

This pizza can also be seen in the round up for HHDD #17 hosted by 80 Breakfasts. Have a look at the other bevy of pizza recipes and vote for your favourite one.

Basic Pizza Dough
recipe adapted from The Silver Spoon
Serves 4

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: pizza stone or better yet a wood-fire oven

250g plain flour, preferably Italian type 00, plus extra for dusting
¾ tsp salt
15g fresh yeast
120ml lukewarm water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for brushing

Sift the flour and salt into a mound on a work surface and make a well in the centre.
Mash the yeast in the water with a fork until very smooth, add the olive oil and pour mixture into the well. Incorporate the flour with your fingers to make a soft dough.
Knead well, pulling and stretching until it becomes smooth and elastic.
Shape into a ball, cut a cross in the top, place in a bowl and cover.
Leave to rise in a warm place for about 3 hours until almost doubled in size.
Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a circle about 5mm thick.
Brush a baking sheet with oil or line it with baking parchment.
Put the dough on it and press out until it covers the area.
Make sure the rim is thicker than the centre.

Shameless Self-Promotion

2008-01-25T02:59:00.000+11:00

Since when did self promotion become so shameless? I don't know, but if reading this is making you cringe, don't worry, I feel the same way and that feeling grows at an exponential rate while I'm writing this. Although for some reason I still cannot get my fingers to stop typing. Perhaps that is why self promotion is so shameless, it's a guilty pleasure; its blatant and immodest, yet it's so easy to yield to it's beguiling temptation.

So what am I promoting? Well, this blog. I woke up this morning to realise that I was one of the finalists for the 2008 Bloggies in the Best Australian or New Zealand Weblog category. Unbeknownst to me someone out there nominated this blog and to my surprise it is now one of the finalists. Who would have thought? I had never even heard of the Bloggies before and to realise it had been going on since 2001, I feel so ill-informed about my own medium.

So I just wanted to say THANK YOU to whoever it was who nominated me for the Bloggies, you can choose to remain anonymous if you want as there is no reward for you in coming forward other than getting a showering of gratitude from me for thinking of this little blog. But while we're dwelling on thankfulness and appreciation, I might as well point out that you too can vote for me by going to their website.

So that it's not all about me, there are also a number of other great blogs, some of them Ausralian, up for a Bloggy, so why don't you go and vote for them too. Voting closes at 10:00pm EST, Thursday, January 31 and the results will be posted on their website Monday, March 10.

A Cake Without the Bake

2008-01-24T15:12:00.001+11:00

NOTE: I have received several comments about the Spanish origin of polvoron or namely polvorones. I do realise that this Filipino sweet was most definitely inherited from the Spaniards during their colonisation of the Philippines during the late 1500's, and I do apologise for not pointing this out earlier. However, this version of polvoron, I believe, is the Filipino permutation of the dessert after thousands of years of acquiring the recipe. Traditionally, Spanish polvorones is made with almonds and cinnamon, and does not contain any powdered milk like the Filipino version does. So although polvoron did originate from Spain, the Filipino version does differ markedly from it's Spanish original.

**********

Everyone loves a shortcut, taking the longer course or going through arduous and difficult procedures is usually left to sadists. Why do you think those "lose-10-pounds-in-two-weeks" exercise machines are so popular, and not to mention liposuction. Hey, when all this food-blogging weight finally catches up with me, I wouldn't say that lipo was out of the question. Inherently we all like the shorter path, easier to tread and faster to get through. Who wants to row a boat across a river when there is a perfectly reliable bridge?

Sometimes a shortcut takes you to a place you never wanted to be at in the first place, sometimes it gets you in an argument you never wanted to have as you are tossing the street directory out the window, but enough about my life. Sometimes a shortcut can take you to a delicious destination in half the time, like a cake without the bake. Say what?

Yes, a cake without the bake. It's polvoron- a Filipino sweet that is somewhat like a toasted wheat cake that consists of flour, powdered milk, sugar and melted butter, and is compressed into a cake using a polvoron press. I used to eat these by the dozen as a child and I never imagined that I could make it myself. It always stood in my memories of childhood on some imaginary pedestal of foods that I could never possibly recreate. It seemed almost irreverent to reach into that corner of my childhood remembrance and rehash something that I have such a wistful affection for.

Since I had never made this childhood dessert before, and always ever purchased it from the Filipino store, I doubted whether my creation could attain the same pleasure and gratification I got whenever I popped one of the store-bought ones in my mouth. Sweet and milky, the powdery cake slowly melts into a thick pool of sweet creamy goodness in your mouth. But I never realised how simple it was to make. And did I mention there is no baking involved?

Traditionally polvoron is milk flavoured but sometimes nuts like cashews or peanuts are added. Also a popular addition is pinipig, which is immature glutinous rice that is pounded and added to the flour mixture and sometimes pandan (screwpine) or ube (purple yam) is also used to flavour polvoron. But as a child with such a juvenile palate, I could only savour the plain version of polvoron, I was much too fussy to eat anything green, or even more so purple.

But this time I decided to make the original milk flavoured polvoron and a chocolate version as well. I know as a child I would have relished a chocolate flavoured polvoron, as most children probably would. I assume that this flavour would have caught on by now as I know that some places in the Philippines do sell a very post-modern cookies and cream version of polvoron. And if your imagination stretches far enough you could pretty much cnceive any flavour of polvoron- say green tea, lavender, coffee, hazelnut, which ever way you are inclined the polvoron can go that way.

But today we are talking about sentimental food, so there can't be any meanderings into the bizarre and fanciful. It's all about the simple things that hark back to your youth. There's always something distinctly romantic about the food we've have in our youth and years later they somehow manage to mount the massive plinth for things we idealise and hold dear with starry-eyed affection. And this sweet, along with fairy bread and nutella sandwiches is definitely high on the list.

As for the cake without the bake, well it might seem off-putting and unsavoury to be eating flour unbaked, but what is done first is that the flour is toasted in a skillet until it is slightly browned. Turn your eyes away for a moment and you might have yourself suffering from smoke inhalation, burnt flour does not smell good, so make sure you keep your eyes on the colour of the flour at all times. Just like caramelising sugar, it can go brown in the blink of an eye. It all comes together with a little melted butter and the powdery mixture is compressed in a polvoron mould that contains a small press that pushes out the shaped polvoron. And to finish it off the polvoron is individually wrapped in paper like little powdered lollies.

The verdict, well I couldn't help but be hard on myself. Could my own rendition of this hallowed childhood sweet be as good as it is in my memory? I don't know. To be honest when I tasted it I was pleasantly surprised at how similar it tasted to the store-bought variety, although for me it just wasn't the same. It was probably because my palate had been clouded by years and years of eating this stuff as a child, and frankly I don't think any version of mine could ever taste as good as it does in my imagination. But do try it for yourself and come to your own conclusion.

But if you would like to see what other meals and recipes people are reminiscing about, head on over to the Skinny Gourmet. She is holding a food event focussing on food nostalgia. The round-up will be posted at the end of January.

Polvolron
makes about 24 polvoron

1 cup plain all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup powdered milk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

FOR CHOCOLATE POLVORON
2 tbsp hot chocolate milk powder

In a large skillet over low to medium heat, toast the flour until light brown.
Remove from heat and add the sugar and powdered milk, (add the hot chocolate milk powder if making chocolate polvoron)
Add the melted butter and mix thoroughly in skillet.
Transfer flour mixture to a plate and compact mixture in a polvoron press.
Place moulded polvoron onto a flat baking tray/cookie sheet and refrigerate for 1 hour.
To wrap, cut tissue or soft wax paper into 12cm x 12cm squares.
Place polvoron piece onto the middle of the paper and fold over top and bottom sides, tuck in edges into the middle and twist

The Sweet Escape

2008-01-17T00:04:00.000+11:00

The weather; it's always been a talking point no matter where you go. Meet a stranger at a bus stop and strike up a conversation about the weather and you find yourself a mate for life. And I do mean "mate" as in the Aussie idiom and not in that biological sense that results in procreation. But nonetheless, I think that the weather has the efficacy of bringing people together in the same way that food does.

I know in Sydney it has become a bit of a past time to talk about it's wild and wacky ways, especially with its ferociously destructive bent of recent times. The weather has become a little bit of a farce, seeing that we have seen it all in the past couple of months. It's probably been one of the hottest, coldest and wettest summers in history. And, like mine, many Sydneysiders tongues have been sent wagging with all this unprecedented, history-making weather.

I stood in a queue at the Post Office and struck up a conversation with one woman about the recent hailstorm and how long it took the SES to come and patch her roof. Then another lady behind us piped in and recounted about how she had to quickly get all her greyhounds inside as their corrugated iron shed was no match for the golf ball sized hail stones. At that point I could feel those warm and fuzzy feelings, that only usually turn up come Christmas time, well up in my gut. Now this is what community feels like.

And I guess this is where my fondness for food stems from- it's inclination for community. Meals bring people together, food is such a rallying force- and when you get a collection of people gathered together in united mastication, it's a beautiful thing. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's more fun when you get to share the calories around, and what's a few kilojoules between friends?

Now here is one dessert that is definitely meant for sharing; the cakes are made individually so there is enough for everyone. And you don't have to feel like you are taking on the Spanish Armada as the cakes are incredibly light and airy. When you think of oranges, you think winter, but when you're in the midst of a cold spell like we are today it's the perfect thing to warm your belly.

Yesterday may have been ice cream and short-shorts weather but just like your luck in Vegas, Sydney-weather can turn just like that. And just like that, it's now back to long-sleeve, scarves and sweet indulgent cakes weather. I guess you can't complain, when you get to sit in front of the television, feet curled up under you with a plate of this. I know right now, I'm not saying a thing.

And if you are hankering for more, then head over to the The Garden of Eating soon and check out the round up of other comforting treats in the 2008 Comfort Food Cook-Off that is sure to weather any cold snap you might be amidst of.

Little yoghurt and orange blossom cakes
Recipe from the Australian Gourmet Traveller
Serves 12

300g (2 cups) plain all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
300g vanilla yoghurt
60ml (¼ cup) buttermilk
160g unsalted butter, softened
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
½ tsp finely grated orange rind
4 eggs
100g vanilla Persian fairy floss, to serve (optional)

FOR ORANGE BLOSSSOM ICING
60g unsalted butter, softened
600g icing confectioner’s sugar, sifted
3 tsp orange blossom water (see note)
1½ tbsp vanilla yoghurt

Preheat oven to 160ºC.
Grease and line twelve round dariole cake pans (see note).
Sift flour with baking powder and a pinch of salt and set aside.
Whisk yoghurt and buttermilk together in a bowl and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and orange rind until pale and creamy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly between each addition to combine.
With mixer on low speed, add one-third of the flour and mix to combine, then add one-third of the yoghurt mixture and mix to combine.
Repeat with remaining mixtures, alternating, until incorporated.
Mix just until batter is smooth, then divide evenly among prepared cake pans.
Tap base to level and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted withdraws clean.
Cool completely in pans on a wire rack.
Remove cakes from pans.

FOR ORANGE BLOSSOM ICING
Beat all ingredients and 1½ tbsp water in an electric mixer for 1 minute or until smooth.
Working with one cake at a time and using a hot, wet spatula, ice cakes starting with sides, then top. (If icing becomes difficult to spread, continue to dip spatula in hot water until icing is completely even.)
Set aside and stand for 1 hour or until icing is firm to touch, then serve each cake topped with a little fairy floss (optional).

NOTE: Orange blossom water is available from The Essential Ingredient (www.theessentialingredient.com.au/) and other specialty food stores.

Blowing Hot and Cold

2008-01-11T22:26:00.000+11:00

Hot, cold, Sunny, cloudy. You never know what it's going to be. The weather in Sydney has been as indecisive as a temperamental bride-to-be umm-ing and ahh-ing her way through everything. I don't think I have seen the weather this ambivalent until of late; moody, yes; merciless, yes, but this ambiguous, no. You never know what's coming your way, and I've given up trusting the weather people, they seem to get it wrong most of time.

With the weather being so volatile, I thought I would beat mother nature to the punch and just put away something sweet and icy for when a hot summer's day would come. If we were going to get one, that is. I found that making a batch of ice cream on a cloudy day, is the perfect nest egg for future hot days.

And well what do you know, summer does eventually decide to show up and in true Sydney fashion, it showed up in such a way that you will want to jump out of your skin, or at least straight into a cold pool of water. Woe to all those who don't have air-conditioning, or aren't in near proximity to a body of water.

Being the environmentally-conscious greenies that we are, were a little stingy with the air-conditioning and try not use it unnecessarily and like to leave it up to mother nature to provide the cool breeze. Although when Sydney summer is at its peak, you can forget the breeze; you can also forget the words balmy and tropical, it's more like stifling and blistering and not to mention the muggy nights. There's just no relief. By this time there is absolutely no hesitation in grabbing the remote and turning on the cool air. I'm trying to remember why I love summer again.

Ahh yes, there is this one thing, besides the beach of course- it's Ice Cream! I hate to say it but let's just do a united shout out and hi-five for ice cream. Whoever decided to put some cream and eggs together and said let's churn this baby till it gets thick and freeze it is a godsend. In my opinion, nothing makes children and adults alike as happy as ice cream does.

This ice cream not only took the edge off during the hot days but it also comes as an extremely tardy recipe for the guys at Harden Honey. I had promised them some recipes on the supply that they had generously given me months ago but never got around to making something decent and worthy of their honey. So here it is, finally, a gorgeously smooth Honey Lavender Ice Cream.

Using honey instead of sugar is great of you are thinking about minimising refined sugars in your diet, honey is not only a natural sweetener and is full of antioxidants. It also adds a nice floral accents to the ice cream, more so than ordinary sugar would. I would recommend using a mild honey for this ice cream as a stronger, richer honey would drown out the subtlety of the lavender.

And to add to the fanfare, I made these cute ice cream cups made of wonton wrappers. It's a great alternative to waffle cones, especially when you don't have one of those nifty waffle cone presses.

Honey Lavender Ice Cream
Recipe from epicurious.com
Makes about 1-litre

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup full cream milk
2/3 cup mild honey
2 tbsp dried edible lavender flowers
2 large eggs
1/8 tsp salt

Bring cream, milk, honey, and lavender just to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, then remove pan from heat.
Let steep, covered, 30 minutes.
Pour cream mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard lavender.
Return mixture to cleaned saucepan and heat over moderate heat until hot.

Whisk together eggs and salt in a large bowl, then add 1 cup hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking.
Pour into remaining hot cream mixture in saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 75 to 80°C on a thermometer, about 5 minutes (do not let boil).

Pour custard through sieve into cleaned bowl and cool completely, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.
Churn custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.

Crispy Ice-Cream Cups
recipe from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 36

1-pack wonton wrappers*
40g unsalted butter, melted
icing (confectioner's) sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Brush wonton wrappers with melted butter.
Press wrappers into a 12-hole muffin tray. (Depending on the size of the wonton wrappers you have bought you may have to use more than one wrapper. If you are using more than one, brush between each layer.)
Bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Turn out into a wire rack and cool.
Dust with icing sugar.
Scoop ice cream into the cups and serve immediately.

Biscuits With Bite

2008-01-08T13:17:00.000+11:00

When I look back on the earlier months of this blog I was surprised at how prodigious I was at turning out post after post. There was one month where I posted a whopping 25 entries, which to me now seems unfathomable and seeing as how the number of posts per month have now dwindled to less than half of that record number, I am quite surprised how much free time I had to cook and blog. I guess I am a little more discerning on what I post about and noticed that I do not quite readily post about any old recipe I find on the back of a soup can.

Where did all that time for baking and blogging go?

I was judging the December DMBLGIT just last week and thought about when the last time I had this much time to just pore over more than 100 photographs. I was sitting there at about photo 31 and thought that this is really fun, just sitting here, all this time on my hands and no pressure to do anything with it.

And as I bit into my fourth, no wait fifth cheddar biscuit, I thought this is something I could really get used to- endless summer holidays, seemingly wasting hours on leisurely things. Even though our summer has been a little wayward, and somewhat recalcitrant, the summer holiday vibe has certainly set in. The days, although some are cloudy and bleak are definitely longer and the summer heat, although not as potent, makes it shorts and thongs (flip flops, for you Americans) weather all the way. If only there was a way of hanging on to summer and all this free time.

Well in the free time that I managed to garner during my break, I decided to make use of the nigella seeds that had been sitting in my spice rack for some time now, unopened and untouched. I have never used Nigella seeds in anything before, and prior to that all I knew of Nigella was of the celebrity chef. The first thing that stood out at me were the seeds' deep coal-black colour and it seems that it's name was derived from the Latin word nigellus, meaning black.

The seeds jet-black exterior can seem a little menacing at first, but when you actually put your nose to it, you will find a very delicate peppery fragrance that comes out of them. It is when the seeds are actually rubbed or ground that a more robust bouquet is released somewhat reminiscent of onion seeds.

The seeds are mainly used in the Middle East and India in certain spice blends and to flavour their doughs. And I actually do remember buying some naan bread at an Indian take-away with black seeds scattered on top of the bread. Although at the time I thought this was merely sesame seeds that were burned while baking in the hot tandoori oven. How I was wrong.

These biscuits were a nice change from the baking that I have been doing of late. Christmas tends to bring out the sweet and rich recipes but after Christmas your body is crying out for something lighter and less sugar-laden. These biscuits are perfect for tea time. Just the right amount of crumble when you bite into them and you can wash it down with your favourite tea, be it Green, Orange Pekoe or Russian caravan.

The apple chutney that accompanies the biscuits is entirely optional, although it is quite a cinch to make. Just place all the ingredients in a saucepan and off it goes. The spiced green apple is somewhat like a chutney, it is flavoured with chilli and spices and a a great way to preserve a surplus of apples.

Just place a dollop of the spiced apples on the biscuits and you will find an explosion of flavour, sweet and savoury all at once. And what about the Nigella seeds in the biscuits? Well their flavour is quite mild but certainly adds a pepperiness to the biscuits that would be lacking with just the cheddar. The saltiness of the cheddar and the peppery taste of the Nigella seeds is a perfect balance of two flavours that usually go hand in hand.

Cheddar and nigella seed biscuits with spiced green apple
Adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller
Makes up to 70

FOR THE BISCUITS
225g plain all-purpose flour
150g unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
100g vintage cheddar, finely grated
½ tsp nigella seeds
1 egg yolk

FOR THE SPICED GREEN APPLE
2 Granny Smith apples, cut into eight wedges and thinly sliced widthways
180ml cider vinegar
110g granulated sugar
3 star anise
¼ cup water
1 tsp sea salt
1 small red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped

MAKING THE SPICED GREEN APPLE
Place the apples and ¼ cup vinegar in a small bowl.
Heat remaining vinegar, sugar, star anise, water and sea salt in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
Add apple mixture and chilli.
Return to a simmer, reduce heat to low and cook gently, without stirring, for 1 hour or until liquid is almost reduced.
Cool and store in an airtight jar in the refrigerator until required.
Makes about 1 cup.

NOTE: Spiced green apple will keep for up to 1 month and can be substituted with a good-quality fruit chutney.

MAKING THE BISCUITS
Place flour, butter, cheddar and nigella seeds in a bowl and using fingers rub butter through flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Alternatively you can use a food processor.
Add egg yolk and mix until combined.
Turn dough onto a clean surface and knead gently until smooth.
Form into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface until 3mm-thick and using an 4cm-diameter fluted cutter cut out shapes and place on oven trays prepared with baking paper.
Form remaining dough into a ball, roll and repeat.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
Cool on tray for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Serve biscuits with spiced green apple.

Eat, Drink and be Berry

2008-01-03T04:32:00.000+11:00

January is here again, and the season of expanding waistlines is slowly winding up; it looks like gym memberships and low-fat yoghurt are back on the list of things hip and happening and pork and anything that ends with the word pudding are back the list of all things dreaded and uncool. Only during the festive season is it okay to reach for your third or possibly even fourth helping of Christmas ham (with extra glaze), and everyone knows when you have multiple festivities to attend the food tally always reverts back to zero at the start of every function.

Is it just me or does the capacity of one's belly tend to expand with each Christmas? I know now that I have had 26 years practice in eating to surfeit, and my belly can hold surprisingly more than I can fathom to eat. You should have seen the meagre amount of gingerbread men I could eat in the past, now I can practically down a whole tribe of them and their m&m covered house without even batting an eyelid. Luckily, the genetic lottery has supplied me with a quick metabolism that hopefully won't go south with age.

But just before you go back into that regime of pristine of fitness and health and while were still hanging on to our seemingly rapid metabolic rate, here is one more fat-laden dessert for the road- a Berry Semifreddo that is a nice balance between the good and the bad. Good = berries. Bad = Cream.

If you are teetering on the fine edge between saying no to desserts and all things sweet as your resolution this year, then perhaps consider this semifreddo as the last thing to tide you over until the next sugar binge. The dessert isn't overly cloying and the great thing is that all the ingredients are natural. If you are at all worried about all that cream then this dessert is probably not for you. Just think, all that cream aside, there are eggs and berries, both I imagine would have that giant red tick from the Heart Foundation. So what's to worry about?

Besides, with all the whisking involved in this dessert, half of what your eating is probably just air. And if you are still really worried abut all that cream, then the best thing to do is to invite ten of your closest friends and get them to help you eat all that extra dessert. What are your friends there for but to share the calories with?

What's great about most iced confections that contain cream, like ice cream, is that you really don't need to eat that much to feel full. Two modest scoops and you have had your fill. Not that this dessert isn't good enough for seconds but when you are curbing the expansion of that waistline, two scoops are perfect for drawing the line.

As you can see, I am still enjoying the bumper crop of berries available in the markets. Some berries have a markedly short season here so I like to get them as soon as they appear in stores before they disappear again. For this recipe I used blueberries and raspberries, although you could probably substitute any other type of berry that is is in season- strawberries which can be easily found are a good alternative, as would be mulberries and blackberries and redcurrants if you can get them.

The great thing about this dessert is that it not only tastes delicious but it looks a treat once you start to scoop into it. The berries tend to sink to the bottom as you freeze them, so when they emerge from the freezer it really doesn't look like much much, but when you dig in you will be pleasantly surprised by a deluge or colour.

Right now the weather has been surprisingly genial, considering the weather people had tipped an overcast and wet summer. So what better way to take advantage of the sunny days than with a dessert to beat the heat.

Berry Semifreddo
Adapted From Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 36
Serves 10

2 x 120g punnets blueberries
1 x 120g punnet raspberries
3 eggs
2 egg yolks, extra
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 cup caster sugar
1¾ pure single (pouring) cream

Place blueberries in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
Pour into a small bowl and set aside.
Clean out food processor bowl and process the raspberries and place in another bowl and set aside.
Place eggs, egg yolks, vanilla seeds and sugar in a large heatproof bowl.
Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk the mixture with a hand-held beater for 4-5 minutes or until thick and pale.
Remove from heat and continue to whisk until the mixture is room temperature.
In a separate bowl, whisk cream until soft peaks form and gently fold into the egg mixture.
Fold in the berries until evenly incorporated throughout the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a 12-cup capacity dish and cover with aluminium foil.
Place in the freezer for 4-6 hours until set.
Serve with strawberries on top.

Bring on 2008!

2007-12-31T22:21:00.001+11:00

Ahh 2007. Here it came and there it went.

Thank you so much for all your support and encouragement in the past year, I honestly don't think the blog would have lasted this long if it weren't for such faithful blog friends that leave lovely comments and visit every week. If If it were possible, I would call for a virtual group hug right now. You all have put a smile on my face and I can only hope that the blog does the same for you.

I just wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year and hope that 2008 is a cracking good year for you and your family. Here's a little glimpse of what was cooking in my kitchen the past year. Hope the next year is just as delicious.

Berries Berries Everywhere

2007-12-27T19:13:00.000+11:00

Ahh Christmas. I can't believe that it has just come and gone. And although many a swine and perhaps turkey are breathing a collective sigh of relief now that their juicy tender flesh are no longer being eyed off as delectable cuts of Christmas meat to be proudly set down on one's dinner table, I can't help but think how much quicker and quicker the Christmas season rolls by every year.

I know I've had my fair share of ham and turkey and of course the obligatory seafood bounty that is the cornerstone of every Aussie Christmas, but I cannot overlook one of the very reasons why I love Christmas down under, it's that Christmas is smack-bang in the midst of our summer. And although we are experiencing what I have affectionately coined as the summer that never was, the sun turned out for a gloriously sunny Christmas day. Seeing the sun was quite heartening, seeing as that we are looking at the prospect of only 4 sunny days in December, according to the weather people and it appears that we have already had them all.

With a typical all-Australian summer comes the sun and the flies, which can be cause for contempt for many Australians and a lot more non-Australians who just cannot handle the sticky weather and the flies that tend to stick. The flies are indeed everywhere, and annoyingly so, although the good weather has been somewhat remiss.

However, thunderstorms and absent sunshine aside, one thing that makes my heart beat that little bit faster is the prospect of summer berries. Of all the genus of fruit around, I think the berry is my most favourite. They come in so many varieties, so many colours and so many flavours, what's not to fall in love with? Berries in the summer, mean berries for Christmas and what doesn't scream festive more than the look of summer berries. Hues of deep blue, magenta and violet and bright tones of crimson, ruby red and green the palette is endless.

As much as I cannot go past the humble strawberry, probably the most popular of all berries there are so many others that are ripe for dessert, and a great way to showcase one of summer's bounties is in a berry clafoutis. A dessert that originated from France and was traditionally made with cherries, the modern clafoutis, I think can be made with just about any fruit you can bake. Although clafoutis purists adhere strictly to cherries, I think this dessert is versatile enough for a change.

You can pretty much include whatever berries you wish in this dessert's and if berries aren't your thing then stone fruits like peaches and apricots are a great substitute. Even though, strictly speaking, raspberries and blackberries aren't considered to be true berries in the botanical sense, there's no need for being exclusively botanic in your interpretation of a berry clafoutis. Feel free to throw in anything that ends with a the word berry. I'm sure the result will be just as fantastic.

The verdict? This recipe yields a smooth and light dessert that is perfect after Christmas when we have all had a little bit too much to eat and drink. Althought it's made up mostly of cream and eggs, the dessert is not at all rich and filling like a crème brûlée would be. And the tartness of the berries create a nice contrast to the sweetness of the custard.

Perfect with a glass of champagne if your feeling celebratory or just a simple glass of moscato (Tempus Two is my favourite) this dessert is an easy crowd pleaser and one you can pull out for any dinner party. So take advantage of the surplus of berries right now and perhaps make up for the lack of sunshine this summer.

Summer Berry Clafoutis
Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 36
Serves 6

4 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
300ml pure single or pouring cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup plain all-purpose flour
1 punnet blueberries
½ punnet blackberries or mulberries
1 punnet raspberries
½ punnet strawberries, halved and hulled
icing (confectioner's) sugar, for dusting

Preheat over to 160ºC.
Brush oven proof dish with butter.
In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, cream and vanilla extract and whisk until frothy.
Sift flour over egg mixture and whisk until smooth.
Pour batter into prepare oven proof dish and scatter berries evenly throughout the dish.
Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until the centre has just set and golden.
Remove from oven and dust with icing sugarto serve.

Menu For Hope #4

2007-12-27T18:23:00.000+11:00

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to 2008. It's been a crazy past 2 weeks and in my absence it's been pretty quiet around here at Milk and Cookies, I'm sure you have noticed. I had planned on a really thoughtful Christmas post just before the Yule to wish everyone a nice Christmas, but I guess that thought just never came to fruition. I had panned on baking a really nice fruitcake or perhaps posting about a chocolate panettone recipe, however that I never got around to either. So I'm sorry I haven't been more attentive to the blog of late, although there hasn't been a lack of food and eating, I can assure you of that.

And although this may sound a little trite and overdone but I really do count it a privilege to be able to blog, and of all things, blog about food. I know that most of the world's population do not have such frivolity to indulge themselves in and know that this food blogging thing is a concession I don't want to take for granted especially when our subject matter is something of an unfathomable luxury in other nations.

So I just wanted to briefly appreciate all those of you who were able to show their generosity for this year's Menu For Hope and of course to all of those who were involved in making it happen in every region and undoubtedly Pim, of Chez Pim who has been at the helm of this fundraiser for the past 4 years . We have completely eclipsed last year's total by an astounding $29.360.88 (USD). And according to Pim's blog the total now stands at $90,286.00 (USD)!!! Geez-Louise!

So good luck to all those who are in the raffle, I know I am crossing my fingers, hoping and wishing that I win this year. I have my eye on a certain prize- AP38.

Winners will be announced on Chez Pim, Wednesday January 9, 2008.

So it seems that this Christmas the blog has been suffering from a little neglect and it's high time I show it some love again so next on Milk and Cookies: Berries

The Summer That Never Was

2007-12-12T20:27:00.003+11:00

Summer where are you? I checked under my bed and you weren't there, I checked under the rug and in between the couch but you weren't there. I looked through the drawers and even through my dirty laundry but alas you were nowhere to be found. Who has stolen our summer away?

After weeks of continual rain and this freak of nature that has turned some parts of our city into a state of emergency, many are starting to wonder what ever happened to summer. The official start of the summer season was supposed to be the beginning of this month, but since then I can only recall one perfectly sunny day and that was my birthday. If only there was a way of willing summer back by clicking my heels three times like Dorothy but it looks like the wet and at times kooky weather is going to continue on for a few more weeks.

Oh how I miss summer. The summer berries and stone fruits are back but the weather to accompany them somehow absent. It just doesn't seem right to go through a pile of berries, looking out your window at a grey sky. It just isn't Sydney without the incapacitating heat and the sun beating down at you with the force of a thousand flames. As much as I love to complain about the heat, I really would like the humidity and the sun-stroke inducing weather back.

But either way grey skies or blue, I think I will probably grumble either way. So in an effort not to be such a whiner, I decided to get into the bleak and cold weather with a dessert that's more a wintry treat than a summer delight. Sweet Potato Flan. How thanksgiving is that?

There's nothing that says hibernating in the dead of a cold winter than a sweet potato, there's something about its sweet starchiness that screams out comfort food. So what better way than to revel in all this cold weather and the advent of Christmas than with this flan. Similar to a Filipino dessert called leche flan this sweet potato flan is made in the same way.

I've been cooking from a lot of blogs lately, and it's no surprise that this recipe came from Meeta's blog, I've been gleaning ideas from this girl for some time now as her site is a trove for all things delicious. I've always wanted to make a dessert using sweet potato although I never wanted to turn it into a pie, so the flan was the perfect idea.

At first I was quite apprehensive in incorporating sweet potato into a perfectly good creme caramel recipe. Why ruin a good thing? But there's no taking away from the dessert, it can truly stand on its own. The taste is quite subtle and there's no glaring sweet potato flavour staring in you in the face. It's not to sweet and it's not too rich. It's actually incredibly smooth and refreshing.

And if you're looking to add just a little summery touch to these flans, then go ahead and add some berries to the flan. I decided to go with some redcurrants I had lying around the tangy bite of the redcurrants pairs beautifully with the sweetness of the flan.

Sweet Potato Flan
Recipe from this blog
Serves 6

400 g sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into thick slices
juice of one lime
190g sugar - divided in half
2 tbsp water
240 ml milk
4 large eggs
125ml whipping cream
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp tawny Port
fresh redcurrants, to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 200°C.
Place the thick potato slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until the flesh becomes soft enough for mashing, making sure they do not become too dark.
Put the slices in a food processor and add the lime juice; puree until smooth.
Reduce oven temperature to 180°C.
Strain pureed sweet potato through a fine meshed sieve to get it really smooth.
Stir half of the sugar and 2 tbsp water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves.
Increase heat to high and boil without stirring, until the syrup turns a deep amber color, occasionally swirling the pan. This should take about 5 minutes.
Immediately pour caramel into small ramekin bowls or one larger oven-proof dish.
Save about 2 tablespoons caramel in saucepan.
Swirl each ramekin form around, allowing caramel to coat bottom and about 1cm up the sides.
Add the milk to the remaining caramel in saucepan. This will cause the caramel to solidify but don't worry keep stirring over medium-low heat until the caramel dissolves.
Whisk eggs in another bowl until frothy.
Whisk in cream, salt, sweet potato puree, and remaining sugar.
Gradually whisk in hot milk-caramel mixture then strain back into same saucepan.
Stir over medium heat for about 1 minute.
Remove from heat; whisk in Port.
Pour custard into prepared ramekins.
Place the ramekins in a large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to the roasting pan to come halfway up sides of ramekin forms.
Bake until just set in centre, about 30-45 minutes. (If you find the top getting too dark place a sheet of baking paper over the tops.)
Remove flans from water.
Chill until cold for about 5 hours or overnight.

Just before serving dip each ramekin bowl into a pan of hot water for about 15 seconds. Wipe dry.
Invert onto serving plates; serve with redcurrants if desired.

Mad About You

2007-12-12T19:44:00.000+11:00

Yay Pie! and Hooray for Bananas! blogger Ames has generously presented me with the Yummy Blog Award, and I graciously accept! Thanks so much Ames for the honour and my first duty as the newest inductee into the Yummy Blog hall of fame is to dub another yummy blogger with the award. I guess it's a sort of pay it forward system in the blog world.

The Yummy Blog Award is a hard one give away, where do I start, there's a plethora of yummy blogs out there and many worthy of being awarded. It's almost as hard as picking what I'm going to wear every morning so I thought I would give it a couple of days of thought. So after a few days it wasn't hard to finally settle on this particular blog, one that I have only recently discovered, but have instantly loved.

I am passing on the Yummy Blog Award to Karen the Mad Baker, she proclaims to be mad about pastry, cakes and all things baked and I have to say I cannot find any evidence to the contrary. Her sweet concoctions are so enticing and I don't think anyone out there can ice a cookie as well as she does (I'm insanely jealous). So instead of trying to beat her at her own game I thought that I would just honour her with an award that she more than deserves.

And if you happen to live in Singapore then you are in luck, Karen takes orders for her scrumptious cakes. And if you ever doubted how yummy she actually is, well she's all booked out this Christmas. So you have to satiate your curiosity for her cakes in the next year.

Congratulations Mad Baker!

Holey Moley!

2007-12-09T19:20:00.000+11:00

We just got hit by a massive hailstorm. I was taking a lazy Sunday afternoon nap to recover from a big weekend but was awakened by the sound of loud thunder claps and the ear-splitting racket of what sounded like bombs exploding. The storm lasted for about 15 minutes and started off with pea-sized and golf ball-sized hailstones, although about 5 minutes into the storm it took a turn for the worse when the storm started dropping hailstones the size of tennis balls.

Our yard was littered with enormous hailstones but didn't completely cover the yard, although they packed enough of a punch to put holes in roofs and dent cars. No sooner than when the storm hit that the sun emerged from its grey shroud and melted all the hail, leaving tennis ball-sized craters as evidence.

We were lucky enough to escape with only a few cracked tiles on our roof although some people weren't as fortunate. Good luck to all those cleaning up after the storm.

Breathless

2007-12-06T20:42:00.000+11:00

I love the drama that is the soufflé; one minute they're up there and the next minute you're back where you began. But what is it about the melodrama that is the soufflé that keeps us going back for more? Like the momentary bliss you get from witnessing a shooting star, so is the transient beauty of the soufflé. Fleeting and short-lived just like the morning dew or a gust of wind, blink and you will almost miss it. And what is soufflé without its puff?

Nonetheless, I love the soufflé for what it is; it's classic gastronomic theatre. And just like a great play will reel you in, I'm happy to buy into the drama that is soufflé-making. I don't know but perhaps it's their delicate texture and the ethereal way that they seem disappear on your tongue but I'm happy to go through it's ephemeral rise and fall just to enjoy the eating of it.

There's one thing to enjoy the eating of a soufflé and there's another thing to endure the making of one. Most times people pass up the making of a soufflé just to avoid all the frustrations that come with making them succeed. But let me assure you that the rules aren't that difficult and success is more likely than failure. And when they don't rise it really really doesn't matter, after all they become breathless in no time at all. They'll lose their puff and no on will ever know they never rose.

The making of a soufflé might be seen a difficult, but the added pressure of photographing one is twice and burdensome. But always worth it in the end even when they has sunken by the time you have your best shots.

These soufflés were from a recipe by Shannon Bennet, head chef at the illustrious Vue De Monde in Melbourne. I'd always had great success with his recipes however had always stuck to Matt Moran's basic soufflé recipe and was quite excited to try Bennet's version for a change. It was also quite novel that he chose to use the grapefruit skins as a mould rather than conventional ramekins. However being the skeptic that I was, I decided to go with some ramekins just in case the grapefruit skins didn't work out.

But surprisingly the grapefruit skins faired well in the oven and provided a beautiful rise for the soufflés. Although as they do not conduct or preserve heat as well as ramekins do, you will find that they loose their puff a lot more easily. So if you are entertaining, you will have to time these desserts quit well and literally serve them as they emerge form the oven.

Grapefruit Soufflé
Adapted from a recipe by Shannon Bennet
from the Australian Gourmet Traveller March 2006
Serves 6

500ml (about 3 fruit) grapefruit juice
finely grated rind of 1 grapefruit
150g caster sugar
30g cornflour
30g plain all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cold water
4 egg whites
icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

Combine juice, rind, half of the sugar in a medium saucepan over moderate heat and bring to the boil. (Remember not to discard the grapefruit skins of you want to use them as moulds.)
Then simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half.
Remove from heat.
Combine cornflour and plain flour with cold water and whisk until smooth.
Whisk flour mixture into grapefruit juice and whisk using an electric mixer on high speed.
Refrigerate until cool.

Meanwhile, clean grapefruit skins by spooning out the flesh.
Grease each half with butter and dust with caster sugar.

Reheat oven to 180°C.
Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks and then add the remaining half of sugar.
Continue to whisk until the meringue starts to become glossy.
Using a large wide metal spoon fold in two scoops of meringue into the grapefruit mixture, then fold in the remaining meringue until incorporated.
Fill each grapefruit skin to the brim and scrape off excess with a spatula to flatten the tops.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until edges are golden brown and tops have risen.
Dust with icing sugar and serve.

26 Candles

2007-12-03T17:52:00.000+11:00

I turned 26 yesterday! Last year, for my quarter-century celebration, I lived it up in "sunny" Melbourne. This year, I was tossing between going back south to shop it out or just staying in Sydney and having a big do. Although when it came to crunch time, I opted for spending the weekend with just a few of my closest friends.

It started off with a birthday eve dinner on Saturday night at my friend I and H's house with some beautiful homemade lasagne, a few bottles of McGuigan's wine and a chocolate birthday cake (sans the candles, thank goodness) to top off the meal. The wine always makes for an interesting night that ended with a few misadventures that we will definitely look back on in a few years and laugh about.

Sunday, was spent in a more leisurely fashion with a trip to the markets with the girls and a visit to Hurricane's Grill at Bondi Beach. Almost as iconic as the Beach itself, Hurricane's is a carnivore's delight. The place does have a meagre vegetarian selection but the amount of carnivorous feasting going on would probably be too offensive for sensitive vegetarians. Especially when one of their signature dishes is a full rack of pork or lamb ribs that includes a "standard issue" bib and moist towel to catch and wipe the juicy aftermath of all the rib-eating.

There were four of us girls however we only ordered two dishes. If you ever see the portion sizes of these dishes you will probably understand, and all for a reasonable price. A full rack of ribs with chips ($30) and a 300g beef burger with monkey gland sauce and baked potato ($17), was shared between the four, and none of us left the restaurant lacking. And as you can see, every rib was cleaned to the bone, every piece of flesh proudly gnawed off and our fingers bore testament to our satisfaction.

If you are wondering what the monkey gland sauce was about, well let me assure you that no monkeys were hurt in the in the making of this sauce and nor are there any glands involved. From what I gather, and I'm sure that many South Africans can better explain, monkey gland sauce is a tomato based bbq sauce that tastes somewhat like a relish or a chutney. It can be made with various of ingredients however most sauces usually contain tomatoes, onions, Worcestershire and Tobasco sauce.

HURRICANE' GRILL
130 Roscoe St
Bondi Beach, Sydney
PHONE: (02) 9130 7101

Open 7 nights for dinner 6:00pm till late
Lunch on Sundays from noon

HURRICANE'S EXPRESS TAKEAWAY
PHONE (02) 9365 3450
Open 7 days noon till 10pm

Me and Martha, tight, for Now

2007-11-30T01:50:00.001+11:00

“So there you have it, Martha and I may see a friendship in the near future after all. I might have to test another disaster-free recipe from her to make that call…”

OCTOBER 2007

I never thought the day would come; after spouting some incredibly tepid reviews of Miss Martha’s recipes, who would have thought that a recipe for chocolate cookies could bring her back into the circle of trust?

I know, I know, I’ve been a bit hard on Martha, but when you sport a holier than thou persona, or at least espouse an image of perfection, then there are certain things you must live up to. Like perhaps having recipes that work? Or at least recipes that have even the slightest inkling of success. I have encountered one too many a Martha recipe that was an inch short of rivalling the disaster that was the Titanic. And it seems that I'm not alone in my sentiments.

I don't want to be the one that cries foul upon the hallowed empire of Miss Martha but it appears that not only are her Internet recipes riddled with errors and missing information, but many others have also testified about their lack of success with many of her cookbook recipes, too many in fact. Is a foolproof recipe too much to ask?

Am I being too harsh? After all, isn't Martha merely human? Well, that's probably debatable and could probably fill another post but one thing I can say is that I've found another one of her recipes that do indeed work. Eureka! I think I can probably even dedicate the remaining lifespan of this blog to finding Martha' recipes that do and don't work. It's almost addictive, like a game of roulette; since all her recipes are such a gamble, will I win or will I lose?

Well this time I can gladly say that it was a win for all. For Martha and for me, and it looks like this fractured relationship that is often times on the rocks than on steady ground could be on the mend. For now, Martha and I are tight. But just like a game of roulette can go awry at the throw of a die, you never know, Martha and I could be on the outs again.

Just like a pair of tempestuous lovers, our roller-coaster ride through her recipe bank is as tumultuous as any affair. Who knows how long I'll stick around. All I can say is I'm addicted to the gamble that are her recipes. But I guess that's enough about what I think of Martha and more about what I think of these cookies. All I can say is that, why didn't I come across these cookies earlier? Had I chanced upon them before my opinion of Martha could have been a lot different.

If this was the first recipe I came across, I wouldn't have been so irate about all the consequent bad ones I had to endure as this would have provided a sufficient buffer. But alas this is probably the eighth Martha-recipe I have attempted and so far only the second success, the first one of course were the the Carrot Cupcakes I blogged about earlier.

However, that said, who would have thought that what I stated a mere month ago would be coming to pass. There you have it, I road tested another Martha recipe and surprisingly it worked. These double chocolate cookies, are beyond good. If you like your cookies soft and chewy then this one is for you. And with the little milk chocolate bits inside, every bite has a meltingly pleasant surprise. Just crisp enough on the edges and gooey in the centre, these cookies are the perfect remedy for when you're in need of a pick me up.

Your man (or woman) may have abandoned you, you may have lost your job, perhaps your car has been towed away and impounded, and your dog could be in a cast after being run over by a truck, but if you have these cookies, you will get a little perspective and know that things could be worse.

And with Christmas just around the corner, what perfect way to bestow some Christmas cheer than with some chocolate love. Tie a festive ribbon around a stack of cookies and voila an instant present to please even the biggest Scrooge.

NOTE: Martha's original recipe called only for milk chocolate. I decided to include bittersweet and milk chocolate.

Double Chocolate Cookies
adapted from this recipe
makes about 3 dozen

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp coarse salt
110g bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao)
110g milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
110g cup unsalted butter
1½ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180°C degrees.
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
Melt bittersweet chocolate with the butter in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; let cool slightly.
Put chocolate mixture, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in the bowl and mix until combined.
Gradually fold in the flour in two batches until just incorporated.
Fold in chocolate chunks.
Using a 1½-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart.
Bake until cookies are flat and surfaces crack, about 15 minutes (cookies should be soft).
Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

NOTE: If needed cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

If you want a piece of some cookie making action then head over to Food Blogga's Eat Christmas Cookie event. And to sweeten the deal, if you participate you could be in the running to win a fantastic cookbook. Click on the link to check out all the details!

RELATED POSTS:
Martha, not what she's cracked up to be
Second Chance For Miss Martha

A Raunchy Proposition

2007-11-26T10:58:00.000+11:00

I’ve never been one to pander to such indecent propositions; I’m just not that kind of girl, however when this proposal was put forward by Jeanne of Cooksister! in her Waiter, there’s something in my… event, this proposition proved too cheeky to resist. The proposition? Topless Tarts. (Cue burlesque music and feather boa striptease)

I can’t help but give out a little schoolgirl chuckle when saying what the theme is for this month’s WTSIM event. And who can keep a straight face when saying those two words one after the other, topless – tart? I know that it turns me into a giggling juvenile, sniggering as if I were a 10-year old. And I can see you now, attempting to thwart that grin creasing on your face, a million mischievous visions conjured up in your imagination at the mention of a topless tart.

So I know were talking about topless tarts, but this is still strictly a food blog and I certainly do not want to solicit any questionable material on my site; so make sure you're minds don't somehow stray into the gutter. This post is rated G, so don't get any ideas. The kind of tart I am referring to is the food variety, and the topless part only refers to its lack of a pastry covering.

So I'm sorry to disappoint you if you were looking for a more adult type of tart, but I think this one will appeal to you just as much as the other kind. It's Glazed Lemon Tart that is less naughty and more nice.

I have never been a huge fan of lemon tarts filled with curd, I always find the curd too sharp and acidic and I end up scrunching my face into ridiculous contortions while eating them because I find most curd tarts too sour for my tastes. So as opposed to a lemon tart filled with curd, this lemon tart's filling is sweetened with condensed milk and made light with egg whites.

The result is a feathery-light filling that isn't too sour and is just sweet enough. I did reduce the amount of condensed milk by about 145ml, which just gave the right balance of sweet and sour. The great thing is this tart is tempting inside and out, the vanilla flecked pastry adds that little bit of oomph to the dessert. And I think the best part is the caramelised crust that provides that little bit of juxtaposition between the spongy filling and crunchy crust. And what better excuse to be using a blowtorch around the kitchen.

Check out the round up of more topless beauties later this week at Cooksister!

Glazed Lemon Tart with Caramelised Oranges
Recipe adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller
Serves 8

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Blowtorch (not necessary but advantageous)

FOR THE VANILLA BEAN PASTRY
185g plain all-purpose flour
120g pure icing (confectioner’s) sugar
115g chilled butter, coarsely chopped
½ vanilla bean, scraped seeds, pod discarded
2 egg yolks

FOR THE TART FILLING
4 egg yolks
250g condensed milk
2 lemons, juiced and with rind finely grated
2 eggwhites
55g (¼-cup) caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

FOR THE CARAMELISED ORANGES
220g (1-cup) caster sugar
1 orange, juiced
30ml Cointreau
4 oranges, thinly sliced

TO MAKE THE PASTRY
Process flour, icing sugar, butter and vanilla seeds in a food processor until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add egg yolks and process until pastry just comes together.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Bring pastry to room temperature.
Lightly grease 8 x round fluted flan tins with removable base.
Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick and line flan tins, trimming excess pastry, refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Blind bake pastry for 10 minutes or until lightly golden.
Carefully remove baking paper and pastry weights and bake for another 5-10 minutes until crisp, then cool.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
Whisk egg yolks in a heatproof bowl over gently simmering water until thick and pale.
Add condensed milk and lemon juice and stir to combine.
Pass through a fine sieve, then add lemon rind.
Using an electric mixer, whisk eggwhites until soft peaks form, then slowly add sugar and whisk on high until sugar has dissolved and meringue is glossy.
Add meringue to lemon mixture and fold gently to combine.
Pour into prepared tart cases and bake for 10 minutes or until centre has just set (don’t let the top colour too much).
Cool, then refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until cold.

TO MAKE CARAMELISED
For caramelised oranges, combine caster sugar and 200ml water in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to the boil and cook for 15 minutes or until golden.
Add orange juice and Cointreau, stirring to dissolve sugar, then pour over sliced oranges in a heatproof bowl.
Cover and refrigerate until needed.

TO SERVE
Dust tarts with caster sugar and, using a blowtorch, gently caramelise top. Serve immediately with oranges and double cream.

A Pasta Dish To Do Your Chores To

2007-11-18T12:03:00.000+11:00

For the most part I never knew what a ragu was for a very long time. All my life in fact. When I heard the term ragu, my mind would usually conceive a visual image of something more along the lines of beef tripe, or something exotic and mildly freakish like ox tongue stew. But it wasn't until I made this pasta dish for a friend that they mentioned this concoction was in fact like a ragu. I gave her a blank stare, as if she had just spoken to me in Elvish or something.

Although traditionally made with ground beef a rugu is essentially a rich tomato based sauce made for pasta that is cooked slowly over low heat. The name is derived from the French ragoûter, which means to revive or stimulate the taste of. So I guess essentially this pasta sauce has the basic attributes of an Italian ragu, just without the meat.

I made this dish on a lazy day-off that I spent doing menial chores. And of all chores I hate doing, laundry is probably the one I detest most. It's not the washing part that annoys me, it's more the hanging the clothes part that is the bore. And because I want to stay eco-friendly, I always like to use the sun whenever possible. So it makes it even more a task having to put all the clothes into a basket, go outside and proceed to hang each item one peg at a time.

I've been known to leave the damp clothes in the laundry basket for hours while I try to force the most minuscule amount of motivation to bring myself to put those clothes on the line. It's a struggle every time. And then there's the part where you have to take the clothes off the line, and it all seems redundant in the end. But I guess clean clothes are a necessity in life.

But I later found out that if there was anything that would motivate me to get out and take the time to hang my laundry out on the line, it would have to be this ragu. I guess with any sort of chore, I could get through it with this ragu. See, you can start with the vacuuming, then with the dishes, then with the laundry and just before it's time to take the ragu off the stove, all you need to do is go outside and put those clothes on the line. And by that time you will be smelling the aroma of thick tomato sauce, basil and sweet eggplants bubbling away from the outside. You will have no choice but to make haste back into your house. I know it worked for me. I 've nver hung clothes with that much determination to finish.

Next time it comes around to housework, I know what will jolt me into action to get through the most mundane of tasks. With this simple pasta dish waiting at the end of your labour, I don't know what better reward there could be.

If you want you can substitute the eggplant with some shredded or ground meat or if you want the dish to stay vegetarian, then perhaps use zucchini or pumpkin instead.

And if you need more ideas to get you started with pasta dishes why not head over to Presto Pasta Nights at Once Upon a Feast. There's a bevy of pasta recipes that could keep you going for a year. Enjoy!

Orecchiette with Eggplant Ragu
Serves 8

1 small brown onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5 anchovies sea salt
6 medium sized eggplants (aubergines), peeled and diced
50g Portobello mushrooms, diced
2 x 400g canned tomatoes
fresh basil leaves
500g orecchiette
extra virgin olive oil
cracked black pepper

Over medium heat, in a large saucepan heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
Add the onions and fry until onions become translucent.
Add the garlic and anchovies and stir until the anchovies dissolve.
Add sea salt to season, mix for about 2 minutes.
Add the chopped eggplants and mushrooms and cook for about 5 more minutes or until the eggplant begins to soften.
Pour in the canned tomatoes and grab a small handful of fresh basil leaves and add to the mixture, stir to combine.
Leave to simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes.

While ragu is simmering, boil 1 litre of water in a pot.
When water comes to a rolling boil, add a generous amount of sea salt.
Add the orecchiette and cook for the amount of time specified on the package.
Drain and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil before topping with ragu.
Season with cracked black pepper and more sea salt to taste.

What's Cooking, Good Looking?

2007-11-12T17:18:00.000+11:00

Where has Jen been?
(a) abducted by aliens
(b) living in a monastery at the foot of the Himalayas
(c) joined the army
(d) nursing a hangover
(e) none of the above

The answer is... well mostly E, but for a few days it was D

In case you were wondering, I am alive and I'm all right. I just haven't been blogging. I know. Shock, horror! What do you mean, there couldn't possibly be a life outside of the blogosphere? That's ludicrous!

It seems that real life has been getting in the way of blogging, and even though I haven't been posting at the prodigious rate of my blogging youth (meaning a year ago- 1 blogging year is probably equal to dog years) I have been eating and cooking at pretty much the same rate I was before. It has just been a crazy few weeks with work, helping plan a friend's wedding, planning a friend's birthday, planning my own birthday, Christmas looming and my grandfather passing away a few days ago.

And in case you were wondering the hangovers came from the birthday and the Melbourne Cup drinks we had, I didn't win anything.

So you can imagine I've just been through the whole gamut of emotional states in a mere couple of weeks, and haven't had the time to get my fingers typing on a computer until now. I guess that you cannot really complain when life gets in the way of blogging, it only makes for more blogging fodder later on. But I have been doing okay, and although finding out about my grandfather's death from a stroke was very sudden and unforeseen, I am in good spirits. He lived a great life and I couldn't be any prouder.

Another thing I am pretty proud of is being one of the finalists, for DMBLGIT October. The photograph of my baked gnocchi was one of the picks made by the host her self, the very lovely Jennifer of Bake of Break. So thank you to all the judges and to Jennifer for allowing to me to be part of the illustrious few that get to flaunt the Good Looking Blog badges. So flaunt I will.

Related post: Gnocchi, Two Ways

Grazing On Puffs

2007-11-05T19:34:00.000+11:00

What happened to spring? Just as we had become accustomed to the longer days and the prospect of being exposed to copious amounts of UV rays; the sunshine and fair weather plays a game of hide-and-seek. The past week has been incredibly rainy, and I mean the kind of unrelenting rain that falls sideways and no amount of umbrella cover can shield you from its downpour.

If only we could marshal the clouds into one corner of Sydney- over the catchment area that is, and we could still enjoy lovely weather everywhere else. I think that technology is still several years away. So for now all I can do is call out and say- spring come back!

So when stuck at home, craving for a little bit of spring weather the second best thing to do is eat spring. Yes eat spring. I needed a little pick me up to graze on before going out to dinner with a friend and brave the cold and wet outside. This was the perfect thing. Fresh, light and a cinch to make. And odds are most of the ingredients are already in your kitchen, aside from the zucchini that you may have to go out and buy, the rest are stock ingredients that’s in everyone’s pantry.

I know most of you are aware that there is no room in my kitchen for a deep fryer; that real estate will just never be available on my kitchen countertop, but for a little bit of shallow-frying action, I can happily acquiesce in.

And I apologise if this post is sounding a little lax and uninspired but it’s just been one of those days, week even, where all you want to do is run for the covers, grab a DVD and some of these puffs and literally fritter the night away.

Perhaps I’ll be a little more enthused when the sun perks up from its slumber. But as for now, I’m revelling in this opportunity to lounge and laze and until spring comes back and hoists me out this recliner.

If you're interested in frittering away too, here is the recipe.

Lemon and Zucchini Puffs
from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 35
makes 8

FOR THE PUFFS
3 x 150g large zucchini (courgettes) shaved into ribbons
¼ cup thinly sliced mint leaves
3 eggs
¼ cup self-raising flour
sea salt and cracked black pepper
vegetable oil for shallow-frying

FOR THE LEMON AIOLI
2 egg yolks
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove crushed
2 tsp lemon juice
1 cup olive oil

TO MAKE THE LEMON AIOLI
Place egg yolks, vinegar, garlic, lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor and process until combined.
Gradually pour in the oil while the motor is still running and process until the mixture is thick and smooth.

TO MAKE THE PUFFS
Place the zucchini, mint, eggs, flour, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir well to combine.
Heat 1cm of oil in a large non-stick frypan over medium heat.
Add about 2 tablespoonfuls of the mixture and shallow-fry in batches for 1-2 minutes each side or until puffed up and golden.
Serve with lemon aioli.

Second Chance For Miss Martha

2007-10-30T19:10:00.000+11:00

NOTE: As many of you have been asking where I got these lovely paper cases for my cupcakes, I thought it would be easier to let you all know on the blog, rather than respond to every email. Many birds with the one stone, I guess.

The paper cases are from the Donna Hay home collection- these particular ones are called "Classic Ticking". I got mine from David Jones.

After salvaging the mess of a recipe that was the Chocolate Espresso and Mascarpone Tart, I had pretty much decided that this was the last straw with Martha. Yes, she's wholesome, she's almost likeable and yes she is so eerily perfect that it's borderline psychotic and creepy, but I was resolute in my stance not to try any of her recipes ever again. And there was no amount of pristinely pressed collared shirts and perfectly piped icing that would make me change my mind. Or would there?

It’s been almost a year since I vowed, with unwavering tenacity that I would never again try a Martha recipe because of all the inconsistencies and holes she left in the details and instructions of her recipes. At first I wasn’t sure if it was just the one recipe I had tried but it proved to be that a number of her recipes from the Internet were laden with mistakes.

But, a year later am I really able to make amends with Martha? What is it going to take?

Well the answer gladly is, maybe. Perhaps, I can make up with Martha and although we still aren't the best of friends, we are certainly making a go of it.

As much as I would love to mock her nauseating affinity for perfection and ability to make even the most anal and OCD-ridden person appear normal, I have to say that I am ready to give her a second chance. She’s redeemed herself with a carrot cake recipe that pleases everyone. And given that it is quite a feat to stuff up a carrot cake recipe, I would have been surprised if this one was a disaster, but I had to start somewhere. And I had to start small. After all Martha has jaded me on more than one occasion. It just so happens that only one of those occasions was documented on the blog.

Not only has she found herself a measure of forgiveness, but I have also found myself a go-to recipe for carrot cake. A few minor adjustments here and there, but for the most part, it’s all from Martha. Congratulations girl, I no longer loathe you.

The cake has an incredibly moist and smooth crumb. You could almost say they are like little auburn feather pillows, light to the touch. And because they are so light you could be fooled into eating one too many. I know I was.

The only alterations I made to the original “Martha” recipe was adding a few more spices and using macadamia oil instead of vegetable oil. Macadamia oil’s taste is very subtle and doesn’t make much of a difference to the overall flavour, but certainly adds more depth than vegetable oil would. But if macadamia oil is not available then there is no reason why you can’t just use vegetable oil. If it was good enough for Martha, then, well.

So there you have it, Martha and I may see a friendship in the near future after all. I might have to test another disaster-free recipe from her to make that call, but for now I can say that I don't detest her and her recipes as much. As long as she doesn’t come at me with a wooden spoon or a steam iron, we should get along fine.

So here it is, enjoy! Martha'second chance Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Related post: Martha...not what she's cracked up to be

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
adapted from marthastewart.com
makes 12

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup macadamia oil*
2 tablespoons orange juice
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp salt
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
1½ cups shredded carrots

FOR THE FROSTING
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
¾ cup confectioners' sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
Orange zest

*If macadamia oil is not available you can substitute with a vegetable oil.

Preheat oven to 180°C.
Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper cups.
In a bowl, combine sugar, macadamia oil, orange juice, vanilla extract, and eggs.
Stir in baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg and salt.
Add flour; mix. Stir in carrots.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling only about ¾ of the way up.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.
Allow cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract.
Whisk until smooth.
Frost cupcakes, and garnish with orange zest.