Paneer (cookbook challenge #2)

The theme for week two of the cookbook challenge is citrus. I decided to put a spin on this and make paneer, where lemon is a crucial ingredient when making the cheese (although other acidic ingredients such as vinegar can also be used).

It's a pretty simple process but results in a delicious fresh cheese that is tastier than what you can buy at the supermarket (and probably cheaper too, depending on the milk price).

Ingredients:
2L of good quality, full cream milk, unhomogenised is ideal. I used Ashgrove's Green milk.
1/8 cup lemon juice

Heat the milk in a heavy-based saucepan until it is almost boiling.
Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice.
Place back on the heat briefly while gently stirring the milk.
Remove from the heat as soon as curds start forming, cover the saucepan, and set it aside for 5 to 10 minutes.
Line a colander with cheesecloth (and place a bowl underneath if you wish to collect the whey - it's great for watering roses and rhododendrons)
Use a slotted spoon to gently transfer most of the curds from the saucepan into the cheesecloth.
Pour the remaining curds and liquid through the cheesecloth.
Gather the edges of the cheesecloth and twist it tightly to squeeze out more liquid.
Place a saucer on top of the twisted parcel and weigh it down with heavy cans or jars.
Leave to drain for at least 30 minutes.
Remove the cheese from the cloth, wrap with damp paper towel then place in the fridge in an airtight container.
Leave overnight before using.



After adding the lemon juice to the milk:



The finished paneer after resting overnight - I got 290g cheese out of 2L milk:



I used the cheese in a really tasty curry, the recipe is posted here

Pickled cherries and cherry jam (cookbook challenge #1)

The Cookbook Challenge is back! This year we are only doing recipes fortnightly, so I hope that I'll do a better job of keeping up with the challenge. There's a forum for all the posts and themes.

The theme for the first challenge is stonefruit. I was lucky enough to get a 5kg box of cherries for $10, and so decided to preserve them.



I found a recipe in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion called pickled cherries. I added a couple of extra spices to the mix (star anise and cinnamon), and in hindsight I would have liked to have used red wine vinegar (or perhaps spike it with some pinot) so that it would be a nice rich red colour. Next time!

Ingredients:
700g sugar
850ml white wine vinegar
24 black peppercorns
12 cloves
6 bay leaves
6 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 unpeeled clove of garlic
1kg cherries, rinsed and stems trimmed to 1cm long.

Dissolve sugar in vinegar in a large saucepan over gentle heat.
Add all other ingredients except cherries and simmer for 10 minutes.
Allow syrup to cool.
Pack fruit into hot, sterilised jars.
Pour syrup over fruit and seal.

The mix smelled great but it will be a while before I know how it went, as the cherries should be left for a few weeks before opening.



I also made my first-ever batch of jam using the rest of the cherries. I had a bit of trouble getting this jam to set, and overcooked it a little. It has a bit of a smoky smell - but still tastes great!

Cookbook challenge, week 48: Brioche

I am so far behind in the cookbook challenge that it's not funny! Things have been a bit too busy to do a lot of new cooking lately, and so I've been sticking to old and familiar recipes. Never mind, I will catch up on the challenges eventually.

The theme for week 48 was bread. I've tried cooking various breads semi-regularly, but without much success in yeast breads (flatbreads, Indian breads are easier!). My plan is to do an Adult Education breadmaking class sometime to try and figure out where I am going wrong - maybe not letting it rise for long enough or not kneading well enough - the new Kitchenaid helps with the kneading part, at least!

I decided to make a fruit brioche for the challenge, and used a recipe from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion.

Ingredients:
250g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp instant dried yeast
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs sugar
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
75g softened butter
75g dried fruit (I used raisins and cranberries)
1 tbs brandy

Warm milk and sugar slightly, stirring, until sugar has dissolved, then allow to cool a little.
Mix brandy and fruit and set aside.
Mix flour, salt and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook.
Combine egg yolks and warm milk.
Make a well in the flour, then pour in liquid and mix to a dough.
Work until dough forms a smooth ball, about 10 minutes.
Continue beating while adding butter in two lots, until the dough is smooth and shiny (add a little more flour or milk if not right).
Cover bowl with a clean cloth and leave dough to double in size for about 2 hours.
Knock back dough and briefly knead in the fruit mixture.
Shape into a loaf and allow to rise for another hour.
Bake at 180ºC for 30 minutes, then tip out of the tin onto a baking tray and bake for a further ten minutes.
Cool before eating.

It's nice. Not amazing, but nice.

Cookbook challenge, week 44 : San choy bau

Week 44's theme was Chinese, and I found that I have an unfortunate lack of Chinese recipes and cookbooks. Thankfully I found this dish in a Delicious. magazine; the original recipe is on the Taste website.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tbs peanut oil
1/2 tbs grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 small red chilli, finely diced
300g chicken mince
2 tbs oyster sauce, plus extra to drizzle
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
8-12 large lettuce leaves, to serve (iceberg is preferable, but I only had baby cos)

Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water.
Set aside for 15 minutes to soak, then drain.
Dice into small pieces.
Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
Add the mushrooms, ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for a minute.
Add the chicken mince and continue tossing in the wok until the chicken is cooked through.
Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and lemon juice, and cook for a further 2 minutes until the sauces are combined.
Remove from heat and stir in the coriander leaves, before serving in the lettuce leaves.
Drizzle with a little more oyster sauce and serve immediately.

These turned out really well. Cos lettuce isn't ideal for serving these in but did the job! The original recipe didn't specify any chilli but adding it gave the mince a real buzz. I really enjoyed these but J wasn't so keen, saying that they were "spicy but bland"... men!

Cookbook challenge, week 43: Kale chips

The theme for week 43 was crunchy. I decided to try making kale chips, seeing as my kale plants have plenty of leaves just waiting to be eaten. The concept really interested me - crunchy green chips! - and I was curious to see how they turned out.

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale leaves, washed
1 tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 180ºC.
Cut out the thick middle vein of the older kale leaves, then cut/rip into pieces
Toss with olive oil and salt until evenly coated.
Bake on a baking-paper lined cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, or until crisp.


The thing that bugs me with this sort of recipe is: how much kale is a bunch of kale? Because the amount that I used (a big bowl full, 66g) was clearly not enough, as my chips ended up way too salty and oily. They definitely were crunchy though, and I will give them another shot with far less oil and salt. I think I'll play around with other seasonings too, such as garlic salt, cumin or chilli powder. Despite the results of this attempt not being great, I can definitely see how kale chips are appealing!

I used both curly and flat-leaf kale, the curly ones were definitely better in the end



Dressed and ready to bake - you can see there is far too much oil



Post-baking crispiness!

Cookbook challenge, week 42: Duck, two ways

Week 42's theme was bird, and there was no question that I wanted to cook duck! It's something I don't cook very often - it's very expensive - but I absolutely adore the flavour of the meat. Just like the chocolate-themed week, this was a good time to try two different recipes!

Duck breasts with port and cherry sauce
Gordon Ramsey - Cooking for Friends

Ingredients:
4 200-225g duck breasts with skin on
3 shallots, finely chopped
200ml port
250g pitted cherries (fresh or preserved, I used preserved)
2 tbs black cherry jam (I used blueberry)
300ml chicken stock

Season the duck breast then place skin side down on a dry frying pan.
Place the pan over gentle heat for 8-10 minutes until most of the fat has been rendered.
Increase the heat slightly and fry until the skins are golden brown.
Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the meat feels slightly springy and the duck is cooked to medium rare.
Remove to a warm plate and leave to rest.
Pour off most of the fat from the pan (save for roasting potatoes).
Add the shallots and stir over medium-to-low heat until soft.
Increase the heat and add the port to deglaze.
Boil until reduced and the pan is quite dry.
Add the cherries, jam and stock, return to the boil and cook until reduced by more than half and the sauce is syrupy.

I served this with braised bok choi, as suggested in the cookbook. The sauce was amazing, beautifully rich and perfectly matched to the meat, and this was backed up by J licking his plate clean!




Sweet duck with plums and star anise
Jamie Oliver - Jamie's Dinners

Ingredients:
4 duck legs (I used breasts)
4 tbs soy sauce
3 tsp five spice
10 star anise
1/2 a cinnamon stick
1 tbs olive oil
1-2 fresh chillies, sliced
16 plums, halved and de-stoned
2 tbs Demerara sugar (I used brown sugar)

Place the duck in a sandwich bag with the soy sauce, spices and olive oil and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours, up to 2 days.
Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
Place the plums in a casserole dish, add the chillies and sugar and mix all together.
Put the duck on top, skin side up if using breasts.
Bake for 2-2.5 hours.

I served this with duck-fat sautéed potatoes and steamed green beans. It was a fantastic meal, again the sauce was plate lick-able! It was possibly a tad too sweet which might be due to the type of plums I used, so if I cook this again I won't add the sugar. I added double the chilli (and didn't remove the seeds as the original recipe instructs) and the sauce was beautifully spicy.




Which is my favourite of the two? I honestly couldn't decide! They were both delicious, the only difference is how long they take to prepare and cook, with the cherry sauce recipe being very quick and easy.

Cookbook challenge, week 40: Cider and honey roast leg of lamb

This is a week late, but better late than never! Week 40's Cookbook Challenge theme was apples, and I made a roast lamb that incorporated both apples and cider into the gravy. The recipe came from Gordon Ramsey's Cooking for Friends.

Ingredients:
1 leg of lamb around 2kg, trimmed and skin scored
olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, skins on and halved
several sprigs of thyme
juice from half a lemon
4 apples
500ml cider
runny honey
300ml lamb or chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 220ºC.
Weight the lamb and calculate the final cooking time at 12 minutes per 450g for medium rare (or 15 minutes for medium).
Drizzle the lamb with a little olive oil then rub with salt and pepper.
Place in a deep roasting pan and scatter with garlic and thyme.
Pour over the lemon juice and drizzle again with olive oil.
Sprinkle with a little more seasoning then roast in the hot oven for 20 minutes.
Slice the apples into quarters and cut off the cores.
Remove the lamb from the oven and reduce the heat to 180ºC.
Scatter the apples around the pan and baste the lamb with the cider.
Turn the lamb over and drizzle with 2 tbs of honey.
Return to the oven for 30 minutes.
Turn the lamb around, baste with pan juices, and drizzle another tablespoon of honey.
Continue to roast for the calculated time.
Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside to rest in a warm place.
Sieve the contents of the pan into a saucepan, pressing the apples and garlic to extract all the juices and flavour.
Discard the pulp.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and add the stock.
Bring to the boil and let it bubble vigorously until the sauce has thickened.
Taste and adjust seasoning, then pour into a warm serving jug.
Carve the lamb and serve drizzled with the apple and cider gravy.

This gravy was delicious - rich and fruity and very moreish. The lamb itself was ok, but I really prefer cooking roasts in the slow cooker - I plan to make this gravy again next time I cook a lamb roast, but will try it with the slow cooker instead.

Cookbook challenge, week 39: Curried cauliflower and cheddar soup

The theme for week 39 was TV Chefs. I have a few celebrity chef cookbooks, and decided to use Gordon Ramsey's Cooking for Friends as as his recipes haven't featured here as regularly as Nigella, Jamie and Stephanie. The recipe is for a curried cauliflower and cheddar soup, perfect for this time of year when the weather is cold and cauliflowers are plentiful.

4 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tsp mild curry powder
300ml hot chicken or vegetable stock
300ml milk
100g grated cheese

Heat half the oil in a saucepan, and add onion and celery.
Stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add the remaining oil, cauliflower, curry powder, and season.
Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes.
Cover the pan and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the stock and bring to a simmer.
Add the milk and splash of water if the liquid does not cover the vegetables.
Return to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes, until the cauliflower is soft.
Use a hand blender to liquidize the soup.
Stir in the cheese.
Adjust the seasoning and add a little water if the soup is too thick.


This turned out alright - it wasn't amazing but it was enjoyable enough! I've got a better recipe for cauliflower soup buried somewhere, though.




The theme for week 40 is apple, and I know exactly what I am going to make. It's another recipe from this cookbook that I also had my eye on as it sounds amazing... stay tuned!

Cookbook challenge, week 38: Gingerbread

The theme for week 38 was spice, and although cooking a curry or marinated meat was very tempting I decided to cook something sweet as it's quite some time since my last sweet recipe for the cookbook challenge (in fact, the last time was week 24!).
I chose a recipe from a new book, Cook's Bible by Lorraine Turner, which I found on special at Habitat recently. The recipe is a cake version of gingerbread.

Ingredients:
150g butter
175g soft brown sugar
2 tbs black treacle (I used golden syrup)
225g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarb soda
2 tsp ground ginger
150mL milk
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
2 apples, peeled, chopped and coated with 1 tbs lemon juice (I used 1/3 cup of date puree that I needed to use up)

Melt the butter, sugar and treacle/syrup in a saucepan over low heat and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 160ºC and grease and line a 23cm square or 22cm round cake tin.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarb and ground ginger into a bowl.
Stir in the milk, egg, fresh ginger and cooled butter mixture, followed by the apples/date puree.
Mix everything together gently, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the surface.
Bake for 30-35 minutes (my cake took 45 minutes).
Remove from the oven and cool in the tin.

It's a lovely, moist cake with a wonderfully zingy ginger flavour. It's great as is, but for a special occasion it would be fantastic with a thin layer of orange or lemon icing.

Cookbook challenge, week 37: Steak, Guinness and cheese pie with puff pastry lid

The theme for week 37 is hearty, and I found a recipe in Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home that sounded delicious and that I thought J would enjoy: a steak, Guinness and cheese pie.

Ingredients:
olive oil
3 medium red onions, peeled and chopped (I used 3 small white onions)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
30g butter, plus extra for greasing
2 carrots, chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and chopped
4 field mushrooms, sliced (I used 7 white mushrooms)
1kg beef, cut into 2cm cubes
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
440ml can of Guinness
2 heaped tbs plain flour
200g grated cheese (I used less)
puff pastry
1 egg

In a large ovenproof pan (I used an electric frypan) heat a glug of olive oil on a low heat.
Add the onions and fry gently for about 10 minutes.
Increase the heat and add the garlic, butter, carrots, celery and mushrooms, and mix everything together well.
Stir in the beef, rosemary, a pinch of salt and a level teaspoon of pepper.
Fry for 3-4 minutes then add Guinness, stir in the flour and add just enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, cover and place in an oven at 190ºC for 2.5 hours (I used a slow cooker on high for 4 hours), stirring occasionally.
If it is too liquidy after cooking, reduce the liquid over heat or add some more flour.
Remove from the heat and stir in half of the cheese, then season.
Leave to cool slightly (you can do up until this step a day ahead).
Grease an appropriately sized pie dish, then line with a sheet of puff pastry, leaving the edges dangling over the side.
Tip pie mixture into the dish, then scatter with the rest of the cheese.
Brush the edge of the pastry with egg.
Cut out a lid-sized shape of puff pastry and place it over the top of the pie, folding the overhanging bottom pastry over it.
Brush the top with egg then bake in a preheated 190ºC oven for 45 minutes, until puffed and golden.

I used a smaller pie dish, around 7 inches in diameter, and this only used half the pie mixture. I've saved the rest to use another time - I think I will make individual mini pies with it (as it was still a little sloppy when serving as you can see below). The pie was great, with a beautiful and rich (and hearty!) filling. Served with some steamed broccoli and beans, it made a great meal.

Cookbook challenge, week 36: Sausages and mash with red wine, cumin and onion gravy

The theme for week 36: comfort. The other half requested curried sausages and although I couldn't find a recipe for this in my cookbooks, I did find an interesting recipe in Nigella's How To Eat (this cookbook is getting a lot of use lately!). It's in the Weekend Lunch section of the book, and the recipe for the gravy is provided with suggestions to cook it with the sausages and mash.

Ingredients:
30g oil (or beef dripping)
225g onions, very finely diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 scant tbs of sugar
2 scant tbs of flour
500mL beef stock
150mL red wine

Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed large saucepan and add the onions.
Cook on a low heat for 10 minutes until soft, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the ground cumin and cook another 5 minutes or so.
Turn up the heat and add the sugar, and let the onions caramelise slightly for 3-4 minutes, then add the flour, stirring constantly.
Cook for another 2 minutes then add the stock and wine.
Mix well then simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I cooked the sausages in the gravy, adding them when it had about 20 minutes to go - this works for devilled and curried sausages so I figured it would be ok with this recipe too. Served with mashed potatoes and some peas, it was very much comfort food. I think the gravy could do with another element, perhaps some fresh thyme to give it a boost, but it was still delicious as is.

Was it worth the 50+ minutes of cooking time? I'm undecided.

As you can see, I like my mashed potatoes lumpy, with skins still on!

Cookbook challenge, week 35: Spanish stew

The theme for week 35 (last week! I am a bit behind) was Spanish, and although I don't have any Spanish cookbooks (I plan to change this soon), I found a tasty-sounding recipe in Nigella Lawson's How To Eat.

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
400g chorizo sausages, sliced into fat coins
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 bay leaf
100mL dry sherry (I substituted some dry white wine)
1kg waxy potatoes, cut into halves or quarters
fresh coriander

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
Put the oil into a wide oven-proof pan or dish (I used an electric frypan then transferred to an oven dish) on medium-low heat.
Add onion and cook for 5 minutes.
Add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.
Add the chorizo, bay leaf, sherry and stir.
Add the potatoes, stir, and then add boiled water to only just cover the potatoes.
Simmer for 10 minutes then check for seasoning.
Put the dish into the oven for 35-40 minutes.
Remove and serve with chopped coriander and bread.





It was rather tasty - my worry was that the liquid would seem too fatty from the chorizo juices but it was instead very moorish. It would make a lovely component for a tapas-type meal or as a side dish to a roast, served with some fresh green beans.

A few of the Melbourne-based bloggers in this challenge met up for a Spanish potluck - check out Agnes's post here. Yum!

Cookbook challenge, week 34: The Astor Grill's seafood chowder

The theme for week 34 is soup, and I made a recipe from Tasmania's Table - seafood chowder from The Astor Grill here in Hobart.

Ingredients:
50g softened butter
1 small brown onion, diced
3 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
1 leek, washed and chopped
225g pink eye potatoes, peeled and diced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered, sliced
15g plain flour
1.2L full cream milk
150mL white wine
450g cod or ling
200g scallops, roe on
8 mussels in shell, debearded
120mL King Island double cream
Salt and pepper
1/2c chopped parsley, for garnish

Heat butter in a large saucepan.
Add onions, garlic, potato, leek and carrots and fry until browned.
Add flour, cook for one minute while stirring constantly.
Add wine and milk slowly, stirring with a wooden spoon to ensure there are no lumps.
Add the fish, scallops and mussels.
Simmer for 10-15minutes or until the potato is soft.
Finish with cream.
Season with salt and pepper to taste (I found that quite a lot of each is needed)
Serve and garnish with parsley.


I have no words for this, other than: oh my gosh it is completely and utterly delicious!
I only had half the amounts of seafood specified as I was planning to make half the recipe until a friend of J's was a last minute dinner guest addition. I can only imagine how much more fantastic this would be with the full amount of seafood... ooh!

Cookbook challenge, week 33: Scallops with a crisp crust

The theme for week 33 is seafood and I decided to use scallops as they are something I haven't really eaten much, or cooked with at all. The recipe comes from Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbs plain flour
1 tbs polenta
1/2 tbs cornflour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
olive oil
8 scallops, cleaned (I left the roe on)
1/4 cup buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Heat a frypan with 1cm oil
Dip the scallops in the milk then roll in the flour mixture.
Cook in the oil until lightly browned on each side.

The recipe serves them with a parsley and lemon butter and salad, but we just enjoyed them with some Japanese mayonnaise. It was a very easy recipe, and I am happy that my first foray into scallops worked! The only odd detail about this recipe is that because they are dipped into the liquid then flour the batter does not stick to the scallops very well at all, and I had to handle them quite gently to avoid the batter falling off. Usually when battering things like this, recipes specify to dip them in flour then liquid then flour/crumb again. If I make these again I'll think try it that way instead to compare the results.

Cookbook challenge, week 32: Potato and cabbage vegetable

The recipe for this week's Potato theme comes from a book I hadn't used yet. It is 'The Higher Taste: A guide to gourmet vegetarian cooking and a karma-free diet'. It's a neat little book that I picked up second-hand, after loving the Hare Krishna food at the Falls Festival. I regretted not buying their book at the festival and hoped to find similarly good recipes in this book.



Ingredients:
1/4 large cabbage, thinly sliced (I used a Chinese cabbage)
3 large potatoes, cut into 1.5cm cubes
2 tbs ghee
1 small hot chilli, finely diced
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp salt
1 small wedge of lemon

Heat the ghee in a large saucepan, then add seeds, turmeric, and chilli.
When the seeds start to crackle, add the potatoes and stir for 5 minutes on medium heat.
Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes until potatoes are tender.
Add salt and coriander powder.
Sprinkle with lemon juice.
Serve hot.


I'm not sure about this recipe - we ate it but it wasn't great. I don't know if it's the combination of ingredients, or if my spices or ghee were a bit too old, but the flavour was just a little odd. If I cook this again, I'll use a different combination of spices.

Cookbook challenge, week 31: Coq au vin

Week 31 had the theme French. I had a few ideas - trying to make croissants or a souffle, but instead I ended up going for this recipe from my copy of the Family Circle cookbook, Cooking: A Commonsense Guide, as the cold evenings certainly make casseroles like this seem very appealing.

Coq au vin translates to rooster in wine and wikipedia has some interesting notes on the history of the dish.

Ingredients:
seasoned plain flour
1kg chicken pieces
2 tbs oil
2 rashers bacon, sliced
1 shallot, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbs brandy
3/4 cup red wine
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 sprigs fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
2 tbs tomato paste
125g button mushrooms, or quartered larger mushrooms

Toss the chicken in the seasoned flour.
Heat half the oil in a heavy-based pan and cook the chicken in batches, removing once lightly browned.
Heat the remaining oil, and add the bacon, shallot and garlic and cook until onions are browned.
Add the chicken, brandy, wine, stock, herbs and tomato paste.
Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and simmer another 10 minutes.
Serve with mashed potato or crusty French bread.


It turned out wonderfully - it is very much a comfort-food dish! Chicken breast has a tendency to dry out, but it stayed wonderfully juicy when cooked this way. The sauce had a lovely creamy consistency, which is nice considering there is no cream in it.

Cookbook challenge, week 30: Onion and rosemary focaccia

Week 30! You might have noticed that I've missed a couple of weeks here and there as life in general has been rather busy. My plan was to catch up on cooking previous themes before posting current ones but it just wasn't happening, so instead I will just try to keep up with current weeks and post sporadic previous weeks when I can.

This week's theme is baked, and I decided to try a yeast-based product, as I tend to shy away from breads. This focaccia in the Marie Claire cookbook Comfort looked pretty tasty.

Ingredients:
450g plain flour
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
4 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh rosemary
1 small onion, finely sliced (I used a shallot)
2 tbs olive oil

Put the (unsifted) flour in a bowl, add salt.
Put the yeast in a small bowl and add the sugar and 310mL warm water.
Set aside for 10 minutes.
When it starts to froth, add the yeast mix plus the oil to the flour.
Work the ingredients together then knead on a floured surface until smooth and elastic.
Put into a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Spread onto a lightly greased 25x37cm tray and press it out to cover the tray.
Use fingers to make dimples.
Leave to rise for 20 more minutes.
Preheat oven to 200ºC.
Scatter the rosemary, onion and sea salt over the dough, then drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
Serve warm.

I made a half recipe and it turned out pretty well. The sea salt is essential, it would be very bland without it. I was a bit concerned that it didn't rise at all during the second rising period, and I perhaps should have left it to do so for a bit longer. And as with everything I bake, the curse of my oven struck again - it barely browned on top at all. However despite all this, it was lovely eaten fresh out of the oven.

Cookbook challenge, week 28: crumpets

Week 28 had the theme of crumpets, so I thought it was a perfect time to try a recipe that I've had stashed away for ages. It's not technically from one of my cookbooks: I copied it from the Epicure section of the Age newspaper ages ago, and the recipe in the article was reprinted from a book called The Home Cook, by Barry Vera. The recipe is for crumpets, and the picture accompanying the article looked really enticing, so I definitely wanted to try making them sometime.

Ingredients:
7.5g fresh yeast or 3.5g dried yeast
300mL warm water
225g plain flour
1 tsp salt
soft butter

Mix the yeast with a few tablespoons of warm water in a small bowl and stir until dissolved.
Leave for 5 minutes.
Sift the flour and salt into a larger bowl.
Stir about 2/3 of the remaining water into the flour, then add the yeast.
The mixture should be thick but pour quite easily - add more water if necessary (I added the full amount).
Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (I sat it in the oven set to the lowest temperature with the door ajar).
Heat a non-stick frying pan to medium (I used a flat electric grill plate).
Grease crumpet rings/egg rings/pastry cutters with a little butter.
Place the rings on the pan and fill 1cm deep.
Cook for 5 mins or until small holes start to appear and the top starts to dry.
Remove the rings and flip the crumpets.
Cook until golden brown on both sides.
Serve with butter and honey.

I cooked half the amounts listed above, and it made 4 lovely little crumpets. I did two at a time - I used one heart-shaped cookie cutter plus an improvised ring made from folded aluminium foil, which worked surprisingly well! The second two crumpets were definitely fluffier and tastier than the first two, as I cooked them at a higher heat (the recipe specified a low heat) and also put less batter in the rings. I'll make these again sometime for sure.


The crumpets during the cooking process:



Cooked!

Cookbook challenge, week 26: Potato salad with green goddess dressing

The theme for week 26 was green, and I found this recipe in Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. The original recipe uses 'little gems', which I think are baby cos lettuce. I just made it as a simple potato salad served on cos leaves.

Ingredients:
800g salad potatoes, cleaned and cut into 2cm square pieces
4 anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
2 tbs milk
2 tbs tarragon vinegar
6 tbs creme fraiche
8-10 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 spring onion, finely diced,
3 tbs chopped tarragon
4 tbs chopped parsley
18 cornichons, or sliced gherkins

Boil the potatoes until just cooked, then drain and cool slightly under cold water.
Grind the anchovies using a mortar and pestle.
In a bowl, whisk together the anchovies, milk, vinegar and creme until smooth.
Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly.
Stir in the spring onion, tarragon, parsley and diced cornichons.
Check for seasoning, add black pepper.
Mix into the cooked potatoes.
Line a bowl with cos leaves, and add the potatoes.

It's pretty tasty - the dressing is really nice. I think if I make it again I'll add some bacon or prosciutto as it would be even better with that meatiness.

Cookbook challenge, week 24: White chocolate biscuits and chocolate caramel slice

The theme is chocolate - and what better week to do two recipes instead of one?

The first is white chocolate biscuits, from my Nanna's cookbook. This recipe is failproof, delicious and terribly unhealthy - as all good biscuit recipes should be (cookies are a sometimes food..!).

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 cup brown sugar
4 tbs sweetened condensed milk
2 cups self raising flour
pinch of salt
250g chopped white chocolate (I supplemented this with some milk chocolate as well)

Preheat oven to 170ºC and grease and line two biscuit trays.
Cream butter and sugar, then add the condensed milk and beat well.
Add flour, chocolate and salt.
Roll into 2.5cm balls and place on trays.
Cook for 11-13 minutes or until pale brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 50 biscuits.




The chocolate caramel slice recipe comes from one of my oldest cookbooks, Family Circle's Cooking: A Commonsense Guide. It contains heaps of simple, classic recipes and I learned a lot from it when I started cooking. This is the first time I've made this recipe.

Ingredients:
125g plain sweet biscuits, crushed
80g melted butter
2 tbs dessicated coconut
400g sweetened condensed milk (but I only used about 300g)
125g butter, extra
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup golden syrup
250g milk chocolate melts
1 tbs vegetable oil

Grease a shallow 30x20cm tin (note: I ended up transferring to a smaller tin as the base was spread too thinly in the original tin), line with foil, and grease the foil.
Process together the biscuit crumbs, melted butter and coconut, then press the mixture into the tray.
Combine the condensed milk, extra butter, sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan.
Stir over a low heat for 15 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and the caramel is thick and slightly browned.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
Spread the caramel over the base and smooth the surface.
Melt the milk chocolate and oil (either carefully in the microwave or using a double boiler).
Spread the chocolate over the caramel.
Allow to partially set then mark the chocolate into 24 triangles.
Refrigerate until firm.
Store in an airtight container for up to two days.

As you can see by the picture below, this didn't really work out so well! I accidentally let the chocolate get too hard before trying to slice it, and that combined with the softness of the caramel and the base means that trying to cut it wasn't at all successful! But despite the messiness it was still rather tasty.