Archive for December, 2011

Dec 31

cookbook challenge 2011: 26th fortnight, christmas

Tim and I have decided to take a different approach to Christmas this year than what we normally do. It all started largely around the thought of giving people bought gifts that they would politely thank you for, but as soon as they got home it would go straight into the re-gifting cupboard at home! Such a waste (but I guess at least someone will like it eventually right!) So we set about trying to give people things that they could use or consume. Most of the friends and family in our lives don’t need stuff  – they have everything they need. So getting them the ideal gift can be pretty difficult. So we set about making gifts, and making edible gifts seemed like a good way to start. The recipe below is one of these.

Ginger Ale Fruit Cake, as seen in Gran’s Cookbook, recipes of Dulcie May Booker

1/2 pint (240ml) Ginger Ale

1/2 lb (225g) Sultanas

1/2 lb (225g) Dates

1/2 lb (225g) Currants

1/2 lb (225g) Raisins

2 tblsp Lemon Rind

1/2 lb (225g) Butter

1/2 lb (225g) Sugar

4 Eggs

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Almond Essence

1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence

1 tblsp Brandy

 

Soak fruit overnight in ginger ale.

Cream butter and sugar very well. Beat in eggs one at a time then add sifted flour and baking powder.

Add soaked fruit and, lastly the essences and brandy.

Bake for 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours in a paper-lined tin at 325°F (160°C).

 

I love this recipe. So simple and yet so yummy. I upped the Brandy content to give it some more Christmas cheer as my mother would say!
I left out the almond essence as A: I don’t really like it and B: I wasn’t going to buy any because of A. As you can see from the picture I bought some small round disposable waxed paper holders and split the recipe across 5 to give these as gifts. Super easy! And very Christmas.

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Dec 31

cookbook challenge 2011: 25th fortnight, cool

As I am way behind on my CBC, most of my recipes are currently syncing in with my Christmas food prep. So for cool I decided to tackle these cherry ripe balls as a sweet Christmas treat! I made them as little pressies for our work mates. To sex them up a bit I put them on bamboo sticks which I picked up at the Asian grocer. I have to say they looked pretty damn good. But I totally forgot to take a photo on them! So in place you have a shot of the recipe book. Aren’t you lucky!

 

Cherry Surprises, as seen in Sweet Treats by Frankie

makes 36

1/2 can of condensed milk

200g glace cherries

2 cups of desiccated coconut

a few drops of red food dye

200g of good quality dark chocolate

10g Copha

 

Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside. In a large bowl mix coconut, cherries, food colouring and condensed milk until well combined.

Roll into balls and place on  one prepared tray and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Boil a little water in a saucepan and attached a heatproof bowl firmly on top (the water should not touch the bowl). Over low heat melt the chocolate and copha together in the heatproof bowl.

Using a spoon, dip balls into chocolate mixture and place on your second prepared tray.

Let the chocolate set in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

 

As I mentioned above I stuck bamboo forks about 2 inches long into the balls before I dipped them in the chocolate. I also skipped the copha – it just seemed like a waste of time for 10g and would have only spoiled the chocolate flavour.

 

 

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Dec 30

cookbook challenge 2011: 24th fortnight, seafood

Time for a recipe with a bit more green to it! I wanted something fresh and light for the seafood CBC. Flicking through my recipe books, this recipe looked like a good bet for a yummy lunch.

Squid and Broad Bean Salad, as seen in the Seafood, by the Australian Gourmet Traveler

serves 6

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

Pinch of dried chilli flakes

2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

1 kg fresh broad beans, podded or 500g packet frozen broad beans thawed

200g sugar snap peas, trimmed

750g cleaned squid tubes, cut into 8mm-thick slices

1/2 cup firmly packed parsley leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons lemon juice

 

Combine olive oil, garlic, anchovies and chilli flakes in a small frying pan and cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the garlic is slightly golden, then add vinegar and transfer to a large bowl.

Steam broad beans over a saucepan of simmering water for 3 minutes or until tender. Cool beans slightly, then peel and add to garlic mixture. Steam the sugar snap peas over a saucepan of simmering water for 3 minutes or until tender, then add to beans.

Steam squid rings, in batches if necessary, over a saucepan of simmering water for 2-3 minutes or until just tender, then add to the bean mixture.

Add parsley and lemon juice, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Serve warm or at room temperature, divide among shallow bowls.

So my changes… since I couldn’t be arsed going to the shops I figured close enough is good enough. So, I went with snow peas instead of sugar snap, added 4 spears of asparagus, went with frozen broad beans, switched the white wine vinegar for sherry vinegar and didn’t bother with the parsley. I modified the recipe to make it for 2 people, using 300g of squid tubes and less broad beans and snow peas.The result was pretty smashing, the anchovies melt into the olive oil, since they are chopped so finely and all you end up with is their flavour, when combined with the lemon juice and dressing I rolled the steamed squid in the dressing before plating it up. A lovely quick, easy and healthy lunch for two!

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Dec 16

cookbook challenge 2011: 23rd fortnight, red

I had no idea what to make for the red cookbook challenge. I think my creativity is waiving at this time of year as I’m  not convinced that this was the best option, but it’s what I went with in any case. So behold these savoury muffins!

Cheese and Chutney Muffins, as seen in the Vegetarian cookbook.

2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 lightly beaten eggs
2/3 cup finely grated parmesan
salt and cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato chutney

 

Preheat oven to 190°C. Spray a 12 x 1 1/2 tablespoon-capacity mini muffin pan with a little oil spray. Set aside.

Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk, olive oil and eggs and add to the flour mixture. Add parmesan and salt and cracked black pepper, folding gently until just combined.

Place a spoonful of mixture in each muffin hole, coming about 3/4 of the way up the side of each hole. Make a little well in the centre of each muffin hole and divide tomato chutney between each hole. Using a skewer, gently swirl the chutney into the muffin mixture.

Bake for 10 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool and repeat with remaining muffin mixture.

Ok so my modifications… I didn’t have enough cheese in the fridge before I started. So I mixed tasty cheese and parmesan cheese (grated of course).  I also had some amazing organic asparagus (thanks to Jodie) and some Tomme Blue from Millewa Cheese Company that needed to be used. So I split the batch in half and made half chutney and half asparagus with blue cheese. I have to say of the two the winner was definitely the chutney ones. I used a cranberry chutney that was given to me last christmas.  Which went really well with the cheesy muffin. I had a but of trouble swirling the mixture to spread the chutney out. But I think this was due  the warm day the mixture stiffened up too. So I just made a well and plonked it on top, and it still worked!

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Dec 04

melbourne in the 1900s

I’ve seen this on a few facebook pages over the last couple of days. It’s well worth the 15 minutes.

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Dec 01

sticky date ice-cream

An ice-cream making machine turned up in a box of Tim’s stuff so I decided to give it a go. After seeing a sticky date ice-cream in a window at an ice-cream store I decided to hunt down a recipe and give it a go. Here’s what I came up with.

Sticky Date Ice-cream
Makes about 1.5 litres.

1 cup milk
1 cup cream
1/4 cup caster sugar
3 egg yolks
pinch salt
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp butter
1 cup roughly chopped dates

Mix a couple of tablespoons of milk with the cornflour in saucepan and stir until smooth. Boil or nuke the rest of the milk and cream, then add to the milk/cornflour mix. Bring to boil, then let cool.

Beat sugar, egg yolks and salt until thick and creamy. Add about 1/4 of the milk and mix together, then pour this back into the saucepan and heat on medium, stirring continually until mixture thickens slightly. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour into suitable container and refrigerate.

Place sugar, water, and butter in saucepan and bring to boil. Turn heat down to medium, stir until sugar is dissolved, and add dates. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally until the dates are soft and caramelised. Cool.

Start churning the vanilla cream mixture in the ice cream maker as per instructions. When it is just over halfway churned, add 1/2 the sticky date mixure, and continue churning. Then, when transferring ice cream to a container for freezing, fold in the rest of the sticky dates so that they form channels in the ice-cream. Freeze until needed.

 

Somewhere along the lines I stuff this up. I know I made at least three mistakes. Firstly,I cooked the dates too long and most of them dissolved into the sauce, so I added some more so there would be chunks of date in the ice-cream. Secondly, the ice-cream never actually thickened up in the machine. Is it meant to? I’m not sure! But I’m sure I churned it too long and the bowl warmed too much. Thirdly, I put the date mixture in whilst it was still in the churner! What I ended up with, I stuck in the freezer to set. Upon tasting it was super sweet, on account of the extra dates I suspect! The texture was weird, almost rough – which also has something to do with mistakes number one and three. All in all it tasted ok – but you’d probably one want a little bit of it! Better luck next time hey?

 

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