Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Almond Tea Cake

This week Carmen of Carmen Cooks chose Dorie's Coconut Tea Cake. I know a few weeks ago I raved about the toasted coconut custard tart but in reality, that was enough coconut to last me about a year. So, rather than skip a week I simply skipped the coconut!

I opted to make an almond tea cake instead and it was wonderful.

All I did was use regular milk instead of the coconut and flaked almonds both in and on top of my little cake. And I do mean little - the photos are quite deceptive because I made just 1/4 of the recipe in a baby loaf pan, about the size of a muffin!

The taste test ...

I love 'plain' cakes like this. To me they are so satisfying and comforting and like Dorie says, they are something you can cut a slice from every time you walk through the kitchen. I was a little worried how it would turn out because the cake mix was like a runny pancake batter but it baked up beautifully and was fabulously moist.

While it was still warm I brushed the top with melted butter and dusted over some cinnamon sugar. It really doesn't get much better than that!

Thanks for a great pick Carmen!

And also my apologies to Jody of Beansy Loves Cake for skipping the Dulce de Leche Duos. My grandmother passed away last week, aged 84, and my heart just wasn't into baking.

I really have to credit my grandma for my love of cooking. While my mum was a pretty good cook she never really enjoyed it. Grandma, on the other hand, seemed to find it therapeutic rather than a chore and turned out some wonderful meals. I took Oscar to see her in hospital a few days before she died and she was thrilled to see him. She will be missed :-(

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Daring Bakers March - Orange Tian


Have you heard of a tian? I hadn't either but what a lovely dessert this turned out to be!

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

This dessert involved making several components including a citrus caramel, whipped cream filling and biscuit base, but the one that had me really excited was the marmalade. Yep, we had to make our own marmalade for this challenge!

I love jam and making it has been on my to-do list for years. I think the fact you need to sterilise jars and so on has scared me away but really, you can just make a small amount to store in the fridge and eat within a couple of weeks.

Almost everything for the tian came together really easily and I prepared all the components in one day. I opted to make just one small (4") tian as were in dessert overload that week.

In the end the only element I struggled with was the marmalade. I wasn't sure where to get pectin from but I had seen a jam setting sugar at the supermarket in the past so I went hunting for that. Once I had the sugar I needed oranges (obviously) and chose some lovely looking navel oranges. Now I think these were the wrong type to get because the pith was about 1cm thick on all of them. I blanched the oranges 5 times to hopefully remove any bitterness and it turned out fine. My issue was with the final taste. For some reason this tasted like jam that had been sitting around in a cupboard for too long. The sugar was still 1 year within the use-by date but I am not convinced. I still don't know whether it was the sugar or the oranges that gave the marmalade its strange aftertaste BUT I do know I am no longer scared of making jam!

The taste test ...

Surprisingly light! Lovely contrast between the crunchy base, smooth cream filling and fresh orange segments. I did add the citrus caramel after I took the photo but I think it was unnecessary and really dialled up the sweetness into excess.

This would be a wonderful dinner party desssert as not only does it look and taste spectacular, it can be totally prepared in advance.

Thank you Jennifer for a wonderful challenge!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

My husband has had his eye on this recipe since day one so was very excited it was picked for March. Big thanks to Rachelle of Mommy? I'm hungry! for making his day!

I made a half recipe which fit perfectly in a 6" pan. I used all dark chocolate with frozen raspberries and it worked perfectly. Not so the sweet tart dough with nuts which I tried for the first time. The consistency was just plain weird, almost like a coconut macaroon and very crumbly.

The taste test ...

Chocolate and raspberry is a classic combination so I knew we would all love this. But what really sold me was the texture of the filling. At room temperature it was smooth and oh so silky. Straight out of the fridge it was like chocolate fudge. Absolutely delicious! I didn't love the crust though and probably won't make the tart dough with nuts again, especially when I know how good the original version is.

Thanks for a great pick Rachelle! You can find the recipe on her blog under today's date.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Daring Cooks March - Risotto

This month's Daring Cooks challenge was all about comfort food. The meal? Risotto!

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of MelbournefoodGeek and Jess of Jessthebaker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from the Australian Masterchef cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

I adore risotto so we tend to have it quite regularly. I do admit to cheating though and using premade stock. Not this time though.

The recipe in the MasterChef cookbook (which I happened to receive for Christmas) was for a pumpkin risotto. Hubby hates pumpkin with a passion so I chose to do a roast chicken and garlic risotto instead.

You don't really need a recipe for stock. I roasted 2kg of chicken drumsticks with 2 whole heads of garlic at 200 degrees for a couple of hours. I sauteed a couple of leeks in olive oil then added the chicken and garlic. Covered the whole lot with water, brought to the boil then simmered for 2 1/2 hours. Removed the meat from the bones and stored separately. Refrigerated the stock overnight then removed the fat on the surface. Bring the stock back up to the boil then strain and you are ready to go.

The verdict? Yum! The homemade stock really takes this dish from easy weeknight meal to dinner party showstopper. Absolutely delish and very easy to do.

Thanks for a great challenge girls! You can find the challenge recipe on MelbournefoodGeek or Jessthebaker.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Thumbprints for Us Big Guys

I do love recipes with jam. My grandmother used to make the BEST jam tarts with beautiful homemade shortcrust pastry. I would always get the leftover scraps of pastry shaped into a cookie with a big dollop of jam in the middle.

Here in Australia we'd call these jam drops, not thumbprints, but whatever you call them they rock! Buttery, nutty, jammy and just plain delicious.

I tweaked the recipe slightly using ground pistachios instead of hazelnuts, so my cookies had a lovely green tint. I also thought it was the perfect opportunity to open my jar of Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig Jam. This stuff is thick and as black as tar but the flavour? Out of this world. Burning the jam really intensifies the fig flavour and takes the edge off the sticky sweetness. Because it is so thick I didn't heat it as per the recipe, just scooped straight onto each cookie. Messy but good.

(On a side note, anyone else out there really miss The Cook & The Chef? Thank goodness for repeats.)

The combination of pistachio and fig was fantastic. I will be making these again.

Thanks to Mike of Ugly Food for an Ugly Dude for this week's pick!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart


If I'm 100% honest, my reaction to discovering Beryl of Cinemon Girl had picked the Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart was a groan. I'm not the hugest fan of coconut but really I was picturing hubby's reaction to learning his weekly TWD dessert contained two of his least favourite things, being coconut and rum!

After careful consideration of the recipe (and in light of our newly upheld participation requirements) I decided I would make the smallest possible version, just 1/6th of the recipe. My plans went astray though when I made the full batch of sweet tart dough and automatically pressed it into a 9 inch pan. I figured the universe had spoken so went ahead and made the full recipe hoping I wouldn't have to eat it all myself or worse, throw 90% of it away.

Well, this recipe has been one of the biggest surprises of TWD so far. I actually liked it. To the point of eating spoonful after spoonful of the coconut custard from the fridge while it was supposed to be cooling.

Sweetened shredded coconut is pretty hard to find in Australia. There is one brand that I know of but it contains all kinds of nasties so I went with good-old dessicated coconut which you can find in every supermarket here. This may have changed the texture of the custard quite a bit because after cooling in the fridge it had the consistency of cold porridge. Blech. But still tasty!

I used just 1 tablespoon of rum in the custard and that was plenty. I also left the rum out of the whipped cream topping and sprinkled the top with fresh lime zest.

The taste test ...

Fabulous! I did find it very sweet though the lime zest on top really lifted it. The coconut and rum flavours weren't overpowering and of course the sweet tart pastry was brilliant as always. I think next time I would add even more lime by making a lime and coconut custard. The fact I'm already thinking about next time is amazing! I was able to give a lot of it away and it got a positive reaction from everyone. Guess that makes it a winner!

A big thank you to Beryl for picking this tart, because I would never have made it on my own! You can find the recipe on Cinemon Girl.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Daring Bakers February - Tiramisu

This month's Daring Bakers' challenge was called 'heaven on a dessert plate' and boy was it ever!

The official lines - The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking. They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.


I've never really been a fan of tiramisu but I know now that's only because I hadn't tasted the real deal. Apart from the light-as-air ladyfinger biscuits the filling for this version contains four different elements - homemade marscapone, zabaglione, vanilla pastry cream and whipped cream. Whew. No wonder it tastes so good!

The homemade marscapone was a revelation. Never again will I buy marscapone knowing just how easy it is to make and how delicious. We're not keen on marsala so I flavoured the zabaglione with coffee which resulted in a wonderful latte coloured cream. The hint of lemon in the pastry cream worked beautifully with the coffee flavours.





The taste test ...

Oh. My. God. Absolute perfection. I think I uderwhipped the cream so the filling was a little soft but otherwise this truly was heaven on a plate. I won't bother ordering it at a restaurant, I don't think it could ever match up to this!

Thank you Deeba and Aparna for a wonderful recipe this month. I think this is my favourite DB challenge so far!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey-Wheat Cookies

Oh Dorie, I do love it when you surprise me! The lovely Michelle of Flourchild chose Dorie's Honey-Wheat Cookies this week and I admit I wasn't expecting much. This is one of those recipes I have flipped past many times without taking too much notice.

I made a few slight changes to the recipe, first using raw sugar instead of white for a richer flavour, and also upping the citrus. I used the zest of a whole lemon and a whole orange and let me tell you, the aroma wafting up from that bowl of zest and sugar was divine!

I left the dough in the fridge overnight before baking these up first thing in the morning. Dorie said the recipe makes 36 and usually I'm nowhere near it. So this time I actually weighed the dough (yes, apparently I do have too much time on my hands!). My cookies averaged 20g each and I got 35. Close enough.

The taste test ...

Unexpectedly delicious! These have a really well balanced flavour with the honey, citrus and wheat germ shining through. Perfect with a cup of tea. I ate 4 before stopping myself. I froze most of the batch but I have a feeling these will taste great great frozen as well!

Thank you Michelle for a wonderful pick this week! It was a lovely break from all the chocolate this month and I will definitely be baking these again. You can find the recipe on Michelle's blog.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week Kait of Kait's Plate chose Dorie's My best Chocolate Chip Cookies. With a name like that I had high expectations! Unfortunately these fell a little short. Or is that flat?

I made half the recipe and got 22 flat-as-a-pancake cookies. They somehow managed to be crumbly, crunchy and cakey all at once. I used dark brown sugar which gave them good colour. I also used an entire block of Whittaker's dark chocolate. So I can't figure out where these went wrong and why I didn't love them!

My ultimate chocolate chip cookie is a bit chunky, crunchy around the edges, chewy in the middle, studded with chocolate rather than filled with it, has peanuts for extra texture and a slight hint of caramel. If you know of a recipe like that please let me know :)

Thanks for an interesting pick this week Kait. I'm sorry to say these weren't a success for me but I know lots of people loved them! You can find the recipe on Kait's blog.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Daring Cooks February - Mezze

Daring Cooks time again! It feels like ages since I participated in the Daring Cooks challenges but in reality I only skipped January. This month brought the opportunity to make something that's been on my to-cook list for about year - pita bread!

I've really been getting into making bread but this one has always had me worried. How do you get your pita bread to puff up like they should? What are they like if they don't? I needn't have worried though because these worked perfectly. If you've ever wanted to try making pita then this is the recipe for you.

Now the actual challenge was to make a mezze table, a Middle Eastern version of Spanish Tapas, but basically a whole lot of small dishes that are served before a main meal or as finger food. I shamefully did the bare minimum and just made the pita and hummus.

The 2010 February Daring COOKs challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid

Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook 2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:

1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.

2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.

3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).

4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.

5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn't puff up, don't worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Look at that puff!

Just a note about the breads, I found it took much, much longer for them to cook despite using a very hot oven and a pizza stone. My pita took about 15 minutes to cook and puff up. And even then they didn't brown much. Still delicious though.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden

Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes.

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:

1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.

2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.

3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

This hummus recipe is identical to the one I make for myself quite regularly and it was fabulous with the pita. Now that I know how easy the pita is I will be whipping them up for myself more often!

Thanks to Michelle for a great challenge!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Tuesdays with Dorie: Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia

Another recipe for chocoholics this week! The lovely Tanya of Chocolatechic chose Rick Katz's Brownies for Julia and I have to admit I wasn't too sure about it. I mean, a brownie is a brownie is a brownie, right? Wrong! I think this was the most fudgy, chocolatey, decadent brownie I've ever eaten.

I made just 1/4 of the recipe and seeing we're only a week out from Valentine's Day I used a little heart-shaped spring-form pan (well greased and lined with baking paper).

I'm no good at working out cooking times for adjusted recipes but it seemed cooked after 30 minutes - the top was dry and crackly and it was starting to pull away from the edges. A mere 5 minutes later the middle sank into an enormous crater revealing an ooey-gooey chocolate centre. I figured it would firm up as it cooled and it did.

The taste test ...

I know it gets a little repetitive to hear me rave about almost every recipe but this truly was the best brownie I've ever had. In fact I think it would be in my top 10 TWD picks and that's high praise for someone who prefers fruit desserts. It is VERY rich though. I think my little heart shaped brownie could have served 6 easily.

Thank you for a fabulous pick Tanya! You can find the recipe on her blog under today's date.
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