Tarty goodness

I do love a bit of tart.  Here are some I made the other day.

@ home, with love / by Julie Le Clerc (2004)

Auckland: Penguin Books

Pg117

Burnt Sugar Tarts (Creme Brûlée Tarts)

Sweet Pastry

1/2 cup caster sugar

200g butter, softened

1 egg

2 cups plain flour

Pinch salt

1. Place sugar, butter and egg in a bowl and beat to just combined. Stir in flour, salt to form dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead lightly to bring together. (Note: I cut the butter through the flour in the food processor and then add the remaining ingredients and pulse the processor until the dough starts to form together, then I finish it off by hand).

2. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 mins before using as recipe following directs.

Vanilla Custard

1 vanilla bean ( I used a good teaspoon of vanilla paste)

1 cup cream

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons caster sugar

3 egg yolks

Demerara sugar to brûlée 

1. Roll out pastry to 3mm thick and use to line 6 10cm individual tart tins. Prick base with a fork and chill for 30mins.

2. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans/weights - bake blind for 10 mins. Remove paper and weights and return cases to oven for 5 mins to dry out.  Decrease oven temperature to 140 degrees C.

3. If using the vanilla bean, cut in half lengthways and scrape out seeds. Combine with cream and milk in a saucepan. Bring to boil then remove from heat for 10 mins for vanilla to infuse. (if you use paste like me, just add it to the milk and cream and bring to the boil.)

4. In a bowl beat caster sugar and yolks together until pale. Strain cream mixture and pour onto yolks, then whisk to combine.

5. Return mixture to a clean saucepan. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Don't let it boil or it will curdle. Pour mixture into pastry cases. Bake 15 mins or until custard is just set. Remove to cool.

6. Just before serving, dust top of custard with Demerara sugar. Caramelise with a brûlée torch of quickly under a grill. (Personally I think caster sugar is a better option).

Salted caramel tarts

(I used the same pastry and method as above to make these).

The salted caramel recipe I got from one of the cooking blogs I read and I neglected to write down in my cookbook which one. So I do apologize - if this looks familiar to someone, I am more than happy to link directly to your blog if you let me know! It must have been a US one because it uses the term "stick" of butter.

250g sugar

80ml water

115g salted butter 

150ml heavy cream

In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, combine sugar and water. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Add butter. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel color. Remove from heat. Add cream - be careful because it will spit - whisk to combine and put back on stove. Let it come to the boil again and cook 25-35 mins until you reach a creamy consistency. (Note: I wanted a sauce consistency and took it off the heat sooner than 25 mins. Even so, it was really too far gone along the road to hardening off for sauce. Great for soft caramels though).

For the tarts I spooned in the caramel to the tart cases and then cooked them briefly (about 5-10 mins) until it seemed like a good time to take them out - I used mini tart cases to it didn't take long. I then broke a piece of chocolate into the hot caramel and sprinkled a few salt grains on it.

You will have plenty of left over caramel. I don't see this as a problem...

#blogjune 2013 Day 3: Monday Menu plan

Last week's menu plan

Monday - roast beef in the crockpot, Yorkshire pudding, beans
Tuesday - mini meat loaves, slater potatoes, broccoli
Wednesday - Fish with Spanish potatoes peas and chorizo (recipe from My Food Bag)
Thursday - Spinach, ricotta canelloni with tomato sauce with a rocket, pear, walnut, blue cheese salad
Friday - Chilli with tortillas, salsa
Saturday - Chicken Nasi Goreng with peanut sauce and prawn crackers, Croissant orange and cranberry bread and butter pudding for zert. *

Nasi Goreng

This week's menu plan

Sunday - pizza and Minestrone soup
Monday (Queen's birthday) - gnocchi and tomato sauce with sauteed spinach, lamb steaks, steamed carrots
Tuesday - pork chops with garlicky spinach & mash
Wednesday - Pasta puttenesca
Thursday -Tom Yum soup
Friday - chicken cacciatore
Saturday - fish and chips (homemade)

Has anyone tried My Food Bag before?  My colleagues and I were looking at it last week.  It looks interesting.

Bread and butter pudding made with croissants

* Croissant orange and cranberry bread and butter pudding

3-4 croissants cut into slices (or enough to fill your dish)
1/4 cup sugar
zest of an orange
juice of an orange
3 eggs
2 cups milk
cinnamon
dried cranberries (as many as you think are good, probably about 1/2 cup)

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees C.
Grease an ovenproof dish and arrange the slices of croissants in it. Sprinkle over orange zest and juice and allow juice to soak into the croissants. Sprinkle over sugar and cranberries.
Beat eggs and milk together briefly then pour over the croissants.  Spinkle with cinnamon.
Cook in the middle of the oven until custard is just cooked (it will be very slightly jiggly).
Serve with cream.

Lemon sago

Sago is a weird thing.I mean, whoever looked at a sago palm and thought, "Hey, let's open that up and use the pith for eating chaps!"

Anyway,  I like making lemon sago with it.

1/3 cup sago
2 1/2 cups boiling water
juice and rind of one lemon
3 Tablespoons golden syrup
1 Tablespoon sugar

First you boil the sago in the water until it's clear, stirring regularly.

 Take off the heat.

Then you add the other ingredients and stir well to disperse the flavour.  Put in a bowl and chill until jelly like.

Serve with cream.

My kids love this stuff.

Menu Plan Monday

Orgjunkie

And so - last week was fine.  Didn't do the Thai beef salad because I'd had salad for lunch - salad overload.  So went for plain old steak, onions, potatoes and..er.. salad.

Anyway!

Monday - Beef Fajitas (crockpot)
Tuesday - 5 spice duck with noodles (Miss5's request. Actually she requested plain, cooked noodles but I'm not quite into that.  If the duck is too expensive I'll be substituting chicken)
Wednesday - Pasta puttanesca (DH's request)
Thursday - Sticky chicken wings with wedges (another request from Miss5 who saw the picture in the Dish magazine I was looking at)
Friday - home made burgers
Saturday - beef vindaloo (Mr8's request) and some other things to accompany it.
Sunday - Ahmed's lamb tagine with cous cous

The kefta meatball dish from last week is very easy.

Tagine of Kefta meatballs with tomatoes and eggs
from Made in Morocco by Julie le Clerc, (2004), pg 103

Serves 4

700g lamb or beef mince
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp each ground coriander and paprika
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
olive oil for frying
tomato sauce (see following)
4 eggs
1 Tablesp chopped fresh marjoram or parsley

1. Combine mince, garlic, spices and fresh coriander in a bowl and knead or pound until smooth in texture.  Season well with salt and pepper.
2. With damp hands, mould walnut sized portions into balls and set on tray.
3, Heat oil in large frying pan and fry meatballs in batches until golden brown all over. Place meatballs in tagine or casserole.
4. Pour tomato sauce over browned meatballs. Bring to boil then simmer on stovetop or bak in oven heated to 180 deg. C for 20 mins, stiring once to prevent sticking. (I prefer the oven method).
5. Break eggs into the sauce and continue to cook for 5 mins until eggs are just set. Scatter herbs over and serve.

Tomato Sauce
400g can tomatoes, chopped
1 Tablesp tomato paste
1 Tablesp liquid honey
1/2 cup hot water
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Menu Plan Monday

Last week went pretty well.  Changed the plan for Saturday and had takeaways instead after Miss 5's party.  Too tired to cook.

On to Menu Plan Monday - the only problem with doing this is that I'm always a day ahead of the post from Orgjunkie, so have to remember to go and link up on Tuesday.  Oh well.

Monday - homemade pizza (Miss5's request and karate starts again, need something easy)
Tuesday - Sticky Thai chick (see below), rice, stir fry veg
Wednesday - Tortellini bake with salad
Thursday - Thai beef salad (mine is similar to this one, but I use sirloin steak not fillet)
Friday - crockpot lasagne (Mr8's request), salad
Saturday - Chicken curry, chickpea curry... probably raita, rice and a vegetable
Sunday - Kefta meatball tagine with eggs, couscous (DH's request)

Sticky Thai Chicken (can be done in the slow cooker or conventional oven)

This is one of the easiest dishes ever.  Haven't put  amounts because it depends on how much chicken you have - you'll need enough to fairly coat the chicken.  The idea is to get a balance between sweet, salty, sour, hot though.

Mix together:

• apricot jam
• Sweet Thai chilli sauce
• soy sauce or fish sauce
• tomato sauce
• crushed garlic
• lemon or lime juice

Pour onto chicken (I'll be using chicken pieces with bone in).  Bake until cooked.

(I'll be adding some grated lemon grass and finely chopped kaffir lime leaves to the mixture too.)

#blogjune Day 6: In which I bite a caterpillar's bottom and share a recipe

Spent the day with a whole lot of others, gathering for fellowship and inspiration and faith renewal. The children were pretty good through the long services.

Came home and did housework, DH mowed the lawn.

Miss4 rediscovered this wretched toy yesterday.  In case you didn't realise, it drives me nuts eventually.



Janine asked for this recipe so here it is :)  It is a great vegetarian recipe.  I add chickpeas or kidney beans to bump up the protein factor if I use it as a vegetarian main.


Batata Nu Shak ( Spicy potatoes with tomatoes)
(from Flavours of India / Madhur Jaffrey (1995) London: BBC Books, ISBN: 0563370777, pg. 69)
Serves 4-6

4 Tbsp vege oil
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 dried hot red chillies
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp gr. asafoetida (hing)*
10 fresh curry leaves if available**
4 small potatoes (450g) peeled or unpeeled, cut into 1cm pieces
1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp gr turmeric
2 tsp salt
2 fresh hot green chillies
2.5 cm piece fresh ginger peeled and finely grated
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh green coriander
2 med sized tomatoes chopped into 2.5cm dice (I use a can of chopped tomatoes)
1 1/2 Tbsp desiccated coconut
1/2 Tbsp jaggery or brown sugar
3/4 Tbsp thick tamarind paste ***

Heat the oil in a large, wide, preferably non-stick pan or wok over medium high heat.
When hot, put in mustard seeds.  As soon as they pop, a matter of seconds, add the cumin seeds, red chillies, bay leaves and asafetida.  Stir for 4-5 secs and add the curry leaves.  Stir once and add potatoes, cayenne pepper, turmeric, salt, green chillies and ginger.  Stir to mix.
Add 150ml water.  Cover and simmer for 10 mins over low heat.
Now add the fresh coriander, tomatoes, coconut, gr. coriander, jaggery or brown sugar and 350ml water.  Stir to mix, then cover again and leave to simmer for a further 10 mins.  Add the tamarind pastes. Simmer for a further 2-3 mins.  Remove from heat.
Serve with Indian breads as part of any Indian meal.

* Asafoetida is a strong smelling spice that replaces the use of garlic/onion in some Indian dishes.  I don't mind the smell, but some people find it very pungent.  Keep it in a sealed container.  It can be obtained from any Indian spice store.  It smells very strong when you use it but when cooked has a mellow flavour.

**Curry leaves are often sold in my PakNSave near the vermicelli in the vege section.  Also obtainable from Asian and India stores.  They freeze well and I have them in the freezer, helping myself when needed for curry dishes.

*** You can buy tamarind in a couple of forms from Asian stores and Indian food stores. I usually buy the dried cake form which I then break a piece off and reconstitute it with boiling water.  I then press it through a tea strainer to get the paste and strain out the seeds.  You can get it in concentrate form too, which is more convenient since you don't have to get the seeds out, but be careful to get the dilution factor correct.  Too much will overpower the dish.  You can use lemon juice if you don't have any on hand as tamarind is a souring flavour.

Day 7 #blog12daysxmas In which water fights were had

By members of the family - DS has been agitating for a Big Purple Water Blaster from the Red Shed so today we went to see what was available. DH found one he liked too so the game was on!


DD escaping - she wasn't so keen.


The boys fight it out.


I joined in the fun (in my togs) too though my weapon was a bit pathethic - it had prostate problems some of the time.

Doing the last grocery shop of the year I saw that red capsicums are starting to come down in price so I got some to roast. To me, nothing screams summer more than the vegetables that come available at this time of year. This is one of my favourite dishes for summer.



Grease a roasting pan. Halve the capsicums and put some of the following in each of them:

• a garlic clove
• olives
• capers
• anchovies
• basil
• dollop of olive oil
• feta cheese cube
• pesto
• tomato quarter or sundried tomatoes

Sprinkle with pepper and salt and sprinkle a bit more oil over the edges.  I sometimes use the spray oil for this.  Roast in a very hot oven until the edges start to blacken and the capsicums start to collapse. Mmmmm.

More felting & a recipe

I had a scarf for Mr6 laid out for a week before I finally got to felt it.  I wanted to try something I'd seen in a book whereby you embed marbles into the felt and use them as resists creating cell like structures as texture.  Mine didn't entirely turn out like the picture in the book but I've learned a few things along the way which may be useful for future creations.

Here it is laid out and sprinkled with soap before I put netting over the top.  The marbles are under the lime green ends.

Here it is wetted out and the felting process started.  It took quite a while actually.  I think the wool got cold very quickly and I've noticed the wool I got from Designscape seems to be harder to felt than the stuff from Kane Carding (the wool we used in the class).  I sopped up some excess and added some more hot water and soap (the white stuff on the ends) in the hopes that it would felt a bit more.

Working around the marbles was quite tricky.  Some of them popped through before I was finished which was annoying.  I did place them under 2 layers of wool but suspect more would have been better, however, that would have made the scarf too thick.  This technique would probably be better for things like bags.

Finally it was ready to roll 400 times.  The weight of the marbles meant I needed to wrap the outside of the roll with a tea towel so it didn't flop open all the time.

You can see one of those naughty escaping marbles here!  The fulling process has begun.  It gets folded up in the bubblewrap, wrapped in a towel and beaten against the table.

Now for the final fulling process.  Throwing it onto the bubble wrap!  Felting is quite physical work.

You can see the little cells the marbles make beginning to take shape on where the odd one has come out.  The scarf gets rinsed in clean water, then briefly soaked in a white vinegar/water mix to get rid of any remaining soap, and restore the pH of the wool to neutral.

Then the scarf must dry entirely before the marbles are cut out.  The final result looks a little like sea squirts, or the cells bumble bees make in their underground hives.

I made this recipe the other week - it was amazing.  I didn't bother with the individual pie thing, just served it as a stew with a mash.

Beef & caramelized shallot pies with cauliflower tops from Dish Issue 30, July-August 2010, p. 64

30 g butter
1 1/2 T olive oil
18 shallots, peeled but left whole
3 bay leaves
1 T sugar
1 T white wine vinegar
sea salt and pepper
1 kg chuck or blade steak
3 T flour
1 T tomato paste
1 cup red wine
2 t Dijon mustard
2 cups beef stock

Topping
1 large floury potato (about 300g), peeled and cubed
1/2 small cauliflower, about 350g, cut into florets
45g butter
3-4 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry
6x individual pie tins

Preheat oven to 170 deg C.

Heat the butter & 1 T oil in a large saute pan until sizzling, add the shallots, bay leaves, sugar & vinegar.  Stir well then reduce the heat & cool the shallots slowly for 10-15 mins or until lightly golden but still holding their shape.  Season with a little black pepper then remove from pan and set aside.

Trim the beef of gristle, cute into cubes and toss in seasoned flour.  Heat remaining oil in the same pan, add the rest of the beef & cook until golden all over.  Stir in the tomato paste & red wine letting the wine bubble away then stir in the Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and beef stock. (Have to be honest here and say I didn't bother with the browning step.  It all got dumped in my clay pot, including the wine... none of this "bubbling away business thank you very much!)

Transfer the mixture to a casserole and cover the surface directly with baking paper. (Didn't bother with that step either.  Am so bad).  Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours.  Remove from oven and leave to cool completely, preferably overnight.

Topping: Cook the potato and cauli in boiling salted water until tender.  Drain well and mash with the butter and Dijon mustard.  Season and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Line the pie tins with pastry and prick the base a couple of times using a fork.  Dived the cold filling & onions between the tins then top with the cauliflower mash.  Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins or until the tops are golden brown and filling is piping hot.  Serve with sauteed greens e.g kale.  Serves 6.

Day 26: Lazy Sunday

1 Good Thing:
I managed to make a layout about Miss 3's hair cutting episode.  The journalling is the lyrics to The Haircut Song by Marci Appelbaum. 

Link for the day: You can download the free mp3 of her song from this place - look for Erin Lee and Marci.  Lots of other free kids mp3 songs here, traditional and contemporary.

1 Bad Thing: 
It rained on my washing so I had to feed the Energy Consuming Carbon Eating Monster (aka the dryer) so we would have school uniforms to wear.  Still haven't folded the washing mountain in my lounge.

1 Thing I Learned:
The pumpkin from my garden was too tough for the knife so had to be slain with the newly dubbed "Pumpkin's Bane" aka the axe. DH then went and sharpened my knives on the oil stone for me.

Oh and I made this egg-free Christmas Cake from Feast @ home by Julie Le Clerc (2008). Auckland: Penguin Books pg 152

Because I like fruit cake.

Amazing Christmas Cake

225g butter, melted
1 cup hot water
1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 kg dried fruit
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sherry
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups self raising flour, sifted
1/4 cup whole almonds to decorate
brandy to douse

1. Place butter, hot water vinegar, cinnamon, mixed spice and dried fruit into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring regularly.
2. Remove from the heat and stir in condensed milk and baking soda. Allow to cool to room temperature.
3. Line a deep-sided 20 cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper and pre heat oven to 140 degrees C on fan bake.
4. Add sherry and vanilla to cooled mixture and stir in sifted flour.  Pour into prepared cake tin and decorate top with almonds.
5. Bake from 2-2 1/2 hours. Cool completely before removing from cake tin.  Prick with a skewer and douse with brandy if desired.
Makes 1 deep-sided cake. <--- and I mean deep sided. I used a spring form tin and extended the height with some paper and string.

Day 24: Nearly to the end!

Channelling Liberry Dwarf's technique today

1 good thing -  I think I may have had a breakthrough in terms of my liaison department & may have finally go myself a opportunity to attend the odd staff meeting.  Pity this is my 2nd to last week as their liaison for 3 semesters. Oh well.  I had four from the department come to see me today. Three were resource related and I was able to conjure up most of their reading lists.  Have ordered the others.  The last one was the new HoD who started 6 months ago and has finally come over to introduce himself officially.  We had a long conversation about elearning possibilities, ebooks, textbooks, podcasting and stuff they are thinking about.  I thought it very productive.  The elearning strategy that has been introduced institution wide is propelling some of them into the 21st Century a little faster than they might have otherwise done but I'm happy to see my department has realised they need to do something now rather than later. As MissSophieMac discovered also today, the library and Te Puna Ako are the "departments" that are the farthest ahead.  We started doing things back in 2006.

1 bad thing - a group of teen girls are hanging around outside the library and abusing and hassling people going to and fro around the library and environs.  One of the "joys" of being associated with a public library is the range of clientele that you get!  Management are concerned that they are up to no good and may be looking for opportunity for bag snatching as there has been a spate of thefts within the library this past week.  If they come into our premises we can do something about it, but they are savvy enough to loiter just out of our reach.  I'm concerned about some of our elderly patrons who are vulnerable to this sort of thing.  The public library has got some security guards in to hang around and try and help.

1 thing I learned - Mr6 stayed back from school with conjunctivitis.  He was rejected at the gate with cries of "Unclean!  Unclean!".  Well, not quite, but he did have to spend the day with my mum. :-P  He's having antibiotic drops which the chemist kindly gave me without a script.  Can't help but feel a bit concerned that one of my eyes feel a bit dodgy.  Actually I think it was a good mental health day for him.  It's nearly the end of term and he's tired.  Miss3 is a box of fluffy ducks though.

Today's link - these guys are cool.  Listening to them right now.


And posting recipes isn't cheating Sally :-) But it's an easy way out for me. 'Cause I have heaps.

Like this one - we had this for dinner the other night.

Spiced couscous salad with lamb and feta
from @ home, with love / Julie Le Clerc (2008), Auckland: Penguin Books p112

600g lamb short loins (I used lamb steaks)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, ceushed
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous or substitute ordinary couscous and reduce stock to 1 1/2 cups
150g feta cheese, crumbled
2 red capsicums, seeds removed, roasted, skinned and sliced
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
zest and juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons each chopped fresh parsley and mint
salt and pepper

1. Cook lamb under a grill or in frying pan.  Remove to rest and cool for 15 mins then thickly slice. (The recipe calls for med-rare to rare, I cooked mine through as DH and children aren't fond of rare meat).
2. Heat a large saucepan, add oil and onion and cook on med heat for 5 mins to lightly brown. Add crushed garlic, turmeric and cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds then add stock and bring to boil. Stir in Israeli couscous, cover and simmer for 8 -10 mins stirring occasionally until grains have softened.
Note: if using ordinary couscous, add couscous to the pan, remove from heat, cover and leave to steam for 58 mins to soften. Remove covering and fluff with fork.
3. Set couscous aside to cool. Toss sliced lamb and remaining salad ingredients with couscous to combine.  Season well with salt and pepper to taste.  Serves 4.  (I have to admit I didn't wait for it to cool but served it warm... it is winter after all).

Day 23: Cheating with a recipe and a joke

This one is for @jobeaz

Extra Thick Ginger Crunch
from @ home, with love / Julie Le Clerc (2008) Auckland, NZ: Penguin Books pg. 94

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teasp baking powder
1 teasp ground ginger
1/2 cup caster sugar
125g butter cubed

Topping
150g butter
1/4 cup golden syrup
2 cups icing sugar, sifted to remove lumps
1 Tablesp ground ginger
1/4 cup roughly chopped crystallised ginger

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line a17x27cm deep sided slice tin with baking paper.
2. Place flour, baking powder, ginger, sugar in the food processor and pulse to sift.  Add butter and process to resemble fine breadcrumbs or rub in the butter by hand.  Press crumbs evenly over base of prepared tin.  Bake for 25 mins or until golden brown (mine didn't take that long).
3. To make topping, place butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and melt together over medium heat.  Add icing sugar and ground ginger and cook for 1 min stirring constantly to combine until smooth. Stir in crystallised ginger.
4. Pour topping over base and leave until cool and set.  Remove from tin and cut into bars or squares to serve.  Will keep for 5 days in airtight container.  Makes 18.

And now a joke (thanks to friend K on FB).

3 men walking in the forest come across a beautiful waterfall. While they are looking at it a genie appears, and a huge slide from the top of the waterfall to the pool at the bottom. The genie says "Today is your lucky day! Slide down the slide, say your wish aloud and whatever you wish for will be in the pool when you get there."

The first man ... climbs up, and slides down yelling "gold!" Just like that the pool turns to liquid gold. He fills his bottle, pockets etc and runs away a rich man. 

The second man sees this and climbs to the top. He slides down yelling "Silver!" Instantly the pool turns to liquid silver. He fills everything he can find, and runs off a rich man. 

The third man climbs to the top of the slide and is blown away by the height of the slide and the beautiful view. He gets all excited sliding down, and yells........weeeeeeeee!

There is a lesson in that somewhere ;-P

Quiet but busy and thankful

It's been quiet on this blog.  Life has been busy though. 


Most of you know (from my Facebook) that I'm starting a new job in July - as eLearning librarian over on the Main Campus.  It will be a move up for me though the position is only for 3 semesters.  It will be a secondment position and I'll return to my information librarian job after the 3 semesters.  I will miss the environment I'm currently working in but the job itself is going to be a lot more interesting for me in many ways and I'm excited to start.  In fact, I really need to be there now because things are moving quite quickly so I'm having to travel back and forth between roles and the two campuses which is a bit wearying.  I'm thankful for opportunities to extend my professional skills.

In amongst the applying, interviewing and associated angst that goes with that, DH had a job offer as well.  It wasn't a bad offer but would have meant some major changes for him.  The salary didn't quite compensate for those changes so he turned them down.  His current employers have since acknowledged his dilemma by giving him a bit of a rise so we're grateful for that, especially given the fiscal constraints we're all operating under.  I'm very thankful both of us have employment and employers who do what they can.

The whole family has been struggling with seasonal colds and coughs.  DD ended up with ear infections and I got sinusitus so with the help of antibiotics we are now on the mend.  Unfortunately the sinus problems have put me behind with my running efforts because it hurt my teeth to run! Hoping for better in the coming weeks.  I'm thankful we have reasonable health most of the time.

We've been working with DS on his reading as he is a little challenged by it.  He's getting some help at school, and we're using a kit to help strengthen his eyes.  We think it is helping.  I'm thankful for our local school which noticed he needed help and is trying to give him help even though they have little funding.

Both children are having swimming lessons on Saturdays which reduces my free time but they love it and it is such a necessary life skill in New Zealand.

I've been doing some sewing. These little kimonos are from this book and are for little Samuel Clarke. They aren't perfect (my home sewing rarely is) but hopefully will be nice and light.

Yesterday we ventured down to the Tron to make felted slippers with a scrapbooking friend V.  We had a bit of adventure trying to get them to work but I'm pretty pleased with mine even though they look a bit scabby since I patched a few holes with the inside colour.  I'm going to do a few things to improve them, like bind the edges.  DD is keen for me to make her some - she has asked several times already when we're going to get her wool and I am to make some with butterflies on apparently.  Also they have to be "pearple", her favourite colour.  I'm wondering if there is a better place to get wool from other than Spotlight - if you know, tell me in the comments.  Online is fine.  I'm thankful for friends and for a measure of time and funds to do crafting projects.

V and some of the other girls requested this recipe.

Sweet Corn Chowder *

3 oz butter

2 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

4 cups stock (vegetable or chicken)

2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 cup canned creamed-style corn

2 cups fresh corn kernels (frozen is fine)

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

3 Tablespoons cream (optional)

2 Tablespoons fresh chives to garnish

Heat butter in large heavy based pan. Add onions and cook over medium heat for 5 mins or until golden. Add garlic and cumin seeds, cook 1 min stirring constantly. Add stock and bring to boil. Add potatoes and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Add creamed corn, corn kernels and parsley. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Stir through cheese, salt and pepper, and cream. Heat gently so the cheese melts. Serve sprinkle with chives. Serves 8. 
* This is a vegetarian soup, but I like to throw in some bacon bones or a bacon hock into the stock as I feel it gives it more flavour depth.

and also this one which is from the magazine Dish, 11, Feb 2007-May 2007, pg 90

Hazelnut, Chocolate & Polenta Cake

325g butter at room temperature
325g caster sugar
1 teasp vanilla
300g hazelnuts, roasted, skinned and finely ground
35g good quality cocoa, sifted
4 eggs
160g fine, quick cook polenta
1 1/2 teasp baking powder
1/4 teasp salt

Raspberry Sauce
500g frozen raspberries, thawed
icing sugar
1 lime

Perheat oven to 160 C. Grease base and sde of 26cm cake tin with melted butter or canola spray and line both with baking paper.
Beat butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale and creamy. Mix through the ground hazels and cocoa.
Beat in eggs one at a time.
Combine the polenta, baking powder and salt and fold into the batter.
Spoon into the prepared tin and smooth the top.  Bake for about 50 mins or until skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. The top will have formed a good crust.
Transfer to rack and leave to cool.

Raspberry Sauce
Place the thawed raspberries in a food processor with 2 Tablesp of icing sugar and blend until smooth.  Taste and add more icing sugar if needed.  Then add a good squeeze of the lime juice.  Blend again and strain the sauce through a fine sieve, pushing the sauce through with the back of a spoon.  Discard the seeds. Pour sauce into serving jug.

To serve: Dust top of the cake with icing sugar and serve in slices with raspberry sauce and creme fraiche or yoghurt.  The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Serves 10-12.

I'm thankful for cake. ;-P

Speaking of recipes - I rescued this gem from Mum & Dad's last year.  It's one of those fund raising cookbooks that were popular (and may be still are).  This one is from the 80's.

It includes such gourmet delights as:

Check out the sponsor on this page - Rainbow Chinese Restaurant Finest Chinese cuisine.  While I was growing up the only "ethnic" cuisine available was Chinese food.  Indian food we made at home and as for Italian, Turkish or other international foods... well, you were out of luck unless you could cook them yourselves as well.  The Rainbow was popular with us kids.  We got to go there for our birthdays and for a treat.  I'm pretty sure they had the standard fare available in the 80's for such an establishment but we thought it was special particularly when we got to have deep fried ice cream and deep friend banana for dessert!

Then there is this dish - I know you'll be after making it for sure!

Sorry, but possum is unlikely to be on my menu.  It would all be given to the cat.

Oh, remember what I said about international food?  Here's the 80s Kiwi version of pizza.

That's right.  Spaghetti on scones =  pizza.  Actually it's not too bad but lets be honest - it is NOT pizza.  It's scones with spaghetti on top.

It's not all bad this little book.  There are some good old fashioned baking items that I like in it.  The scouting advice is amusing too.  I'm thankful for a family who is adventurous in their eating habits.

The sun is shining so I'm going to hang out some washing!

Creating... in a chef sort of way

No scrapbooking this weekend - but I did make these.

Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli

First make your pasta, but don't put it through the fettucine/spaghetti cutter, just leave the flat bit to dry a bit.  I cheated and kneaded the pasta in the Kitchen Aid because I was in a bit of a hurry.

You will notice that I have the same helper with the pasta machine as I did in my post back in October 2006!

Finely chop half a shallot.

Grate a little fresh nutmeg into the bowl with the onion. (Or use child labour).

Wash a few leaves of spinach and then wilt with some boiling water.

Squeeze out the spinach and finely chop.  Add to the bowl with the nutmeg and onion.  Grab your ricotta and add that.  (I used just under half of this 250g pot).

Mix it all up and season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Take your flattened pasta and make the ravioli.  I don't have one of those special tins to make them so I use my smallest cookie cutter to cut out some shapes.  But you could just cut the pasta with a knife and make squares or triangles. 

Wet the edges of the shapes and stick the topper pieces on them pressing firmly to make them stick.  Mine end up looking like flying saucers :-)


Boil up a big pan of water, salting to taste.  Place the ravioli into the boiling water and cook until al dente.  You may have to do it in batches.

While that is happening you could make this Blue Cheese sauce or this Walnut and Garlic one.  We had it with blue cheese.  I was going to take a photo of the finished product but I was too slow!  They were gobbled down too quick.

Have yourself a Homemade Christmas

This time last year I was heavily into preparing home made gifts to give for Christmas. I thought I would share some of the recipes I used as well as submit this to the Make It From Scratch Carnival (currently hosted here).

I made a number of eco-bags for people using this pattern:
Eco-bag Tutorial
but there are many more tutorials on how to make eco bags, gift bags and totes out there on the "Internets". Try searching the Sew Mama Sew blog for example. Or, download the free patterns from Ottobre.

I made Mint Sauce from the Edmonds Cookbook, and some herbed vinegars as well (recipes from some place on the web).

I created my own labels for many of these things. I've uploaded them to Flickr and they are free for you to use if you decide to make some of this stuff.

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My bottles of lemon cordial were popular.

Lemon Cordial (recipe from Melissa)
2 kg sugar
1 litre water
25gm citric acid
25gm tartaric acid (you can get these at the supermarket)
Juice of 6 lemons
Zest of 2-3 lemons

Dissolve sugar in water over heat in a stockpot.
Heat just to the boil but don't boil.
Add citric and tartaric acids.
Stir to ensure everything is dissolved.

Cool a bit. Stir in juice and zest.
Bottle in clean bottles (I got mine from Arthur Holmes).

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The Chocolate Panforte was delicious and also very popular. I think I will be making these again this year as they don't take long.

Joyce Black’s Panforte (from Cuisine magazine, )

125g almonds, blanched and skinned
125g hazelnuts
25g Brazil nuts (opt)
50g drained preserved ginger, finely sliced
50g glace cherries, halved
75g preserved orange peel, chopped small
2/3 cup flour
2 T cocoa
1 t cinnamon
75g dark chocolate
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup honey
3 T water

Chop almonds and spread in a shallow baking pan. Roast in a low oven to dry and just faintly colour. Roast hazelnuts in oven at 160°C until just starting to darken then tip into a cloth and rub vigorously to remove skins.

Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a round, 20cm diameter sponge tin x 4 cm deep. (I used mini spring form tins to make 3 small panforte). Line base and sides with baking paper. Do not grease paper.

Chop all the nuts coarsely. Mix cooled nuts, ginger, cherries and peel. Sift together flour, cocoa and cinnamon. Mix with nuts and fruit. Break chocolate into squares and melt over hot water or in the microwave.

In a saucepan stir sugar, honey and water over low heat to completely dissolve sugar. Bring to boil and boil to soft ball stage i.e. a little syrup dropped in a cup of cold water can be gathered with fingers into a ball). Remove pan from heat immediately.

Working quickly with a very firm stirring utensil, mix syrup, chocolate, nuts and fruit together. Spread into lined tins. Smooth tops with back of a wet spoon. Bake for 35-40 mins. Cool in tin. When cold, remove the paper. Wrap in waxed paper then foil, sealing well. Store in cool place until Christmas. The panforte will soften slightly with storage. Lovely served with coffee or something stronger like sherry or a liqueur.

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The rhubarb vanilla mince for Christmas Mince Pies was very yummy and actually never made it into pies in my house - it got eaten on toast like jam and mixed into porridge.

Rhubarb Vanilla Mince (from Nigella Lawson's Feast book)

1 kg rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 5mm slices
300g soft dark brown sugar
2 vanilla pods
2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
225g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
2 tablespoons brandy

Put the sliced rhubarb with the sugar into a large pan. Cut the vanilla pod into halves lengthways and scrape out the seeds, then cut each half into pieces, adding seeds and pod slices to the pan. Add the mixed spice and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the dried fruits and simmer for about 30 minutes. Stir in the brandy, and take off the heat. When it is cool enough to handle, bottle in jars.

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Spice blends are easy to make and are very handy for both meat and vegetables on the grill or BBQ or roasted in the oven. My favourite is this Ras el Hanout (from Cuisine magazine, 01 / 09 / 04 by Julie Le Clerc) which can be used in tagines as well. I put mine in some cleaned baby food jars that I decorated appropriately.

Ras el Hanout (a Moroccan spice blend)

1 t each coriander, fennel and cumin seeds, dry roasted and ground*
1 t gr. Turmeric
1 t gr. Paprika
1 t gr. Cinnamon
½ t cayenne
½ t gr. Ginger
½ t gr. Nutmeg
½ t gr. Allspice
½ t gr. Cardamom
½ t sea salt
½ t freshly gr. Black pepper

*To dry roast spices: Get out a heavy frying pan (I use a cast iron one), and heat on the stove top. Don't use oil/butter etc, you just want to toast them. Add the spices to the pan and stir/shake them until you can smell them beginning to toast. Remove from the pan and allow to cool before grinding and mixing with the other ingredients.

Combine all the spices and store in a sealed jar. Makes 3 Tablespoons. Use in tagines, couscous or as a rub for meats/roast veges.

I also made some rubs from one of my cookbooks, Joy of cooking by Irma S Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker, (1997), Simon and shuster: NY, pg 86-7

West Indies Dry Rub

Goes well with pork, poultry, lamb or beef.

1/4 cup cumin seeds
1/4 cup coriander seeds

Combine in a dry skillet over medium heat and toast until fragrant, shaking pan often to prevent burning, 2-3 minutes.

Grind to a fine powder in a grinder, blender or mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small bowl and add:

1/4 cup curry powder
1/4 cup ground white pepper
1/4 cup ground ginger
1/4 cup salt
2 T ground allspice
2 T ground red pepper

Sir well together. Rub will stay potent for up to 6 weeks if covered and kept in a cool, dark, dry place.

Cajun dry rub

Use with chicken, fatty fish, steaks or vegetables - coat before grilling, frying of sauteing. It caramelises into a tangy crust. Expect the spice to smoke during cooking.

Stir together in small bowl:

1 T cracked black peppercorns
1 T salt
2 T crushed fennel seeds
1 t dried thyme
1 t sweet or hot paprika
1 t dry mustard
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t gr red pepper
1 t gr sage

Rub will stay potent if covered and kept in a cool, dry, dark place for up to 6 weeks.

Southern dry rub

Dry roast:

1/4 cup cumin seeds

Grind into powder and add to:

1/4 cup light/dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweet or hot paprika
1/4 cup chilli powder
2 T ground red pepper
1 t ground mace
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup cracked black peppercorns

Stir together well. Keep in cool, dark, dry place for up to 6 weeks.

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Christmas Biscuits (Cookies) (from Melissa)

Makes 4 dozen biscuits.

Melt: 225g butter and 3 T golden syrup

Add:

3 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking soda
6 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground cloves
1 1/2 cups sugar

Mix well and then add:

1 beaten egg

Place small teaspoons on a greased tray. Don't roll into balls as this affects the texture. Bake for 10-12 mins depending on whether you like softer or crispy biscuits at 170°C

These freeze well.

Oatmeal Choc-chip Biscuits (Cookies) (think I got these from Bron Marshall's blog)

250g butter @ room temp
300g muscovado sugar
300 g castor sugar
2 large eggs
2 T milk
2 t vanilla extract
300g plain flour
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
300g rolled oats
250g choc chips

Preheat oven to 180°C; line 2 baking trays with baking paper

Cream butter and sugars in large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Add to creamed butter and sugar in 3 batches mixing thoroughly between batches. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, gradually beat into sugar mixture. Stir in oatmeal and choc chips. Bake 1 inch balls of mixture 10-13 mins (allow for spreading). Cook on tray before removing to rack.

PISTACHIO & CARDAMOM COOKIES

125g softened butter
½ cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
½ cup toasted pistachio nuts, ground
½ cup plain flour
½ cup corn flour

Beat together butter and icing sugar to just combine.
Stir in cardamom, sifted flour, ground pistachios, and sifted corn flour.
Remove to a lightly floured work surface and knead to bring together.
Roll out dough to 1.5 cm thickness, cut into preferred shapes with a cutter, place on a lightly greased oven tray and prick with a skewer.
Bake in oven heated to 150 ° C for 20 mins or until pale golden.
Remove to a wire rack to cool and then pack into airtight containers.
Dust with icing sugar to serve. Makes 20 small cookies.

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Biscotti can be an elegant homemade gift wrapped in a cellophane bag with a pretty tag attached. They keep well and are a nice, sweet treat for having with coffee.

I've made all of these at one time or another. My favouriate are the coffee and hazelnut ones. These recipes are from Great Italian food, Australian Womens Weekly, (2002), Sydney:ACP publishing, pg 238-9

COFFEE & HAZELNUT BISCOTTI

½ cup caster sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
¾ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon espresso-style instant coffee
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
110g dark chocolate, melted

Whisk sugar and egg together in medium bowl; stir in flour, baking powder and coffee. Stir in nuts; mix to a sticky dough. Using floured hands, roll into a 20cm log. Place on greased tray.

Bake uncovered in moderate oven about 25 mins or until browned lightly and firm. Cool on tray.

Using a serrated knife, cut log diagonally into 1cm slices. Place slices on lightly greased oven tray.

Bake uncovered in moderately slow oven about 15 mins or until dry and crisp, turning halfway through.

Spread chocolate over one cut slice of each biscotti. Allow to set at room temperature.

SWIRLED CHOC-ALMOND BISCOTTI

60g butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
3 eggs
2 ¼ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups almond kernels chopped coarsely
¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup plain flour extra

Beat butter, sugar, essence in medium bowl until just combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined between additions. Stir in flour, baking powder, soda and nuts. Cover, refrigerate 1 hour.

Halve dough. Knead cocoa into one half of the dough. Shape into a 30cm log. Knead extra flour into remaining dough and shape into 30 log. Gently twist cocoa log and plain log together. Place on greased tray and bake in moderate oven about 45 mins or until firm. Cool on tray.

Using serrated knife cut log diagonally into 1cm slices. Place slices on ungreased oven trays. Bake uncovered in moderately slow oven about 15mins or until dry and crisp, turning halfway though cooking. Cool on wire racks.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Menu Plan Monday

Monday - Carbonade Flamandes (still trying to use up that beer), spinach and potatoes
Tuesday - the old fav, chicken and olive tagine, cous cous, some vege
Wednesday - Shepherds pie, peas & carrots
Thursday - Egg & cauli curry, dal, rice
Friday - Lamb tagine with pears, roasted root veges, sauteed cabbage
Saturday - Spag bog, salad (?)
Sunday - Toad in the hole, with something

I wanted to share a baking recipe this week. One of my special memories from my childhood involve an elderly lady Aunty MR. She wasn't everyone's cup of tea, being someone who didn't suffer fools so well, but she was special to me as a kind of grandma figure as my own g-ma didn't live in NZ at that time. We used to look after Aunty MR, and take her shopping, to church things and she spoiled me a bit. It's nice to have someone who thinks you can't do anything wrong! LOL!

Anyway, as she got older I used to take care of her at our annual church retreat because she needed help to get around. In the room where she was staying was another elderly lady called Dolly. Both Aunty MR and Dolly were excellent cooks and I think there was a bit of rivalry between them on this score. One day, Mum told me that Dolly wanted to give me a recipe for a Date & Ginger Slice. I wasn't especially interested at the time, but I went along anyway to their room and wrote it down.

Dolly recited it from memory. So here it is in her own words - a little bit of old fashioned baking from a lady who has long since left the earth, but whose slice lives on in my recipe book, and now on the "Internets". And maybe into your life too :-)











Dolly's Date and Ginger Slice

Melt in a pot, 1/4 pound (115g) butter. Take off heat. Add 3/4 cup brown sugar (pressed down firmly). Add 2 eggs, beat well. Sift 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking powder together. Add 1 cup crystalised ginger and dates (chopped). Mix with the butter, sugar and eggs. Pour into a greased tin (I use a sponge roll tin). Break caramello chocolate squares over the top (halve the chocolate squares). Bake at 180 degrees C until golden brown. Cut while warm.

In the photo you'll see I've used chocolate chips instead of the caramello squares. I must say the caramello squares are the better option. Truly.

Vegetable Gougere

I made this last week and reminded myself again how yummy it is. I reckon you could make individual ones of these too.

75g plain flour

salt and pepper

150ml boiling water

55g butter

2 eggs

55g Gruyere cheese, finely diced (I use cheddar and grate it)

Filling:

85g butter

handful of basil leaves

1 tsp finely chopped chives

about 570g mixed (baby or cut up small) veges (e.g. carrots, mange-touts, broad beans, turnips, broccoli florets, spring onions, courgettes, baby corn)

Heat oven to 200 Degrees C. Sieve the flour with some salt and pepper onto a sheet of greaseproof paper (lunch wrap is fine). Measure water into a saucepan, add the butter cut into pieces. When butter has melted, bring to boil, remove from heat and add sieved flour. Beat, over a moderate heat, till mixture leaves the sides of the pan. You can do this with a wooden spoon or an electric hand beater.

Turn mixture into a warmed bowl; add the eggs one at a time, beating well. Stir in all the cheese. (You can sprinkle more on top later if you like.)

Place spoonfuls in a 25cm circle on cooking paper. Bake in oven about 35 mins till well risen and golden brown. Try not to open the oven door in the first 20 mins.

Remove when cooked, cut into half and lift off the top.

Herb butter: Melt butter in a small pan, add roughly chopped basil leaves and chives, heat gently on a low heat for 5 mins. Whiz in processor (I never bother). Keep warm till needed.

Trim and prepare the veges; cook as required (the suggestion is to steam the different kinds each in a little foil package - I bung them all in together). Turn warm veges onto a bowl, pour over the herb butter and stir, spoon the buttery veges into the pastry case and put the lid back on top.

Making Marshmallows: the illustrated version

My marshmallow post generated quite a few interested comments so I'm making an illustrated version to submit to the blog carnival Make it From Scratch.

Here is the recipe again.

Marshmallows

2 Tablespoons gelatine *

1/2 cup water

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla or peppermint essence

coconut or icing sugar (powdered sugar if you're Stateside)

1. Combine gelatine and first measure of water. Leave to swell for 10 minutes.

2. Place sugar and second measure of water in a large saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves.

3. Dissolve gelatine over hot water.

4. Pour gelatine into sugar mixture and bring to the boil. Boil steadily for 15 minutes. Allow to cool until lukewarm.

5. Move children out of the way so you can get at the cake mixer (optional).

6. Beat well until very thick and white.

7. Add vanilla or peppermint essence.

8. Hand beater to anxiously waiting child to lick and get all over face, clothes, floor and any other surface (optional).

9. Pour into a large wet tin. Chill until set.

10. Hand scraper to remaining anxious child to lick clean, get all over face etc etc.

11. Turn out of tin. (I find I have to cut it into squares first, and lever them out with my fingers). Cut into squares and roll in coconut or icing sugar. Keep chilled.

*Note about gelatine: The most common form of gelatine in New Zealand is the granulated form that comes in a box. I know other countries mostly have a sachet form, so the amount you need will be 2x15ml=30ml (the size of the Tablespoon measure used here in New Zealand). I haven't tried this recipe with sheet gelatine or the various vegetarian gelatines. I think agar would be too firm but I stand corrected on this one. My vegetarian friend struggles to find good vegetarian gelatine here, but she got some sent to her from the UK once to make marshmallows and they were delightful.