Presto Pasta Night #27

Time for another round of Pasta, enthusiastically hosted by Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. This week I'm having a double dip with my Romanesco.



I used the larger florets in the frittata but for this recipe I'll be using the smaller florets and leaving them whole. In the photo above it shows the variance just between the small and the smallest florets.

I've decided to use orecchiette as they have an affinity with vegetables such as broccoli and Romanesco is a member of the brassica family. In trying to keep the flavours clean, I've opted to use fresh basil leaves rather than pesto. I have finely shredded the leaves which is a big no-no but as they are cut and added at the last moment, I find that I don't lose its flavour.

Oh, if you take a close look you'll see a little floret caught in the hollow of an Oriecchietto.



Orecchiette with Romanesco, Potato and Basil
[Serves 2]

Oriecchiette
1 red onion, finely sliced
4 small Kipfler potatoes, boiled until just tender
Romanesco florets
Basil leaves, shredded
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Heat a little oil and a small knob of butter in a pan and when the butter has melted add the sliced onion. Cook over a low heat until the onions have softened and have started to colour.

Cut the potatoes into thick slices and add to the onions - toss well and allow this to cook for a few minutes so that the potatoes can start to absorb the flavours.

Blanch the Romanesco florets in the boiling pasta water for 30 seconds and remove, drain well then add to the potato mixture. Continue cooking to allow the florets to heat through.

Season with freshly ground salt and white pepper and add a good sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to the pan - mix this through then add the cooked orecchiette. Toss this as you keep it over the heat to allow the cheese to melt - add the finely shredded basil leaves, take it off the heat and stir through.

Serve into bowls and top with another sprinkle of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.



Tagged with Pasta

Lunar Eclipse

It's happening right now...






Tagged with Lunar Eclipse

Grilled Halloumi Salad

Jeanne from Cooksister is hosting this edition of Waiter, There's something in My... and chose the theme of the "meatless" BBQ.

Now after getting over the initial shock of the whole concept of a meat free BBQ I managed to work through it and settled on making an accompaniment, after all man and woman do not live by meat alone.

I turned to Cyprus for the solution in the form of their wonderful cheese called Halloumi that just loves to be grilled



Halloumi is a mix of Cow, Goat and Sheep Milk and when heated doesn't melt, it just softens and when eaten, squeaks in your mouth.

I've paired the grilled Halloumi with a simple salad of Rocket (Arugula) and made a dressing based on lemon juice, Ligurian olives, extra virgin olive oil and shredded mint.



Grilled Halloumi Salad

Halloumi, drained and patted dried, cut into slices
Wild Rocket (Arugula)
pitted Ligurian olives, roughly sliced
freshly squeezed lemon juice
extra virgin olive oil
fresh mint leaves, finely shredded

Make the dressing:
Place the olive pieces, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and some shredded mint leaves into a bowl and whisk until emulsified.

Grill the Halloumi:
Place the cheese slices on a hot grill and when they have coloured on one side, turn over and repeat.

Assemble the dish:
Toss the rocket with a little of the dressing and then place on your serving platter. Arrange the slices of grilled Halloumi and then dot the remainder of the dressing over the cheese and the rocket. Finish with a sprinkle of mint leaves.

Sugar High Friday #34

Going Local is the theme of this edition of Sugar High Friday hosted by Johanna from The Passionate Cook.

After tossing a few ideas in the air I finally settled on an ultra sweet treat that I haven't made in the longest time - Golden Syrup Dumplings. A timeless favourite that is a nod to our English heritage.



Golden Syrup Dumplings
[Serves 4 or more]

1¼ cups self-raising flour
30 grams softened butter
1/3 cup golden syrup
1/3 cup milk

Sauce:
30 grams butter
175 grams brown sugar
½ cup golden syrup
1½ cups water

Make the Sauce:
Place the butter, brown sugar, golden syrup and water into a large pan and stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat slightly until the mixture reaches boiling point, then turn the heat down and simmer for about 1 minute.

Make the dumplings:
Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the softened butter. Add the the golden syrup and milk and stir until just combined.

Take tablespoons of the mixture and roll into balls.

Add the dumplings to the simmering sauce and cook, covered for about 20 minutes or until the dumplings are puffed and golden. You will have to turn the dumplings half way through the cooking time. It's also important not to overcrowd the pan as the dumplings do expand.

When they are cooked, serve immediately.




Tagged with Sugar High Friday

Weekend Herb Blogging #97

Scott from Real Epicurean is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and we are steadily marching towards the big 2 year celebration.

This week it's another farmers' market find and it's the first time I've managed to score myself one of these - it makes my mathematician heart flutter, the sculpturally magnificent Romanesco



This is another one of those vegetables that is known by various names such as - Broccolo Romanesco, Cavolo Romanesco, Romanesco Cauliflower, Romanesco Broccoli and Fractal Broccoli - what they all share in common is that this is a member of the brassica family.



Not only is this a fractal it's also an example of a Fibonacci equation.



It's a fractal form because it's made up of a repeating pattern that is formed by smaller copies of the overall shape and this repetition continues to infinity.



Its spiral form is known as an equiangular spiral.



I thought I'd include a closer look at the individual florets, they are a clearer illustration of its fractal form.



Now before this becomes Weekend Maths Blogging I should actually cook something with this. Since this is an Italian vegetable and I wanted to keep the integrity of its form, I've opted for an Italian dish - a simple frittata studded with romanesco florets and flavoured with leeks and marinated fetta.



Romanesco Frittata
[Serves 2]

3 large eggs
1 leek, white only, cut in half and sliced finely
marinated fetta
Romanesco florets
salt and freshly ground pepper

Cut the larger florets in half and leave the smaller ones whole. Boil in lemon infused water for a minute, drain and set aside. Use a slice of lemon in the water to lock in that vivid green colour.

Lightly whisk the eggs with a little salt and freshly ground white pepper - set aside until ready to use.

Place a little oil and a knob of butter in a small frypan and when the butter has melted add the sliced leeks. Cook gently until the leeks have softened and have started to colour. Place the cooked leeks into a sieve to drain off the excess oil and butter.

Return the leeks to the pan along with a small knob of butter and when melted add most of the florets, positioning them evenly in the pan. Turn up the heat a little and add the eggs - sit the remaining florets on top of the frittata and then scatter small pieces of marinated fetta.

When you see the edge of the frittata has sealed, use a palette knife to lift the edge and tilt the pan to re-disperse the uncooked egg - this will give you lovely puffed edges to your frittata.

Lower the heat and cover the pan to give it a chance to cook through - if you think the underside is getting too brown, then place the pan under an overhead grill to set the top.

When the frittata has just set - remove from the heat and serve at once.



Notes on Romanesco - you can eat it raw, in fact that is one of its more traditional ways of eating it. It has a flavour similar to cauliflower and broccoli but without the chalky edge found in raw cauliflower. Though I would say that if you could eat the colour green, then it would taste like Romanesco.

This was available at the Slow Food Farmers' Market but this is the last of the grower's crop - it was a test planting this year but next year he will be planting a lot more.

Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging

Presto Pasta Night #26

We've reached a mini-milestone - Presto Pasta Night has been running for half a year and in that time we've seen mountains of pasta of all description from all corners of the world and each week without fail, Ruth has gathered our goodies and lovingly prepared them for all of us to share. If you are newcomer to this event do head to Ruth's site and check out the round-up archives, it's simply inspiring.

This week I'll be using Orzo



which I previously used in a soup. This time it's served "asciutto" which means dry as a regular pasta dish.



Orzo with Chicken, Red Capsicum and Zucchini Ribbons
[Serves 2]

Orzo
2 large chicken thighs, sliced roughly
1 red onion, sliced finely
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red capsicum, sliced finely
1 zucchini, sliced into fine ribbons, using a peeler gives the best result

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sauté the chicken in batches. When the meat has browned, remove it from the pan and set it aside - repeat until all the chicken has cooked.

Add the onion and garlic to the empty pan and over a low heat allow to soften and lightly colour. Add the capsicum slivers and toss well - continue over a low heat until the capsicum has softened. Finally add the zucchini ribbons and when they have wilted return the chicken to the pan.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

When the orzo is cooked, drain and add to the chicken mixture along with a little freshly grated Parmigiano - stir the mixture well and serve in bowls with a little extra shaved Parmigiano on top.



Tagged with Pasta

Bread and Marmalade Pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding has got to be one of the more satisfying desserts you can make. Not only does it make use of something we might throw away, it uses ingredients that we probably have sitting in the pantry and fridge. It's also incredibly simple and quick to make.



For this pudding I've added an extra tang in the form of Seville Orange Marmalade.



Bread and Butter Marmalade Pudding

stale sliced bread (I used a sour dough bread)
softened butter
Seville orange marmalade (you could also use a jam or jelly)
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
3 eggs
¼ cup caster sugar
Demerara sugar, for topping

Slice the crusts from the bread slices - butter one side only of the bread and then coat each with a little marmalade.

Arrange the bread unbuttered side down into a baking dish - you should have enough bread to form two layers. Don't try to make a uniform arrangement of the slices, a patchwork type pattern is best.

In a bowl, add the eggs, cream, milk and caster sugar and lightly whisk until just combined. Pour this over the bread, making sure all the bread is coated by the liquid. Let this sit for 15 minutes to make sure that the bread has fully absorbed the liquid.



Sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar (this caramelises as the pudding cooks to give a nice crunch to the top) and then bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for about 45 - 60 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

It will puff quite a lot, a bit like a soufflé but it will deflate once out of the oven - make sure your baking dish is deep enough to contain this expansion.



This is best eaten warm from the oven.

Tagged with Sweet Food

Barambah Butter

Barambah Organics is based in Queensland and are producers of a large range of dairy products and for a change instead of featuring a cheese, I'll be looking at their butter.



Barambah Organics Butter with Sea Salt - it wins a tick with its ingredients list, the only ingredients Organic Cream and Sea Salt. Makes a welcome change from commercial butters where you'll see that water has been added.



Open the lid and you'll be rewarded with a sunflower yellow butter - it's not as homogeneously churned as the commercial product, there's slight veining through the mix that gives it a little character.



To get a proper indication of the butter I have relied on butter aficionado Paalo for his expert opinion - it's more salty than regular butter but also feels more creamier in the mouth.

Although this is a more expensive product it probably is on par with the price of French imports. Try it on some good crusty bread and perhaps, use it in a bread and butter pudding.



Tagged with Butter

Warka Pastry

Tunisian Brik Pastry (Feuilles de Brick) is the name you'll see on the packet but that is more an indication of what you can make with the pastry.



Warka is name for this ultra thin pastry that is a bit like a crisp crepe - you can see it has a fine cellulose structure in the photos. Unlike filo (phyllo) this is a cooked pastry. It's pliable yet feels firm. It's quite an different product to work with as you are constantly thinking that you will rip it and it's just too thin to use.



The pastry is used to make Tunisian Briks or Brics (which are sweet or savoury filled parcels) and Moroccan Bisteeya (traditionally a pigeon pie).

I am not going to pretend that I'm making anything remotely traditional or authentic with this pastry, I've just used it as a wrapper for a savoury meat filling.



Savoury Bricks

200 grams roughly minced beef
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon Ras el Hanout
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon sumac
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup peas


Make the filling:

Heat a little oil in a pan and when heated, add the onion. Sauté over a medium-low heat until softened and starting to colour. Don't cook this too quickly as you want the flavour of the onion to develop.

Add the minced meat in batches to maintain and even temperature in the pan. When browned add the next batch.

When all the meat is added, sprinkle in the spices - do taste as you go and adjust the spices to suit your palate.

Cook this for about 5 minutes before adding the peas and then continue cooking on a low heat until the peas are tender.

Let the mixture cool before using.

Make the Bricks:

The sheets are sold as circles (30cm/12 inch diameter). I'll be rolling them to form a "spring roll" type shape.

Place one sheet on a board and fold the bottom edge over slightly to create a flat edge on the circle.

Place the filling along the width of this flat edge - roll over once and then fold in the sides to create a rectangle. Continue rolling until you nearly reach the end - brush the surface with a little oil before rolling it up. Place it seam side down while you make the remaining rolls.

Cook the bricks:

Heat a little oil in a non-stick skillet and when hot add the bricks, seam side down - depending on the size of your skillet try not to cook more then two at the same time.

The pastry needs to sizzle when it hits the pan or you won't get that crisp finish. When it has browned, turn it over and cook the other side. Remember to also cook the narrow sides of the roll to get that all round even colouring.

When cooked place on paper towels to remove any excess oil and then serve at once.



These are best eaten as you make them to fully enjoy that wonderful crunch of the pastry. It is a little fiddly but well worth it if you are interested in trying something a bit different.

In Melbourne, you'll find these sheets at The Essential Ingredient. Similar sheets are also available in Amazon.

Tagged with Savoury Food

Apricots and Almonds

It's still a few months until we get to indulge in summer produce so until then, canned fruit comes into its own.

This is another quick and easy cake to make and combines canned apricots halves with flaked almonds and a lightly caramelised topping. The cake batter is my tried and tested butter cake.



Apricot and Almond Cake

Topping:
50 grams softened butter
50 grams soft brown sugar

Cake:
200 grams plain flour
50 grams almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
225 grams caster sugar
125 grams melted butter, cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
80mls milk
16 apricot halves (approximate), drained
flaked almonds

Butter and flour a 20cm/8 inch cake tin (one with a removable base or a spring-form tin - it must be high-sided as the cake does rise) - line the base with baking paper.

Make the topping:
Place the sugar and butter into a bowl and mix together until well amalgamated.

Make the cake batter:
Sift the flour, almond meal, baking powder and caster sugar into a bowl. Lightly beat the eggs with the milk and pour into the dry ingredients, along with the cooled, melted butter - stir well until combined.

Pour this into the cake tin and roughly smooth out the top.

Arrange the apricots on top, cut side down.

Dot the top randomly with small pieces of topping - when you've used half of the topping, sprinkle over with flaked almonds and then continue with the topping.

Place in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven and cook for about 45-60 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. If you feel it's browning too quickly, cover with baking paper lined foil and lower the oven temperature slightly.

Let the cake stand for a few minutes before removing from the tin - let it cool on a wire rack.



Some of the apricots will be swamped by the batter and look like they are peeking through but I tend to like the rather random looking top.



Give the cake a light dusting with icing sugar before serving.

Cheese: Grandvewe

Time for another cheese - this time I'm featuring another sheeps milk cheese from Tasmanian Dairy, Grandvewe

Cheese Maker: Grandvewe Cheese
Cheese Type: Primavera
Location: 59 Devlyns Road, Birchs Bay Tasmania
Open:
September - June: 10am-5pm, 7 days excluding Christmas day
July - August: 10am-4pm daily except Tuesdays

Primavera is made in a Manchego style. Only milk from Spring is used to make this cheese and it's matured between 2 and 8 months.

Primavera is a semi-firm cheese, it won't crumble when cut but it's soft enough to be broken into pieces by hand. Creamy in the mouth with that typical sweet sheep milk characters. It is not a sharply flavoured cheese and is fairly mild - it is very pleasant to eat just on its own.

Related Posts:
Grandvewe Birchs Bay Blonde

Weekend Herb Blogging #96

Zorra from Kochtopf is hosting this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and I thought I might take a closer look at Dried Figs



These are Organic White Turkish Figs. They are fairly soft with quite a moist interior.

Figs contain Lignin, an indigestible fibre and Ficin, a digestive enzyme that has a mild laxative effect. These two ingredients help to make Figs and especially dried figs, a bowel friendly food. You'll also find Vitamins A, B6, C, E and K along with Calcium Copper, Folate, Iron, Manganese, Magnesium, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Phosphorus, Potassium, Riboflavin, Selenium, Sodium and Thiamine. If that wasn't enough there's a host of Amino acids, Beta-carotene and Benzaldehyde, an anti-cancer compound.

Since Zorra is a bread making guru I thought I might offer up a quick and easy bread. This recipe has been adapted from Liz Franklin's Quick Bread where it started life as a Blue Cheese, Fig and Walnut Bread. I've remove the cheese and replaced it with fresh dates and played around with the proportions to make a bread suitable for both sweet and savoury uses. Serve it with cheese or your favourite preserve, it's bound to please.



Fig, Walnut and Date Bread

120 grams dried figs, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons Marsala
200 grams plain flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 eggs, lightly beaten
200mls crème fraîche or sour cream
120 grams dates, roughly chopped
100 grams walnuts, roughly chopped


Soak the figs in the Marsala for about 30 minutes. If the dates are hard, soak them in hot water to soften.

Sift the flour with the baking powder into a bowl. Lightly whisk the eggs with the crème fraîche and then pour this into the flour mixture.

Stir until smooth then add the drained dates, walnuts and figs with any remaining Marsala and fold through until evenly distributed.

Butter and flour a loaf pan and pour in the batter. Bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven for 45 minutes or until cooked through. If it appears to be browning too quickly, cover with foil and lower the oven temperature slightly.

Let it cool slightly in the pan and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.



How you eat this is up to you - it's an excellent match to thick chunks of cheese



or sticky globs of honey



toasted or untoasted, the choice is yours.

Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging

Beetroot and Marmalade

Beetroot and Marmalade...together...in the one recipe. It really isn't that odd and trust me, it's quite delicious.

Since I recently made Seville Orange Marmalade I do have a few jars of it lurking about the kitchen. Rather than limiting myself to having it on toast I've been incorporating it into other recipes.

One of the things I especially like to use Seville Orange Marmalade is in this dish.



It's simply segmented cooked beetroot (just boil them until tender, peel them and then cut them into eights) that have been gently sautéed in marmalade.

Before adding the beetroot, heat the marmalade in a pan until melted and starting to bubble - add the beetroot and toss them well, making sure they are fully coated in the molten marmalade. They will bleed out to form a deep red sauce that is alive with intense orange flavours. Continue cooking until the beetroot have warmed through and the sauce has thickened again. The touch of sweetness works well with the earthiness of the beetroot.

This is an excellent companion to all sorts of roasted meats.

Tagged with Savoury Food

Wine Matching

A couple of weeks ago, Sean from InterWined.com asked if I'd like to be involved in their "Blow the Bank" column - each week they match a wine with a recipe from the Blogosphere .

I'm certainly not adverse to a glass or so with my meals and find the whole wine pairing process very interesting, it was obvious that I would say yes.

Well, Sean has selected to make the Eggplant Involtini and if you'd like to see how he matched it, do head over to InterWined and read his post!

Presto Pasta Night #25

For this edition of Presto Pasta Night I'll be using a different type of pasta and it's not really the shape that is different.



These are called Stelline or Stars and used in soups. What makes them unusual is that they are made using spelt which gives it that brown colouring. I've been very impressed with spelt when I've used it in bread making so I'm interested to see how it behaves when turned into pasta.

With this rather wholesome pasta I've decided to make a rather wholesome soup and will team it up with prawns and one of my favoured brassicas, Cavolo Nero



Cavolo Nero is also known as Tuscan Kale, Black Cabbage and Dinosaur Kale. With the smaller leaves I'll just roughly chop them as they are but with the larger outer leaves I'll strip the leaf from the stem and just use the leaf in my soup.



Stelline with Prawns and Cavolo Nero Soup
[Serves 2]

stelline
chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
cavolo nero, leaves stripped and roughly sliced
prawns, chopped roughly

I've left the measurements rather loose as it should be done to taste - some might like more prawns, others more pasta.

Heat up a little oil in a pot and gently sauté the onions until translucent and softened. Add the cavolo nero and toss through, allowing it to absorb the onion flavours.

Pour in the hot stock along with the stelline and simmer until the pasta is cooked. Drop in the prawn pieces at the last minute - taste and then season with salt and freshly ground white pepper.

Ladle out into bowls and eat at once.



Now, for the difference, the stelline were almost barley like in consistency and taste and definitely added a lot more substance to what is a very simple soup.

Tagged with Pasta

Banana Upside-Down Cake

Bananas combine so well with caramel flavours as seen in these Rum Bananas so I decided to try them out in an upside-down cake. The result was as delicious as I could ever have imagined.



Banana Upside-Down Cake

150 grams dark brown sugar
75 grams butter
bananas, cut into thick slices

Cake:
250 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
225 grams caster sugar
125 grams melted butter, cooled
2 eggs, lightly beaten
80mls milk

Line the base of a 20cm/8 inch cake pan.

Cut the bananas into thick discs - the quantity required will depend on the size of your bananas and the size of your cake tin.

Make the topping:

Place the butter and dark brown sugar into a pan and cook until the butter is melted and the mixture amalgamates.

Spoon the hot mixture into the prepared pan and then top with an even layer banana slices. I've chosen to arrange the slices into concentric circles.

Make the cake:

Sift the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a bowl - lightly beat the eggs with the milk and pouring into the dry ingredients, along with the cooled, melted butter - stir well until combined.

Spoon the batter carefully out over the bananas, smoothing out the top to finish.

Rest the cake tin on a baking tray (this will help catch and escaping toffee) and place in a preheated 180°C/350°F to bake - after 20 minutes check on the cake and if it appears to be browning too quickly, then cover with baking paper lined foil and lower the temperature slightly. Continue cooking for another 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Let it sit in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a serving plate.




Tagged with Sweet Food

Specialist Cheese Show 2007

The Specialist Cheese Show was held here in Melbourne on Sunday. As I do focus on Australian Cheese on this blog I thought I'd do a bit of cross-promotion and link to the write-up on my other blog.

So if you'd like to read about the cheese show, just follow this link


Tagged with Cheese

Mixology Monday XVIII

The Intoxicated Zodiac Blog is hosting this edition of Mixology Monday and in celebration of the astrological sign of Leo, the theme is Orange.

As Paalo is a Leo I have a handy guinea pig to try out this orange concoction. He is very partial to Cointreau so its use would be mandatory and rather than using regular orange juice I decided to take advantage of the fresh blood orange juice I have at the moment. To give the drink a little more kick, one more ingredient was needed, Lemon Vodka.



Blood Orange Martini

30mls Lemon Vodka
15mls Cointreau
fresh blood orange juice

Place ice in a shaker and add the lemon vodka and cointreau - shake well and strain into a martini glass.

Top with a little blood orange juice to taste.



The verdict from the Leo - Two Paws Up!

Tagged with Mixology Monday : MxMo

Weekend Herb Blogging #95

Melissa from Cooking Diva is our host for this edition of Weekend Herb Blogging and this week I'll be using beetroot



Or Beets as it is known in parts of the world. You may have seen that I have already made use of the stems and leaves in this pasta dish so I'll be making use of just the beet itself.

Beetroots are high in Vitamin A and C and contain Calcium, Folic acid, Magnesium, Manganese, Iron and Potassium - they are also rich in the antioxidant Betacyanin.

The recipe I'll be making comes from Iain Hewitson's book on the Tolarno Bistro and it's a rather old-fashioned Beetroot Chutney.



Beetroot Chutney

500 grams beetroot (beets)
250 grams red onions, roughly diced
1 cup vinegar
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ tablespoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon allspice berries, crushed
½ tablespoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper

To cook the beetroot, wash them well and then boil them until they are tender. Under running water and while they are still hot, you can peel away the skin with your fingers. Roughly chop the beetroot into small pieces.

Place the beetroot pieces, onions, vinegar, sugar, salt, mustard seeds, coriander seeds, crushed allspice and ground pepper and cook over a gentle heat for 30-40 minutes until the mixture has thickened.

Let this cool before using. This will keep in the fridge for a month if stored in an air-tight container.



The end product is a perfect mix of sweet, savoury and spicy and an ideal companion to roast meats.

Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging : WHB

Presto Pasta Night #24

For this edition of Presto Pasta Night you could well say that I trying to make a dish out of nothing.

The pasta I've chosen is quite a common one



and it's called Pipe Rigate (or Striped Pipes). These types of shapes are well suited to hearty sauces and strong flavours, the bent hollow shape providing a place for sauce to pool.

I'll be teaming this pasta in with an ingredient that is usually thrown away.



Not beetroot (or beets) but the stems and leaves. When I was at the market getting beetroots for another dish the ones I selected had the most fantastically fresh stems and leaves attached. It would indeed have been a waste not to use these.

The idea for this recipe is based on a traditional pasta dish that uses Cime di Rape which are Turnip greens. Here I am using a simple base of onions, garlic and pancetta to which the beetroot stems and leaves will be added.

The result - wonderfully colourful if I do say so myself!



Pipe Rigate with Pancetta, Beet Stems and Leaves

Pipe Rigate

Pancetta, cut into a small dice
1 red onion, sliced finely
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
stems and leaves from 3 beetroots (beets)
freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Separate the leaves from the stems.
Cook the stems in a pot of boiling water until starting to soften. Drain and cut into small pieces.
Roughly shred the leaves and set aside.

Heat up a little oil (you don't need to use much as the pancetta will release more as it cooks) and add the diced pancetta - cook over a medium heat until crisp. Turn the heat down and add the sliced onions and garlic and allow these to slowly sweat.

When the onions have softened and started to colour add the diced beetroot stems. Cook this slowly allowing the beetroot stems to release their colour and absorb the pan flavours.

When the pasta is almost cooked, add the leaves - toss them well through the mixture and keep them on the heat to wilt.

Taste and adjust the seasoning adding salt and pepper if required - depending on the pancetta you probably won't need to add any other seasoning.

Add the just drained pasta and toss through the sauce, keeping it on the heat. Sprinkle over with a handful of grated Parmigiano and cook for a minute, allowing the cheese to melt through the pasta.

Place into bowls and top with another sprinkle of Parmigiano.



Full of flavour and colour, it will delight all your senses.

Tagged with Pasta

Retro Recipe Challenge #8

Rachel from Food Maven is hosting this edition of Retro Recipe Challenge, the theme of which is food the wobbles and wiggles.

I knew exactly what I wanted to make but finding a recipe for it proved a more time consuming exercise than I had expected. The elusive recipe for Port Wine Jelly was eventually found in Margaret Fulton's The Margaret Fulton Cookbook (1968).

When you see the recipe you'll soon realise that this is one jelly that really isn't suitable for children.



Port Wine Jelly

1 tablespoon gelatine
¾ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon redcurrant jelly
1 cup port wine
few drops red food colouring (optional)

Place the water in a saucepan over a gentle heat and sprinkle over with the gelatine. Stir this until the gelatine has dissolved and then add the sugar and redcurrant jelly. Continue stirring until this has dissolved.

Add the port wine and colouring if using - stir through and then pour through a muslin lined strainer. Pour the strained liquid into individual glasses or a jelly mould.

Cover and place in the fridge to set.



There's no doubt when eating this that you are having an alcoholic dessert, it would be best served in small portions. However I think this would be an excellent addition to a traditional trifle.

Tagged with Retro Recipe Challenge

More Muesli Bars

My previous batch of muesli bars were a success, albeit a bit rich in butter and sugar so I thought I'd try another version. This time I've played around with a recipe found in AWW's Cakes, Biscuits and Slices. The original recipes calls for pistachios and craisins but since Paalo is allergic to cranberry I've replaced them with dried blueberries - I've also added some flaked almonds and desiccated coconut to the mix.

Blueberry Muesli Bars

125 grams butter

75 grams soft brown sugar

2 tablespoons honey (I used Miellerie Honey)

140 grams rolled oats

75 grams self-raising flour, sifted

150 grams dried blueberries

70 grams slivered pistachios

50 grams flaked almonds

50 grams desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F.
Line a shallow 20x30 cm (8x12 inches) tin with baking paper that overhangs the sides. This will help lift the mixture from the tin once it's cooked.

Place the butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Don't allow the mixture to boil.

Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the rest of the ingredients making sure it's well amalgamated.

Spoon the mixture out onto the prepared pan, spread it out and then press it down firmly with the back of a spoon.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Let it cool in the pan before slicing it.

Cut into 5cm/2 inch thick slices and then cut each slice into 4 pieces.

Tagged with Sweet Food

Weekend Herb Blogging #94

Kalyn is back hosting Weekend Herb Blogging and I'm sure she is counting down to that magic 2 years of WHB - last year coriander/cilantro came out on top as our favourite herb maybe this year we can find out what our favourite vegetable is?

This week it's not a herb or a vegetable but a fruit that I'm looking at - one that is right at the peak of its season....the Seville Orange



It does look quite harmless but looks are deceiving - you don't want to start the day with a glass of this orange juice. Seville Orange is otherwise known as a bitter orange and belongs to the Aurantium species of Citrus. There are many varieties and they are used to make Orange flower water, Chinotto, Bergamot Oil and liqueurs such as Grand Marnier, Triple Sec and Curaçao.

Seville Oranges are best used in making marmalade, they are high in pectin so they set like a dream and produce that typical tart marmalade so loved by Englishmen such as Paalo. The season is relatively short, in Europe from December to February and here from July to September so if the desire to make real marmalade takes hold, act quickly!



Seville Orange Marmalade

4 Seville oranges (around 1kg in weight)
4 cups water, approximate
5 cups white sugar, approximate

Wash the oranges well and dry them.
Thinly slice off the top and bottom to create flat edges and then cut the orange in half lengthways.

Place it cut side down and slice into thin semicircles - save all the seeds as you go and place them in a small glass. The seeds are a great source of pectin which will help set the marmalade.

Finely slice the top and bottom pieces as well and place all the sliced oranges and any of the juice into a non-reactive container. Fill with enough water to cover the oranges - in this case I used 4 cups of water. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

In the glass containing the seeds just add enough water to cover the seeds and place this in the fridge as well.

This process will start softening the skin and releasing the pectin into the water. If you don't have time to do this you can continue from the next step but just cook for a little longer.



The next day place the oranges and the liquid from the seeds into a non-reactive saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer - cover and cook until the peel has softened. This batch took 20 minutes though the time will depend on the hardness of the peel and the thickness of the slices.

If you haven't soaked the oranges or the seeds overnight, tie the seeds in muslin and place them in with the oranges to simmer - the time needed to soften the skins will increase. When they have softened, remove the seeds and continue.

The simple equation in marmalade making is to use 1 cup of sugar to every 1 cup of mixture. To clarify, you must measure the total volume, the oranges and the water remaining.
After the simmering time, I had 5 cups remaining so I used 5 cups of sugar.

Place the mixture over a gentle heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved, brush the sides of the pan down with a wet pastry brush to dissolve any remaining sugar. If you use a candy thermometer, the marmalade should be ready when it reaches 105°C/221°F.

It's best not to stir the mixture as it's cooking but do check to make sure it's not sticking. You'll notice a scum forming on the top as it cooks, just skim this off.

Once it's cooked let it sit for 5 minutes to allow the fruit to distribute evenly through the mixture and then pour into sterilised jars and seal.



When it sets it should have a quasi translucent appearance and the slivers of peel should be suspended through it



With thick slices of toast and perhaps a good lashing of butter, a spoonful of this and a warming cup of tea might just be the perfect way to start Sunday...



Tagged with Weekend Herb Blogging

Presto Pasta Night #23

For this week's Presto Pasta Night I've decided to prepare a pasta dish I had recently at a restaurant. What attracted me to the dish is that it used Cortecce, which is a pasta I used in PPN #15.

This time it's prepared in a tomato based sauce with prawns and cubes of roasted red capsicums (bell peppers) and spiked with fine slivers of fresh chilli. The result is a dish that is surprisingly light and well suited to all climes.



Cortecce with Prawns, Capsicum and Chilli
[Serves 2]

Cortecce
1 red onion, finely sliced
1 large clove garlic, finely sliced
1 large red chilli, finely sliced, seeds removed (add more or less to taste)
2 plum/roma tomatoes, cut in half, de-seeded and roughly chopped
1 roasted red capsicum/bell pepper, diced into small cubed
200 grams shelled raw prawns

I should note that I used local prawns which for those in the US are called large shrimp.

Remove the intestine and then cut the prawns in half widthways - then partially cut each half along the line of the intestinal tract. Set to one side.

Heat a little oil and a knob of butter in a pan and when the butter has melted add the onion, garlic and chilli - allow this to cook slowly to gently sauté the onions.

When the onions have softened and started to colour, add the chopped tomatoes. Depending on the ripeness of the tomatoes you may need to add a little tomato paste and water to help create the sauce.

Continue cooking over a low heat until the tomatoes break down. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.

When the pasta is almost cooked, add the prawn pieces to the onion mixture, increase the heat slightly and toss thoroughly to ensure even cooking. Add in the cubes of roasted capsicum. This shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes as the last thing you want is to overcook the prawns.

Add in the cooked pasta and mix it well into the sauce then serve into individual bowls.



Tagged with Pasta

Cheese: King Island Dairy

For this next cheese I'm heading back to King Island and featuring a featuring a new product from their Discovery line: King Island Dairy Discovery Brie Rolle

It's a Brie but presented in an unusual way - as a long roll

It still has that traditional covering of white mould shielding a butter-coloured interior

This hasn't been out of the fridge for very long and it's still a few weeks away from being fully ripe so it is firm but there are hints of a creamy interior visible .

It's evident that it's been designed to fit neatly on a cracker, even so, it shouldn't be dismissed on the basis of a marketing ploy. I found the cheese to be quite rich with excellent levels of fat that give you that enjoyable creaminess in the mouth. The rind is delicately flavoured with earthy scents.

Since King Island Dairy is a larger brand, you should be able to find this at larger supermarkets.

Other featured King Island Dairy Cheese:
Scrubbed Brie
Stormy
Roaring Forties Blue

Check out their website for more information: King Island Dairy