Sunday Hotpants

Say Cheese! Homemade Farmers Cheese - Fromage Blanc - Twarozek

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:00:41 +1200

I decided to teach my lovely husband Kit, to cook. Granted, it is not entirely a lost cause - he’s able to make several dishes quite well using a recipe, but you know the saying - “man cannot live by curry alone” - or something like that. I am determined that he will feel comfortable and confident in the kitchen. He’s less determined, maybe more resigned that I am on a bit of a mission and he’s got very good at going with the flow.

Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook for my family, indeed it is one of my greatest pleasures in life, making things for them to enjoy. I want my family to be able to fend for themselves if need be in the kitchen and be able to make nourishing, tasty food for themselves and the people they love.

I know you are asking yourself…”what does all this have to do with farmers cheese? Surely she’s not getting him to make cheese from scratch? That is completely ridiculous if she is. What use is that going to be?

Let me backtrack a bit. Rather than tossing a recipe at him and sending him into the kitchen to fend for himself, to make things both interesting and supportive we decided that we would cook together once a week and make a dish from a different country each time. We figured this would expose him to lots of different cooking techniques and foods and it would be quite fun and educational for Isaac (our eight year old) as well.

We started this about 6 weeks ago and it’s already evolved into a three course meal which now involves my parents, my niece and our friend Jack. So it’s become an international dinner for eight on a weekly basis. Isaac picks the country each week by spinning the Globe with his eyes closed and planting his finger on a country. I suspect there is a bit of peeking going on.

So far the country a week is working well. It’s meant a little hunting about for ingredients and making some things from scratch, like spice blends and so on. I had to make Sazon Goya for Columbia week along with a small bucket of dulce de leche (that was a real shame I can tell you!) Then there was Nauru and that was a whole different kettle of fish, figuratively speaking of course. We had “traditional” Nauruan Chinese takeaways. Apparently if you come from Nauru you most likely don’t cook and although the population is roughly 9000 people there are 138 Chinese takeaways. It makes for interesting reading!

Making the cheese was related to our Polish week and making the most delicious no bake cheesecake topped with jiggly raspberry jelly. I personally think I deserved a medal for translating the recipe from Google’s interpretation of a translation from Polish to English …but that’s another story.

The cheesecake needed some ” triple milled cheese”. That was as close as any of the recipes came to describing what was actually needed. Many of them just stated “bucket of cheese” or ” white cheese” or just ” “cheese”. After reading several recipes I deduced that the cheese that was needed was most likely quark. Quark is horribly expensive where I live and I was still not convinced that was what we actually needed.

It was Youtube and wikipedia to the rescue and a lovely lady called Ania who has a great instructional video on making Twarozek, which is what is used in cheesecakes in Poland. All you really need is her video,she does a great job and is very clear.

After checking it out on wikipedia it’s called by many names in different places. But no matter what you call it, to cut a long story short it was easy and delicious. Check out Ania’s video and give it a try. Her recipe makes around 500 grams of cheese, which is about right for a cheesecake. Of course you can use it where you would use Ricotta or cottage cheese with a similar result. I can imagine this would be wonderful in a lasagne.

Your result should be creamy, fresh, tempting looking curds. We used the majority of it in the cheesecake and there was a tiny bit left over for me to spread on some homemade crackers with the last of the summer tomatoes.

Be brave, this is the perfect cheese to take your first leap into cheese making.

Our international dinner takes us to Mali this week and it’s looking like it’s going to be another interesting one. Au revoir for now!

Damson Jam

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:58:00 +1200

I’ve read about Damsons, I’ve pondered Damsons, I’ve heard about Damsons and recently saw someone make a Damson tart on TV. But up until a week ago I had never clapped eyes on a Damson.

I walked into my favourite local shop to buy delicious things ( Taste Nature) and there they were. Sitting next to the Fairtrade bananas. Damsons in a basket. Little purple-blue misty looking plums. Without any hesitation I grabbed a little paper bag and tossed some in it.

Then I got home and thought to myself ..hmmm.. now that I have these, what on earth can I make with them? I ran through the possibilities in my head, inspired mostly by Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, who we lovingly call Huge Fernleaf Swimming-pool in our house. Sorry Huge - I mean Hugh. For those of you that have not heard of Hugh - he’s awesome. Hugh makes delicious and rustic things with Damsons, things like Damson Gin, Damson sauce, Damson vodka, Damson Cobbler, Damson Cheese, sorbet, icecreams and on and on the list goes.

Since in my hurry I had only grabbed about 300 grams of Damsons I didn’t think a batch of gin was an option or any of the other delicious sounding concoctions. So I went with making myself a small jar of jam. Plus I only had one jar.. I was really not that organised. That’s what happens when you impulse buy!

Delicious Damson Jam

equal weights of sugar and Damsons
enough water to stop damsons sticking to the pan.

Place the Damsons in the pan with the water - there should just be enough to stop them sticking - cook gently until they split and soften a little squish them against the side of the saucepan to help the stones loosen from the flesh. This really only takes 3-4 minutes if that!

Add in the sugar and cook for 10 minutes.

Test to see if a small amount cooled on a saucer forms a skin when you drag a teaspoon through it.

Remove from heat and skim stones and any foam that has formed. Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal.

The jam was very flavoursome but also more tart than I would say was typical for most jams. I am sure this depends on the Damsons you have. Many of you may wish to add slightly more sugar than I have stated if you like a typically sweet jam. Personally I liked it like this.

We had our Damson Jam with scones and pikelets - and I have to say it was a refreshing change from the very sweet jams I would normally have.

Thanks Hugh for inspiring me to try out the Damsons. If you are lucky enough to be able to find these definitely give this wonderful jam a try.

Celery Salt

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 22:22:15 +1300

I hate waste. I try hard to compost all my green waste and to have as little as possible in the first place. Even our 8 year old will diligently put compostables in the bucket outside, recyclables in the right bin and ask me if things can be used in some other way.

Lots of things get popped in the freezer for a rainy day. All kinds of bits and pieces get stuffed into my tiny freezer - single egg yolks, bits of cookie dough, small pieces of leftover pastry, pizza dough and single bananas that have seen better days. Often I can identify them later.. sometimes… well it’s more a case of defrost it and see what it was that I didn’t label.

One of the things that regularly makes it into my freezer is celery tops. They are a great addition to stocks and soups and add a wonderful flavour. I peeked in my freezer today after cutting up my bunch of celery and noticed that the bag that I have with celery tops in it was totally full. Not another leaf would fit.

I couldn’t bring myself to compost it knowing it was totally edible. So after giving my 23 year old a lecture on people starving in other parts of the world - (he was snickering at his mother contemplating what to use celery leaves for and yes your children are never too old to lecture on certain topics) I set about making some celery salt with the leftover leaves.

I used a lovely flaky salt from Marlborough to mix with the toasted celery leaves.

Really this could not be more simple.

Celery Salt

Celery leaves
Salt.
Celery Seeds ( optional)

Preheat your oven to 150C/300F

Pull the leaves of the celery free from the stalks and place in a baking dish lined with parchment. I used one with sides - which I think in hindsight was a good idea - it made it easier to move the leaves about.

Place your leaves in oven, stir with a fork every 5 minutes or so. You want your leaves to be dry and crisp with no moisture left. You don’t want them to be toasted and brown though so keep an eye on them.

Once dried remove from the oven and crumble. If you are using celery seeds grind a few with a mortar and pestle and add in with the salt.

Place in with the salt in the proportions you like- easy as that.

Some other combinations you might like to try - celery and chilli or celery and lemon zest. Both are great additions to fish - and the celery and lemon - lovely with fish.

Use to season dishes - don’t go overboard though - remember it is salt.

If you have other uses for celery leaves - I’d love to know about them.

No Knead Flaxseed and Walnut Bread

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:51:00 +1300

This is of course the same no knead bread you see all over the internet. People keep asking me for the recipe for it and asking if it is on my blog. I have said no so many times and then had to write out the recipe by hand, so it ends here!

Here it is - in all it’s super easy glory! I just happened to have added in some flaxseed and walnuts into the basic mix. It is worth noting that the basic mix can indeed be toyed with. Add some cinnamon, a little honey and some raisins if you wish, toss in a few herbs and pumpkin seeds, add a bit of Rye flour in place of white - be adventurous! If you just want plain white bread, leave out the seeds and walnuts. If you would prefer a wholegrain version try this wonderful bread.

No Knead Flaxseed and Walnut Bread.

3 cups of flour
1/2 tspn of instant yeast
1 1/2 t salt
1 t honey
1/2 cup of walnuts roughly chopped.
2 T whole flaxseeds (linseed)
1 1/2 cups of tepid water

I like to bake this in a dutch oven, but really any metal dish with a lid will work. You can improvise with a loaf pan lidded with foil if you like, it will work almost as well to create that lovely crust.

Day One

Whisk all dry ingredients except the walnuts together in a large bowl.
Dissolve honey in warm water and mix in with the dry ingredients
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave overnight.

Day Two

Put a generous cover of flour on your work surface also scatter the walnuts over, tip out your dough and gently incorporate your walnuts into the dough.

Cover and set aside to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.

While your dough is rising preheat your oven to 220C/430F. Place the dutch oven in the oven to preheat along with a dish of water placed in the bottom of the oven. The water will help make a nice steamy environment which creates a nice crust.

After 30 mins tip your bread dough carefully into your preheated dish and place the lid on.

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, after 30 minutes remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 without the lid.

Remove from the oven and cool before slicing.

This bread is SO easy - people will be impressed with your domestic goddess/god like skills. You’ll be able to whip up a loaf of crusty, amazing smelling bread in no time.

Treat yourself to a great big slice and spread it with your favourite topping.

Elderflower Cordial

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 21:33:00 +1300

The first official days of summer are just on the horizon and the Elder tree in the backyard is in full bloom. I don’t have a great knowledge of plants - no one ever really taught me how to identify our flora, so the informative people on the internet have taught me. I have to say I looked at this tree fairly suspiciously for a while - unsure if it was an Elder or something more sinister. Can a plant be sinister? I think so. Finally it took a friend to point out an Elder they had growing in their garden before I was convinced that the plant I had in my garden was the same.

Anyway it turns out that after looking at the tree for a couple of years it is in fact an Elder and I could have been making things from it all this time.

Isaac - our seven year old was only interested in the fact that the Elder wand in Harry Potter might be made from Elder - not just called Elder because it was old. I think he imagined replicating it somehow and casting magic spells in abundance. He had that look about him - like he had a plan of some kind. I may yet find him snapping bits off it.

Elders can be toxic actually so you do need to be careful when using this plant. The berries can make you unwell in their raw state but are fine when cooked. All green parts of the plant are poisonous. The flowers are fine. You can make jam and liqueurs from the berries as well as jellies and all number of other things. I have no idea what they taste like, if you have experience of these I would love to know.

So having given you that caution, lets make cordial! It should be the most beautiful sunshine yellow shade from the pollen.

Elderflower Cordial

adapted from the River Cottage recipe.

30 heads of Elderflowers - make sure you identify your plant correctly!
1.4 litres boiling water.
roughly 800g to 1 kg of sugar or to taste
juice and zest of 4 lemons
juice and zest of 1 orange
1 tspn citric acid.
1 piece of clean muslin or a clean kitchen towel to strain your infusion through.

Make sure you pick your Elderflowers on a dry day and preferably in the morning. Don’t ask me why- but it seems to be the general advice on the internet, and I am happy to take advice from more experienced cordial makers than me. Make sure that your flowers are not going brown - having a few unopened buds is ok. Don’t use flowers from trees by the roadside, they are likely to have all sorts of stuff on them that you don’t really want to concentrate into cordial.

Climb up your ladder and ask your husband to stand with a saucepan underneath you and throw flowers in the general direction of the saucepan and hopefully get them in. Or just shake the flowers as you pick them to get rid of any bugs and drop the flowers into a container, which ever you prefer.

Sort through the flowers. Pick off the flowers and remove as many of the green stalky bits as you can. Don’t get any leaves in there - they will make your cordial a very dark shade. The picture above is before I’ve removed all the green matter.
Once you have separated off the flowers add the citrus zest - and pour over the boiling water.

Leave to infuse overnight.

Once the liquid is infused simply strain it through your muslin or clean kitchen towel and you should have a wonderful golden liquid something like this.

Add the sugar, the juice and the citric acid and bring to a simmer for about 3 minutes. This is quite a sweet cordial - so feel free to add a bit less sugar if you wish. I used about 800g of sugar and I think it was still a little on the sweet side.

If you wish to keep it for more than a month make sure you sterilise your bottles. How you do that will depend on the type of bottle that you are using.

I used these swing cap bottles just bought from the supermarket - I am not sure yet how good they are going to be long term. I guess I will find out! Because they have a rubber type seal on the top the caps were sterilised with a tspn of bleach in a litre and a half of water for a few minutes. The bottles were placed in the oven.

The cordial can be frozen if you are using plastic bottles, make sure you leave some space for expansion if you are doing this. It will keep for about a month in the fridge if you have not sterilised your bottles.

To enjoy this cordial

Add a little to a glass and fill with sparkling water.

Use in a jelly along with other flavours. I believe Elderflower and apple is a nice combination, or you could try honey and Elderflower icecream and panacotta.

A nip poured into a glass and topped with sparkling wine makes a nice summer drink.

Check your tree is an Elder and be adventurous! Give something new a try, make a Harry Potter wand or maybe try the cordial.

This year I am trying once again to plant some sunflowers. I...

Sat, 29 Sep 2012 20:15:30 +1200

This year I am trying once again to plant some sunflowers. I have never had much luck growing them. I’ve always planted the seeds directly in the soil, but this year I thought I would try starting them in pots first and then transplanting them into the garden.

Isaac happened to buy some seeds at his school fair about a month ago and he was most insistent that we get them planted right away. Isaac informed me that sunflowers didn’t like to be disturbed once they had been planted and that we needed to make paper pots for them. Yes I learned something from my seven year old!

So I duly headed for google and found several methods for making pots. I’ve decided that I am going to use eco friendly potting methods for all my seedlings this year it’s cheaper and kinder on the earth.

I decided to make you a video - even though I seriously doubt my skills as a presenter. I think having a video to follow rather than step by step pictures makes it much clearer.

I’m afraid I had a really weird looking helper. Be kind with your thoughts, she’s been fairly embarrassed about her recent trip to the cat hairdresser.

You can see a tray full of the finished pots here. They’re a couple of weeks further down the track and the seedlings have begun to sprout in the pots. The pots are looking fairly manky but will hold up until the seedlings need to be shifted to the garden pot and all. You’ll also see there are some planted in an egg carton, the carton will just be broken apart to plant each seedling, carton and all.

I think this is a really nice way to pot up your seeds and save the planet too.
Thanks Kit for helping me make my first video what would I do without your cleverness!

I found this and I had to share it with you. This is me and my...

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 21:22:00 +1200

I found this and I had to share it with you. This is me and my little sister rocking the 60’s look here. This was the dress that inspired the very loud theme for my blog.
You should also note the fabulous day glow orange school bags and goodness knows what my mother was thinking .. ringlets. I remember having to wear my hair tied up in rags so tight to get those ringlets, I hated them more than you can possibly imagine.

Obviously judging from the expressions on our faces.. we thought we were pretty hot! I think my little sister has more of the natural model pose going on there with the casually draped cardigan and the leg slightly extended. I just look relatively uncomfortable. The things we do for beauty!

Pumpkin Seed Bread

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 19:41:00 +1200

It’s spring! It’s Official - Official since the beginning of September in fact. It snowed this month. Let me repeat that. It SNOWED. I’ve been thinking about making some nice hot weather dishes, but first the hot weather has to arrive. NZ is well known for it’s four seasons in one day and we’ve certainly been experiencing that recently. My blog may have a little less food and a little more of other stuff over the next few months but variety is the spice of life right?!

The spring flowers are coming up in the garden. I’m looking forward to some blogging with the advent of the warm weather and the sun.

Cheerful aren’t they? They are a bit blurry though since I have discovered my camera lens is covered in something .. most likely flour I suspect. Either that or my eyes are worse than I thought.

If you can tolerate some slightly fuzzy photos (until I take my camera to the shop) I have some things to share with you. I’ve been keeping myself busy over winter.

I tried making linocuts. I remembered making these at school and had vague fond memories of them. Kit gave me some lino cutting tools for my birthday this year, so I gave it a go. I really enjoyed watching the lino curl away from the tool. The results are very amateur - but it was a remarkably satisfying process.

This is my Nordic God of storms. He was so attached to his wife, that every time she went away he was so upset that he created huge storms. He’s a detail from the Tønjum stave church in Norway.

This was an attempt at a town - where I discovered that it’s very hard to carve small details into the lino without it chipping. It is a multimedia lino cut. I have some other large pieces of lino that are just waiting for some inspiration.

I’ve been turning Isaac’s head into a garden for Funky Friday at school.

I’ve also helped my husband gain about a kilo over winter by baking this delicious pumpkin seed bread. Actually it’s just the no knead recipe that you see all over the internet but I like to add in pumpkin seeds - good for your prostate if you have one. Which I don’t .. because well I don’t. I also like to add in whole linseed aka flaxseed

Check it out!

Yes I am afraid this delicious bread is the reason for my husbands extra kg. Now he’s on a low carb regime…. So I guess I am going to be posting some low carb recipes soon for those of you that are into that kind of thing, which I’m not, but he is. I’m trying to see this low carb thing as yet another cooking adventure and one that I am going to try to balance out with my own dietary requirements which of course include intermittent helpings of cake.

For those of you that enjoy wonderful slightly moist bread with a nice hard crust - this is the bread you have been waiting for.

For those of you that like to make bread without kneading it - this is the bread you have been waiting for.

For those of you that like to impress your friends with little or no effort - this is the bread you have been waiting for.

I’m sure you get the picture.

Pumpkin Seed No Knead Bread

Note: This needs to rise overnight - make sure you make the dough the day before you want the bread and allow 30 minutes rising time and 45 minutes cook time the following day. I generally have enough time to bake this bread before work in the morning if I have prepared the dough the night before.

In a large bowl place

3 cups of flour
1/4 tspn instant yeast
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 tspn sugar
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup of whole linseeds

Mix with a knife then add

1 1/2 cups of tepid water

Mix

Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap or a tea towel and leave to sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

The next day:

Stir your dough and place in a warm place for 30 minutes to rise.

Preheat your oven to 220C/ 428F and place the dish that you are going to bake your bread in in the oven also. I use a cast iron dutch oven with a lid for my bread, but I have also just used a standard loaf pan with foil tented over it. The shape of your container will effect the shape of your finished loaf.

Also place an oven proof dish filled with water in the oven to create a nice steamy environment for your bread, this helps give a nice crust.

After 30 minutes tip your dough into your preheated container, dust with flour and cover (with a lid or tented foil - make sure it is not actually touching your bread and your bread has enough room to rise).

Cook for 30 minutes with the lid on.

After 30 minutes remove the lid or foil and cook uncovered for 15 minutes.

Cool on a rack before slicing. Done.

Actual hands on time for the bread is minimal, while it’s cooking/rising etc in the morning I can get ready for work.

It does make good toast the next day if for some reason you don’t devour all at once. For those of you just coming into winter this bread might just be the thing that makes the days seem a little more cosy. I take no responsibility for any weight gained!

I have to say it’s good to be back, it seems like it’s been a very long winter this year. I’m going to try to get the blog revamped a little over the summer as well - perhaps I can exchange some web work for some low carb cooking.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you’ve all been up to.

I’m still here in chilly Dunedin. It’s just that...

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 22:26:58 +1200

I’m still here in chilly Dunedin. It’s just that it’s winter - and the light is like this.

I’m spending my time bringing lots of this - to light the fire and keep us warm.

I went to the library and got myself stacks of magazines to read while I stay inside out of the cold.

I’m still here.

Just hibernating.

Jacked-up Banana Bread

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:56:00 +1200

Now before you get all excited and think I’m being a bit risque with the title of the post -this banana bread has Jack Daniels Bourbon in it. See? It was perfectly innocent. Shame on you for thinking otherwise!

Sorry about the photos today - we ate half the bread before I remembered you. Please don’t be offended.

I’d like to tell you a great story about the time I visited a little town in Kentucky and saw a very old Bourbon distillery. Except that is the entire story, so it’s not that great. I did go there though, where ever there was….. I can’t remember the town’s name. Ahh the joys of Peri-menopause, my once razor sharp memory is now as sharp as a spoon.

At home I’ve had to start using a diary.

“So what?”,
I hear half of you saying. I’ve never had to use a diary at home - at work yes, but home no. I could always remember what was going on, for not just myself but for everyone in the house.

Piano lessons, hiphop, dentist’s appointments, vet visits, school concerts, haircuts and birthdays. Now unless it’s written in my diary (personally illustrated by Isaac with a green slime monster with candy canes! The Christmas monster maybe?) it’s forgotten about.

I’ve decided that Jacked-up banana bread is a mighty fine way to console myself in my fuddled middle aged state. It’s a recipe that seems to originate with “Mrs Hockmeyer” and then has morphed into something else entirely. It’s almost become an internet heirloom (if there could be such a thing?) with so many bloggers posting this in various forms. Deb from Smitten Kitchen is the one that thought Jack Daniels would be a good idea. She was right!

I cut large thick slices of this as soon as it came out of the oven, popped a scoop of vanilla speckled icecream on top and then completely unnecessarily poured a little hot fudge sauce over it. I can’t even begin to tell you how good that was. Yes, I’m speechless. I think you just need to make it. Write the recipe down and put it somewhere you won’t forget it. Mine is going into my green monster diary with the candy canes.

This is a great way to use up those bananas that are past their best or languishing in the freezer.

Jacked-up Banana Bread

adapted and enjoyed via Joy the Baker, via Smitten Kitchen via Simply Recipes etc.

3 to 4 ripe bananas mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon (if you have an unsteady hand and accidentally add a little more it seems to be fine!)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
1 1/2 cup of flour
3/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Mix the melted butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon, then spices.

Add baking soda and salt and mix.
Add the flour, mix. Add the chopped almonds and stir gently until just mixed through.

Pour mixture into a greased and floured or lined loaf pan.

Bake for roughly 1 hour. I started checking mine after 45 minutes.

Cool on a rack or slice while warm and serve with icecream and chocolate sauce.

Don’t forget to write it down!

P.S My little Bird’s Nest Cookies were in the Dominion Post this week, how exciting is that!

P.P.S My lovely husband bought me an apron from Flirty Aprons. These are seriously cute aprons! I believe Mothers Day is coming up, so if anyone wants a new one, check those out and drop your guy/girl some strong hints about Marilyn aprons and high heels. That ought to do the trick.

Hiking around Otago Peninsula - Sandymount

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 19:19:00 +1300

I’m fairly sure that most people think that behind every food blog is a slightly rounded woman. I’m pretty sure often you’d be right. It’s hard not to cook so many delicious things and start to look something like a cinnamon bun shape yourself!

I’ve been trying to be more conscious of getting a decent amount of exercise to offset the tasty things that come out of the kitchen. Today we spent an hour or so walking about the Otago Peninsula, walking the Sandymount track. We saw two amazing landmarks called Lovers Leap and the Chasm, unfortunately our photos really don’t do them justice. This is about 20 minutes away from my house.

This is a photo heavy post, but I really wanted to share this amazing afternoon with you out in the fresh air in New Zealand. It’s days like today I really appreciate living in this little country at the bottom of the planet with the Hobbits. All these beautiful images are on a 50 minute walk.

Driving up towards Sandymount and looking towards Dunedin city - where we call home. This and the next two photos comprise the Otago harbour the city is situated on.

Looking down towards Port Chalmers.

At the end of Sandymount Road this is the view from the carpark over Hoopers Inlet, there were actually a couple of hang gliders out there but they are too small for you to see.

We walked through this dark tunnel of old macrocarpa, all the tree limbs left leaning towards the sun, there is so much leaf litter underfoot you barely make a sound as you walk.

At the end - you come across this, a very typical NZ vista.

You round the corner and you see this beach, it’s truly breath taking. It’s called Allans Beach.

Follow a sheep track around the tussock covered hills

To the cliffs and the coast.

As I mentioned above, I have no photos of the chasm and Lovers Leap, the photos we had just did not do them justice at all. Have a look at a blog called 12 foot 3 for a selection of great photos of Lovers Leap and The Chasm.

I do indeed feel lucky to live here and have such amazing scenery practically on my doorstep.

Days like today need to be savored.

A little reminder too, one more day to comment on the previous blog post to be in the draw to win a $50 voucher.

Giveaway and Lunchbox Jumble.

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:49:00 +1300

Wheee it’s a giveaway! This giveaway is only available to Aussies and Kiwis, sorry everyone else! I had a very friendly chap called Victor contact me about doing a promotional post for a website called Groupon (yes it sounds like coupon!) I don’t normally do this type of thing, but he offered me two $50 vouchers for my readers - so on your behalf I accepted graciously. I know you all like free stuff! There is one website with deals for Kiwis at Grouponnz and another for Aussies here at Groupon Austrailia.

They have some amazing deals on there that you can spend your $50 voucher on. To give you some ideas they have baby slumber pods, Sworovski crystal jewellery and personalised iphone cases. As well as things you can hold in your hand and get in your actual post box, they have some really fantastic deals on travel and holiday packages (Thailand anyone?). These are really heavily discounted and just amazing value. I’ve got to say, I’ve got my eye on a trip to Wellington. I’d like to see my darling daughter when she gets back from gallivanting all around the world!

Just to make it clear, I am not gaining anything from promoting this other than the opportunity to give you a $50 voucher. Neat huh ?

Ok, so what do you need to do to be in the draw for one of two $50 vouchers?

All you need to do is visit either Groupon Austrailia or Grouponnz and leave a comment telling me what you would like to put your $50 voucher towards. I’ll do a random draw to see who the lucky ones are.

Edit: I’ll leave this giveaway open until April lst (NZ time) for the one voucher and 24 hours for the other, I noticed some of these deals have quite tight time limits on them!

Now for all you folk that can’t participate in the giveaway, I’m sorry! I do have an interesting recipe for you all. These are bar cookies, a New Zealand slice. This recipe came from a fundraiser cookbook back in the 60’s. If you’re a sixties Kiwi kid like me no doubt you’ll recognise this slice; you might have had some in your lunchbox as a child.

The interesting thing about this is that my recipe for jumble is completely wrong. Somewhere along the way it morphed into something that only barely resembles the original. It’s now more like a chocolate, coconut version of ginger crunch. The original jumble is soft and cakey, but you can almost break your teeth on this version if if you’re not careful! It is not a soft slice. So just to be clear, if you wear dentures - this one is not for you! Alternatively if you would like to make a soft cakey version, simply add an egg to the mix.

This is so sturdy it makes it the perfect candidate to be rattled around in a lunch box and still be presentable at lunch time when your hungry little person is looking for their treat.

It will keep well for a couple of weeks in a sealed container.

Lunchbox Jumble

100g butter (softened)
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of flour
1 cup of dessicated coconut
1 tspn of baking powder
1 large Tblspn Cocoa
splash of milk - just enough to mix to hold the mixture together
whole egg (optional) if you would like a soft version.

Cream together the butter and sugar

Add the remaining ingredients and press into a Lammington pan (30 x 19 cm)

Bake for roughly 15 minutes at 180C 350F until the cake begins to move away from the sides of the pan and springs back when gently pressed with your finger.

Ice/Frost with a simple confectioners sugar icing.

2 cups icing/powdered sugar
1 large T butter
1/2 tspn vanilla
1 large T sifted cocoa
boiling water to mix

Ice this while it is still slightly warm. Sift dry ingredients into a small bowl, add the butter and vanilla. Add boiling water slowly in very small amounts and stir until a spreadable consistency.

Sprinkle with a little dessicated coconut. Cut while still slightly warm.

Good luck to those of you keen to win a voucher! Remember to leave a comment to be in with a chance to win.

Salad of Shaved Fennel, Baby Peas, Feta and Lemon

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 22:28:00 +1300

This is the fennel that I planted in my garden this year. I was not all that hopeful that it would do well, but unlike my zucchini it actually thrived! I have so much fennel I was struggling to find ways to eat it. I make a mean fennel and cauliflower gratin and a fresh, crisp fennel and apple salad. The leaves are frequently tucked in little parchment packages with salmon or tossed with vegetables. But I felt like I needed something else to try, something that would really wake up my taste buds.

I hunted about online for some inspiration and stumbled across a recipe feature from one of my favourite places to eat, Riverstone Kitchen in Oamaru.

I was a little hesitant when I initially saw the quite large quantity of herbs in this recipe. Look at all that wonderful fresh mint and parsley, I love being able to pick things out of my garden and eat them within the hour. I piled in the herbs in the amounts suggested and thought it might have been a little much.

I should have trusted the wonderful chefs at Riverstone, the balance of flavours is just right. Mint and Lemon should get married, those two flavours just seem to work so well together.

Salad of Fennel, Baby Peas, Feta and Lemon.

Serves four

2 medium-sized fennel bulbs
Small red onion
150g sheep’s milk feta ( I used cow’s milk feta)
200g baby peas ( I used frozen and thawed but not cooked)
Cup flat leaf parsley, picked
Cup mint leaves, picked
150g baby spinach leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
40ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Finely shave or slice the fennel into a large bowl with a mandolin or very sharp knife. Try to keep it nice and fine.

Crumble the feta over the top and add the remaining ingredients. Toss together gently and serve.

Drizzle with a little extra olive oil to serve if you wish.

As soon as I took a mouthful of this my mind was racing .. did I have enough ingredients to make this again?

The recipe states that it serves 4 - but honestly I could easily have sat and eaten at least half of this on my own without any trouble at all. But of course that would be greedy, wouldn’t it. Wouldn’t it?

Teamed up with a nice piece of grilled salmon and some new potatoes this would make a very elegant and memorable meal.

Outside of the kitchen this week it’s the Fringe Festival in Dunedin. We didn’t have a huge amount of time to visit performances between dance lessons, piano lessons, husband crashing into a mirror and destroying half a jewellery shop (another story for another time), hair cuts and purchasing of shorts for Isaac’s triathalon.

We had just enough time to visit the Mad Hatter’s tea Party art installation under the overbridge (Isaac found that itself amusing - how could you possibly go under the overbridge?)

He could not resist poking the licorice alllsorts to see if they were real. It was also quite interesting to see people’s reactions as they came across this massive table filled with oversized food and teapots.

Hopefully I’ll get to see a little more of the Fringe festival and be able to share with you.

Till next time!

French Lemon Yoghurt Cake and a Stationary Pet

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:05:22 +1300

I’ve been meaning to give you this wonderful recipe for a tangy French lemon and yoghurt cake for quite some time and finally I have managed to get my act together to post it for you. You’ve all been in my thoughts, promise!
I’ll tell you all about the new pet after you’ve salivated over the cake for a bit.

I’ve had this recipe for a long time. It’s completely delicious. It’s a large cake. People will ask you for the recipe. You can pretend it’s all yours and I won’t mind one bit. Tell them it’s been in your family for centuries and it’s been handed down from mother to daughter or father to son - whatever suits you! I won’t tell anyone.

It’s a grown up cake. You can produce this for special occasions and people will declare you an amazing baker. The compliments will flow with this cake and there won’t be a crumb left.

It’s damp, lemony and fragrant. What more could you want?

Warm out of the oven you slowly drizzle a lemon and yoghurt glaze on the top. It seeps into the cake to give it the characteristic shine and tart lemon bite.

Please don’t substitute margarine in this recipe. It really does need the flavour and the fat from butter to taste right. There are some things you just should not muck about with - this is one of them.

French Lemon Yoghurt Cake

(adapted from Essential Baking)

225g/8oz unsalted butter - softened
300g/10 1/2 oz caster/superfine sugar
4 large eggs separated
2 t grated lemon zest
85ml/3fl lemon juice
250ml/8floz plain unsweetened yoghurt
285g/10oz flour
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

For the Glaze

115g/4oz icing sugar/powdered sugar
2 T lemon juice
3-4 T plain unsweetened yoghurt

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and grease and flour or line a large cake pan with parchment - it must hold at least 3 litres/4 2/3 pts. You can cook this in a bundt tin if you wish - but make sure it is well greased and floured.

You will need three bowls to make this cake. It’s worth the dishes!

Make sure you have your lemon juice and zest all ready to be added in at the appropriate stage.

Cream your butter and sugar together in a large bowl and add in your egg yolks one at a time. I was lucky enough to have some beautiful free range eggs on hand from my wonderful friend to make this with.

Your butter and sugar should be pale and thick.

Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and yoghurt and stir to blend. It will look like it has curdled at this point, but don’t worry - it always looks like this.

In another bowl sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In the third bowl - beat the egg whites and salt to stiff peaks.

Fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture and add in a spoonful of the egg whites to loosen the mixture.

Add in the remaining egg whites and fold until just mixed.

Pour into your prepared cake pan and bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. In a bundt pan this will be roughly 50 minutes. If you have used another type of pan start to check your cake every 10 minutes after 40 minutes in the oven and keep checking until your skewer comes out clean.

Let stand for a few minutes then turn out and cool on a rack.

This cake can be a little fragile when warm so go carefully.

For the Glaze

I like to glaze mine when slightly warm so that the glaze soaks into the cake.

Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl - stir in the lemon juice and yoghurt to make a smooth glaze.

Put the cooled cake on a cake rack over a large flat dish or piece of parchment. Pour the glaze over and let it drip down the sides.

Serve with yoghurt or cream on the side.

Now - to tell you about the pet. His name is Steve - he doesn’t really move a lot, only when he needs to. Isaac decided he was a stationary pet. He lives in a willow pattern ramekin on the window sill.

When he needs to move .. he moves with the speed of a predator. He waits… for his prey to come to him.

Not everyone’s cup of tea perhaps?

Isaac is a little afraid of insects. I thought this might be a way to help him overcome his fear. He has a total fascination with Steve and checks his water daily. No pet could be more loved.

We read all about this great little stationary pet on flytrapcare.com. Everything you ever wanted to know about your Venus Fly Trap. I had no idea they were native to the US. I imagined them growing in some misty tropical jungle somewhere.

He had a friend over to play today and both the boys were completely engrossed with catching bugs for the fly trap. They decided that slaters ( woodlice) were no good since the last one made the trap go black. The harvestmen that they caught was too light to trigger the trap. Isaac explained to his little friend that the bug had to touch two hairs on the trap to trigger the closure.

They poked around in the vegetable garden a little more and found a centipede to feed to Steve.

They counted the legs.. they remarked on it’s colour, they talked about the differences between centipedes and millipedes and where they thought they lived.

Steve - is a wonderful pet - if not completely traditional. He’s led to many learning discoveries for Isaac. If you have a child with an inquiring mind - this might be a fun thing to introduce to them. I’m just hoping Steve survives the winter - since it gets fairly cold here. It is officially the last day of summer here tomorrow (I think) the leaves will start to change and the mushrooms will start to appear under the trees and in the grass. Isaac tells me that Steve will hibernate - so perhaps he’ll be alright.

Beautiful Berry Muffins in Parchment

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:20:11 +1300

There are some recipes which just sneak your way into your regular repertoire quietly. They don’t get placed in your recipe book with a flourish and huge anticipation of the next time you’ll make it. You just find yourself seeking it out .. over and over and over again - because it’s good. A hint of stoneground wholemeal flour and packed with fresh berries - seriously what more could you want?

This muffin recipe is one of those sneaky ones. I’ve found myself making it again and again and again. It’s earned a place in my regular list. It’s a muffin that has enough heft to stand up to being soaked with berry juice. Have you ever bitten into a muffin loaded with berries only to find that it’s half cooked? That there are also lumps of raw batter and berry just sitting in sodden clumps at the bottom? I know I have on more than one occasion.. and it’s horrible! You’ll not get that happening with these. They will be cooked through perfectly in all their berry glory. They do have quite a bit of butter in them, I would imagine margarine would be fine to substitute - I haven’t tried this though so I am only guessing.

You’ll notice in the title that I’ve mentioned what they were cooked in. I didn’t do that to be super fancy. I often find myself without any muffin cases because I am somewhat vague and forget to buy them. I usually only discover it once I’ve started to make a batch of muffins normally. Most muffins are fine without any cases and can just be baked directly in the muffin pans. Some muffins do need cases though, anything with a lot of fruit or bits of chocolate that are going to firmly adhere to the pan are better with muffin cases.

Using parchment is a good option when you find yourself lacking a muffin case. Often people seem to think your muffins are much more elegant when they reside in these. When in fact it’s normally a bit of a ghetto solution to no cases on hand. Another bonus of using parchment is that the muffin won’t stick to it - no peeling bits of muffin off the case.

They make a wonderfully large batch - some to eat, some to put in the freezer or give to a friend.

Beautiful Berry Muffins

makes roughly 16-24 regular sized muffins.

170 grams butter ( or margarine)
1 1/2 cups raw sugar (or white)
3 large eggs
1 1/2 tspns vanilla
1 cup of sour cream (or buttermilk or plain yogurt - you may use low fat options)
1/4 cup of low fat milk
1 3/4 cups of white flour
3/4 of a cup of wholemeal flour ( stoneground if possible)
2 t baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda
1/2 tspn salt
2 cups of berries of your choice - cut very large berries like strawberries into pieces. Frozen berries are easier to cut than fresh.

To make your parchment cases, simply cut squares of baking paper roughly 14cm/ 5 inches square. Spray a little non stick spray into the bottom of each muffin pan and then press your parchment square in there, creasing the folds firmly. You may find they pop back up, don’t worry they will be fine once the batter is sitting in them.

Cream the butter and sugar together until thick and pale. Add in your eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add in your vanilla, sour cream and milk.

Sift in your dry ingredients and stir quickly and gently - by hand being very careful not to overmix. Don’t make your muffins tough!

Lastly add in your berries reserving half a cup or so for the top.

Bake in the oven at 180C/350F for roughly 25-30 minutes. About half way through cooking quickly and carefully and place a few berries on the tops of the muffins, since much of the fruit will sink during cooking.

The muffins are cooked when they spring back lightly to the touch in the center. Do not undercook these muffins.

If you feel so inclined sprinkle with a little icing sugar to take the level of fancy up a notch. I also added some chopped white chocolate into half the batch - if you’re a white chocolate lover, white chocolate and raspberry is hard to beat.

Cool on a cake rack and eat slightly warm or room temperature.

Outside of the kitchen, I picked my onions this week, unfortunately many of them have gone to seed, but it means that I now have the most amazing looking vase of offensive smelling flowers on my table. Fortunately I have an almost permanently blocked nose in summer with hayfever, so I just get to enjoy how they look! The cat had to come check them out too - that’s Nicki on the table there.. naughty girl!

I baked pikelets which we ate slathered in morello cherry jam, you can see those on the table too - and cooked the most delicious Italian onion soup - you can see the cookbooks sprawled over the table. I ended up choosing a recipe which was low fat and utterly delicious. I’ll share that with you soon. Going to the library and coming home with a massive stack of cookbooks is one of my absolute favourite things to do.

I also pulled out these this week.

I had a little fun creating mixed media gardens,
stitching and drawing and painting on heavy watercolour paper.

This one underneath went on the front of a package to Leah in Wellington as the address label- but it doesn’t seem to have arrived yet, I really hope it’s not gone missing.

I also had the urge to paint foxes, some of them were quite .. err mishapen and rather frightening looking !

After much trial and error I came up with this little lady - who I think I’d like to play with some more. She’s a little smudgy - she is only a test fox afterall. She is about 3 cm high.

Remember to spend time doing the things you love with the people you love, create some memories together. Take a little time for you, or maybe just bake the muffins - they’re good. Until next time - Ciao Bella!

Painting Terracotta Pots - but wait there's more!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:00:29 +1300

It’s school holidays here at the moment. So we’ve been doing all manner of fun things to fill the time. Terracotta pots were the flavour of the week at our house. I originally intended it as an activity for Isaac, but it seems that I liked as much if not more than he did.

My lovely husband asked me how much I spent on materials for the pots and I mumbled something incomprehensible. It’s not exactly the cheapest activity unless you have some acrylic paint already sitting around, but it was a huge amount of fun.

What you need for these.

Acrylic paint of different shades - we used Resene test pots and some art supplies that we had handy.
Clear paint/sealer in a spray can ( Dulux make one here in NZ)
Terracotta pots
Newspaper
Variety of brushes both large and small.

Start by sealing your terracotta pots with the clear enamel - both inside and out. You want to make sure that your pot is sealed. Water retention is better for the plant, but also when you are painting on the outside you will not get the paint soaking into the terracotta clay and you will get a better finish. It takes about 30 minutes to dry.

Now paint your pots. I started with two coats of my base colour to ensure good coverage of the pot. Make sure your coat of paint is dry before you paint details or paint on the next coat. There are some really good instructions and tips for painting pots here at The Artistic Garden.

We really enjoyed sitting outside in the sun painting pots - perhaps if it’s winter in your part of the world you might like to paint some pots for spring for some colourful spring bulbs, or for some sprouts for eating that can be grown inside.

Isaac had a wonderful time painting his impression of Godzilla on a pot. I feel like I should plant a venus flytrap it in or something!

As well as painting pots we did a day trip to the little blue penguin colony in Oamaru to see the little guys coming in from the sea at night. You can’t help but look at them and smile, they are seriously cute! We were lucky enough to see several rafts of penguins come in from the sea once they had finished fishing for the day.

Smaller than a chicken but still pretty tough for something so adorable, they can beat up a rabbit if they need to! They live all through the coastal area of Oamaru and surrounds, not content to stick to their colony they also build their nests in various places in the Victorian area and in people’s gardens.

There are only 8000 of them left in the world. I’d like to show you some photos of them but we have none since there is a no camera policy so as not to scare the little guys. The only ones I could take a picture of were these weird looking ones.

I did pick up some wonderful smooth rocks from the seaside where they live and brought them home as a memento.
Not as quite cute as the penguins but fun to make. Wash your rocks/pebbles - dry and paint with the same type of paint as you used for the pots. An acrylic paint that washes up in water is fine. Seal with the clear spray paint. I wrote the date and the place that I collected these rocks on the back of them.

We had fun exploring the Retro Funk second hand shop in Oamaru too, Isaac was examining all the bits and pieces with great interest. I could hardly believe my eyes - there were so many things from my childhood in that store it was both terrifying and entrancing.

Multiple albums of Val Doonican graced the entrance, L’eggs pantihose, black and white TV’s and an Atari 2600 were to be found tucked in the corners. Candlewick bedspreads, enamel cooking pots patterned with flowers, fondue sets and tiny forks to stick into corn cobs were just a small selection of the treasures to be discovered. There was also the obligatory orange and paisley bathing suit and Maxi dresses - the REAL DEAL. If you are in the Oamaru area and into all things retro; this shop is a must see.

If you and your family have a break at this time of year, make sure you take some time to do something with the people you love and make some memories together.

Wishing you all a happy start to 2012.

So I made a Terrarium and ....

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:18:51 +1300

I was standing at my kitchen window just looking at it .. thinking .. hmm I like that.. I should put something else in there….then I looked a little closer…..

And yes.. under the small succulent at the bottom ..

I spotted something.

Or perhaps I should say someone. I now have a spider living in there.. he/she has carefully built a web across the width of the bowl and now resides in my terrarium. Most people have to content themselves with plastic dinosaurs and the like, but not me, I have a living resident, even though they were not invited!

Marmalade and Bourbon Glazed Ham with Star Anise

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 21:08:34 +1300

Things have been happening since I last saw you. I’ve sent two of my children out into the world and finished up at work for Christmas. I’ve had many trips to the airport in the last month, spent way too much money on way too many things, joined a gym, read a fantasy Trilogy in a week and cooked a Christmas Ham and a fennel and cauliflower gratin to die for. I used one dozen eggs to make creme brulee and I’ve baked roughly 60 meringues, I watched a 6 year old in a hiphop concert and put on a birthday party for him when he turned 7. I tried wholegrain porridge for the first time, I’ve become obsessed with lino cuts and ordered myself a Christmas gift! So as you can see, I’ve been doing stuff.

I thought you might like to put this ham recipe away for next year. We swooned over this ham today - it smelled amazing while it cooked and as soon as it was out of the oven I had to try a little piece. It fell into the things that make you go “mmmm” category so I wanted to share it with you. I had to carry a very hot, heavy ham around the house looking for enough light to photograph it for you, I nearly dropped it. It wobbled quite precariously at some points. I often make a glazed ham for Christmas - but this is the most heavenly one yet.

I’ve made this a step by step so that you can feel confident that you know what you’re doing when you stand with your very expensive ham in front of you. Please try to use free range ham if you can manage it. This recipe is enough to glaze a large precooked ham.

Marmalade and Bourbon glazed Ham with Star Anise

1 and a half cups of breakfast marmalade
1/4 of a cup of Dijon mustard
1/2 cup of Bourbon whiskey
cloves
2/4 whole star anise (2 for a half ham 4 for a whole ham)

Mix all your glaze ingredients together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and simmer for a 4-5 minutes until thickened slightly. Strain and set aside to cool while you prepare your ham for glazing. I just cooked a half (cob) ham this year with my big kids gone .. sniffle…

With a small sharp knife (small is better for getting around the curve of the ham without accidentally cutting massive chunks out of it) carefully insert it inbetween the rind and the fat while gently pulling up and back on the rind.

You will find that you can mostly just pull the rind off the ham with your hands but there will be the occasional bit that does not want to budge and you will need to cut with the knife. Make sure when you are pulling that you are still leaving a good layer of fat behind on the ham. This is what you are going to cut to make that beautiful diamond pattern.

Next score the diamond pattern into the fat of the ham. The aim is to cut through the fat but not into the meat. If you cut too deeply the fat will open right up and separate. This sometimes happens no matter how careful you are with your scoring - if it does don’t panic just glaze the whole surface and baste the whole surface so the meat doesn’t dry out.

If you look at the piece of ham I have there you will see the fat layer is much thinner on the left. It was hard for me to score without touching the meat - so consequently it opened a little as it cooked - but it won’t detract at all as long as you keep it carefully basted.

Preheat your oven to 180C/300F

Once you’ve scored your diamonds into the fat place a clove in the centre of each diamond and strategically place your whole star anise somewhere roughly in the centre of the ham.

I made sure I picked out whole star anise that still had the stalks on so that I could push the stalks into the ham and hold them there.

Put a piece of baking paper in a roasting dish and carefully put your ham in. Brush with the glaze - make sure you get into all the little corners and place in the preheated oven for roughly 50 minutes to an hour 10 minutes.

You must baste your ham with the glaze at least every 10 minutes while it’s cooking. if you have some bits that are getting a little dark, make sure that you keep them well basted so they do not dry out. If you run out of glaze - baste with the pan juices.

Your ham should be well heated through and glistening with a warm and spicy glaze at the end of the cook time.

You can see on the ham the gap where the fat was too thin and melted away - but I assure you it made no difference to the flavour.

If you’ve never tried cooking a Christmas Ham .. don’t be afraid.

It’s really very easy and the result is just absolutely worth basting for an hour.

I’m heading off to the kitchen to grab some leftovers.

Oh .. a tip for storage. Rinse a clean dish towel or piece of cotton in a solution of vinegar and water ( roughly 1 Tbspn of vinegar to 2 litres of water) and squeeze out. Place the damp cloth around your ham to keep it fresh for up to a month. Every couple of days or so change the cloth and replace with a clean cloth rinsed in the vinegar and cold water.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

Pane Veloce - Quick Crusty Bread

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:00:00 +1300

These little loaves take less than an hour and forty minutes start to finish. That’s right, warm, soft, homemade bread in less than two hours and you don’t have to knead it either!

Homemade bread is just one of those things that speaks love. It makes the whole house smell delicious and there is just something so satisfying about cutting into a crust that crackles a little to reveal beautiful soft bread.

This is fast enough that you can get home from work, throw the ingredients in a bowl and you have wonderful homemade bread ready for dinner.

This makes three small loaves - I find that my family of five eats two of these with dinner easily. Warm and dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, spread thickly with hummus, or dipped into soups or gravy it’s a wonderful addition to a meal. You could always freeze the third loaf or reheat the next day sliced and wrapped in a little foil with garlic butter smeared through it.

You are going to love this bread. Promise. This recipe was a special request from my Leah - and frequently graces our table.

Source Dulcis in Ferno and Share my Kitchen

Pane Veloce

500 grams of flour (plus a little more for your work surface)
370 mls of lukewarm water
1 tspn to 1 Tblspn of honey ( more or less depending on how sweet you would like your bread - I like the larger measurement)
1 1/4 tpsns active dry yeast - OR 1 tspn instant yeast OR 12g fresh yeast dissolved in the warm water.
1 tspn of salt

Dissolve the honey in the water. Sift the flour into a large bowl - make a well in the centre and add the yeast followed by the warm water and honey and then the salt. Mix briefly with a knife until just combined.

The dough will be very soft and sticky - but that’s fine - that’s exactly how you want it to be. If you think it is a little dry then add a little more water- your dough should not be dry.

Sprinkle the dough with a little flour and cover and place in a warm place for roughly an hour.

While the dough is rising do the following:

Cover a baking tray with parchment and then sprinkle generously with flour.

Place an oven proof dish in the bottom of the oven filled with warm water. Preheat your oven for at least 30 minutes at 220C/450F. Place a Pizza stone in the oven to put your bread tray on if you have one also. This is not essential.

When your dough has roughly doubled in volume carefully turn the dough out on to your floured parchment. I scrape mine out of the bowl with a wide spoon - a knife would work as well. Divide into three equal pieces and shape into small long loaves. The flour on the loaves and the loose dough makes your loaves look amazing when baked.

Bake for 15- 20 minutes then turn the oven temperature down to 160C/320F and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

Cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

If you’re after a super fast bread - this is the one.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +1300

Did you ever have one of those days where you just end up wishing you had never entered the kitchen and knew that the baking Gods were out to get you? I may or may not have had one of those days making this cake. Ok, I definitely had one. I needed to make a cake for my father’s birthday. I only had a couple of hours to make it and I knew he liked chocolate, so chocolate it was going to be. A SIMPLE chocolate cake.

Here’s my Dad with my little sister and me ice skating outside on a lake mid winter in central Otago. Handsome young Dad wasn’t he?

I started in on making the cake with not a lot of time to spare.

I read the instruction in the recipe which stated - ” line your pan with parchment - because the batter is very liquid and you don’t want it to leak” and then promptly ignored it. My problems began at this point.

“My pan won’t leak!” I confidently exclaimed to myself..
“I know this pan and I know this mixture it will be FINE”.
Guess what….? It wasn’t fine, my pan had been taking part in a little rough housing in the cupboard with the other pans and become slightly less round and now it leaks. I ended up with batter all through the bottom of the oven .. pouring on to the lower element and giving off a lovely burnt chocolate cake smoke.

“I can fix this!”.. I thought. (still looking for the easy way out)

So I opened the oven - put some foil tightly around the base of the pan and shoved it back in the oven. I ripped the foil and batter poured out in a massive gush from the bottom of the pan.

I went into sensible crisis mode

“Right I need to change pans and line it!”
I grabbed the parchment out of the draw pulled some out and ripped it with great vigor across the sharp little cutty thing .. and sliced my finger with it. Blood began to seep out of my finger.

“It’s ok, it’s ok.., you’re ok, just fix the cake!” I rummaged about and found another pan (way too big) and hit my head on the top of the cupboard as I took it out.

I picked up the foil wrapped, batter weeping cake pan, forgot it was hot and burned my fingers - of course - I was beginning to expect it now.

I poured the cake batter into the pan with parchment on the base and tossed it back into the oven feeling victorious, even though the oven was now WAY below temperature. Then I realised that the base of the pan was lined, but the sides were not…

I cooked the cake and of course when I removed it - it was stuck on the sides. I managed to extract it without mangling it too much, it was thin because half the batter had poured on to the bottom of the oven and been charred to within an inch of it’s life. In fact I believe it actually caught fire briefly.

I decided to cut the maltesers for the top while I waited for it to cool. Half of them shattered into little bits of powder - I picked up a broken one to eat it (well come on, I was having a very bad afternoon!) and it exploded further into bits of filling and chocolate shards which all went down INSIDE my T shirt. So yes.. I had maltesers melting inside my shirt along with little scratchy bits. Sigh ……

Isaac helped me decorate it. Honestly I wasn’t going to be suprised if Isaac fell into the cake and smooshed his face in it by accident.

But all’s well that ends well - the cake was iced and given to my lovely father. He thought it was a “flash looking cake” Yay!

Happy 82nd Birthday Dad - I’m really glad you got your flash looking cake, it almost didn’t happen.

All disasters aside - if you follow the recipe you will find this is a lovely fast chocolate cake that always turns out well (yes it STILL managed to turn out well despite all the in and out of the oven and transferring pans etc). It’s from Sophie Gray and is readily available on her blog and in her wonderful books if you have them.

Here is my lovely Dad with some of his grandchildren - from front left clockwise, Isaac, Jacinta, Dad, Fynn and Oliver.

It’s been a birthday cake staple in our house for a long time and holds a rather special place in my heart. This cake was also the last cake I baked for my 9 year old son Fynn who passed away. It was his birthday two weeks before he died. This is the first time I’ve felt I could make it since then. It will always be Fynn’s cake to me.

Give this cake a whirl - I’m sure it will become a family favourite in your house too. The original recipe for the icing is on Sophies blog- but I’ve chosen to gussy this up a little today with a smooth and shiny sour cream frosting.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

Source Destitute Gourmet

1 2/3 cups flour
1½ cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1½ cups of low fat milk
100 g melted butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Sour Cream Frosting

1 cup chopped dark chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups icing sugar

I halved this frosting recipe because I ended up with a single layer cake. But this amount will comfortably cover a two layer cake.

This cake can be made by hand or in the food processor, the results will be the same made either way.

Line a 20 cm (8 inch) loose bottom high sided cake pan with baking parchment. Spray the sides with non stick spray or grease with butter. If you don’t it WILL leak - see above story if you don’t believe me. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F

If you wish to make it by hand in a large bowl simply add in the dry ingredients first then add wet ingredients and beat with a wooden spoon

To make in the food processor - add in dry ingredients - pulse to combine and then add in wet, whizz until well mixed.

Pour into your lined cake pan and bake for roughly 50 minutes. It is done when a skewer inserted comes out clean. If you wish to bake it in a larger pan and have a single layer - then you will need to adjust cook times and cook for less time.

If you have made the 20cm/8 inch version - cool on a rack and then split in half when cool, spread jam across the center and then some of the frosting. Place top layer on and then cover the entire cake with frosting.

To make the Frosting
Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl in the microwave and heat until the butter melts. Stir the chocolate into the warm butter to melt completely. Add in your sour cream, vanilla and salt - stir well.

Add in your icing sugar a little at a time and beat well between additions until you have a spreadable consistency.

A beautiful moist cake - keep it covered in the fridge to keep it at it’s best for longer.

I’m off to make a sacrifice to the baking gods now - I’m going to go burn some cookies or something.

This post was entered in the Sweet New Zealand Monthly blogging event. It’s being hosted this month by Couscous & Consciousness. If you would like to enter something yourself you can check out the rules here for the Sweet New Zealand Blogging Event.