One of the hallmarks of a good cook in my mind, is the use of seasonal ingredients. Lemons are in abundance right now. I've seen boxes of them outside, on nature strips marked 'free'....clearly they are in season! My favourite way of using them is in a lemon tart. This recipe is adapted from Stephanie Alexander's Cook's Companion and is noticeably tart. In fact, so tarty you can almost hear the trill of wolf whistles as you bite into a slice! You need to make your own pastry though to get sublime results. So get your food processor out! Serves 8 - 10.
Pastry:
1.5 cups (225 g) plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
125g cold, unsalted butter cut into chunks
1/4 cup iced water
Filling:
3 large lemons
4 eggs
250g caster sugar
250 ml cream
pure icing sugar
Whiz the plain flour and salt in the food processor. Add the butter and whiz again till the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Pour in iced water while motor is still whirring and process it until it forms a ball around the blade.
Tip the pastry out onto a chopping board and shape it into a ball. Flatten it into a disc and wrap it tightly in plastic film. Chill the pastry in the fridge for about 40 mins or until its firm but supple enough to roll. It keeps well in the fridge for 3 days if you want to make it ahead but it needs to come to room temperature before it can be rolled out.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry into a large round about 2mm thick. Roll the pastry over your rolling pin. Carefully lower it over a 24cm loose- bootomed deep flan tin. press it into the edges of the tin well, leaving an overhamg all around the edge. Place a baking tray underneath (easier handling) and then chill for about 30 mins until the pastry is firm. Preheat oven to 200degrees. Completely cover the pastry with a big sheet of foil or baking paper, presssing it gently down into the corners. Spread pastry weights, dried beans or rice over the base to weigh it down so base stays flat.
Bake for 20 mins then remove the foil and weights and bake for another 5 mins.
Reset oven to 160 degrees. Zest and juice lemons. Combine eggs and sugar until well amalgamated, then add zest and juice and stri well. Add cream and mix well using electric beaters or a balloon whisk. Pour into just baked pastry case and bake for 35 - 45 mins until almost set. Cool in tin for at least 30mins before serving. Serve dusted liberally with icing sugar and a big dollop of thick cream.
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
zucchini and feta fritters
When a couple of vegetarian friends popped in for a visit I wasn't sure what to serve as a light supper. I couldn't whip up a pizza using pitta bread and ham...But I had zucchinis and feta in the fridge. So I turned to my beautiful Middle Eastern cookbook by Claudia Roden, Arabesque. And within it's sublime pages I found this recipe, which I hasten to add, have made before. It is one of the best ways I know to transform this rather bland vegetable to something quite delicious. This also proved popular with the youngsters in our troupe! Serves 4
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
3 tbs corn oil
500g zucchini, grated coursely
3 eggs
3 tbs plain flour
black pepper
2 - 3 tbs finely chopped fresh mint
2 - 3 tbs finely choppef fresh dill
200 g feta cheese, mashed with a fork
extra corn oil for shallow frying
Fry onion in 3 tbs of the oil over a medium heat until it is soft and golden. Put the grated zucchini in a teatowel, you may need to do this twice, and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. I usually get my husband to do this, because you need muscle! Anyway, he likes to contribute in some way to the cooking process...Add the strained zucchini to the onion and continue sauteing until they too are soft.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the flour until well blended. Add pepper and herbs (there's no need to add salt because the feta is salty enough). Mix well. Fold the mashed feta into the eggs, together with the cooked onions and zucchini.
Film the bottom of a frying pan with oil and ladle in 2 tbs of mixture for each fritter, making a few fritters at a time. Turn each over once, and cook until both sides are browned a little. Drain on absorbent paper. Can be served hot or cold.
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
3 tbs corn oil
500g zucchini, grated coursely
3 eggs
3 tbs plain flour
black pepper
2 - 3 tbs finely chopped fresh mint
2 - 3 tbs finely choppef fresh dill
200 g feta cheese, mashed with a fork
extra corn oil for shallow frying
Fry onion in 3 tbs of the oil over a medium heat until it is soft and golden. Put the grated zucchini in a teatowel, you may need to do this twice, and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible. I usually get my husband to do this, because you need muscle! Anyway, he likes to contribute in some way to the cooking process...Add the strained zucchini to the onion and continue sauteing until they too are soft.
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the flour until well blended. Add pepper and herbs (there's no need to add salt because the feta is salty enough). Mix well. Fold the mashed feta into the eggs, together with the cooked onions and zucchini.
Film the bottom of a frying pan with oil and ladle in 2 tbs of mixture for each fritter, making a few fritters at a time. Turn each over once, and cook until both sides are browned a little. Drain on absorbent paper. Can be served hot or cold.
Friday, 17 August 2012
Anzac Biscuits
I was sitting shivering in the aircraft hangar that is my daughter's venue for learning circus skills, when I was offered a treat by another bystander. This nanny to two youngsters who hail from a rather affluent inner eastern suburb, kindly offered me organic popcorn flavoured with manuka honey. It came in a small foil package. I tasted one and laughed when I read the packaging. In fact, I couldn't stop chuckling, thinking about how brazen this type of marketing aimed at parents who are perhaps time poor but want their children to eat 'healthy' snacks which are conveniently packaged. I was actually appalled. And besides being poor value for money and environmentally unsound, they were so bland!
If you want a healthy snack, make it. Anzac biscuits are easy to make, moorish and provide fuel for growing children so they can engage in energetic activities like swinging on trapezes and walking on stilts. I would be untruthful if I said that they are convenient because one batch doesn't last more than 2 days in our household!
This recipe is from one of my favourite cook books, Belinda Jeffery's Mix and Bake. These are the chewy kind not the crunchy, just the way I like them. The only point of difference in the recipe is that I added more coconut. Makes 24 - 30.
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup castor sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiing water
1.5 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 160 degreesC. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper and set aside. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix oats, coconut, flour and sugar.
2. Put the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and warm them over a medium heat, stirring occasionally till the butter has melted. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the boiling water and bicarb of soda and stir them in briefly as the mixture froths. Pour this buttery liquid into the dry ingredients adding the vanilla. Quickly stir the two together until they are thoroughly combined.
3. Roll the resulting sticky dough into walnut-sized balls, then flatten them slightly and sit them at lest 5 cm apart (as they spread quite a bit) on the prepared baking trays. You might need to bake these in batches.
4. Bake for 16 - 20 minutes or until the biscuits are deep golden brown but still soft, then remove them from the oven. (To ensure the bisuits cook evenly, rotate the trays from shelf to shelf halfway through the baking time.) Leave them to cool on the trays for a few minutes, then carefully transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
If you want a healthy snack, make it. Anzac biscuits are easy to make, moorish and provide fuel for growing children so they can engage in energetic activities like swinging on trapezes and walking on stilts. I would be untruthful if I said that they are convenient because one batch doesn't last more than 2 days in our household!
This recipe is from one of my favourite cook books, Belinda Jeffery's Mix and Bake. These are the chewy kind not the crunchy, just the way I like them. The only point of difference in the recipe is that I added more coconut. Makes 24 - 30.
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup castor sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiing water
1.5 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 160 degreesC. Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper and set aside. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix oats, coconut, flour and sugar.
2. Put the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and warm them over a medium heat, stirring occasionally till the butter has melted. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the boiling water and bicarb of soda and stir them in briefly as the mixture froths. Pour this buttery liquid into the dry ingredients adding the vanilla. Quickly stir the two together until they are thoroughly combined.
3. Roll the resulting sticky dough into walnut-sized balls, then flatten them slightly and sit them at lest 5 cm apart (as they spread quite a bit) on the prepared baking trays. You might need to bake these in batches.
4. Bake for 16 - 20 minutes or until the biscuits are deep golden brown but still soft, then remove them from the oven. (To ensure the bisuits cook evenly, rotate the trays from shelf to shelf halfway through the baking time.) Leave them to cool on the trays for a few minutes, then carefully transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Thursday, 9 August 2012
Potato and leek soup
I was quite lucky the other day, visiting Healesville, ostensibly to go to the sanctuary with my little darlings, and stumbled across their monthly farmers' market. Of course, I bought beautiful organic leeks and potatoes. This recipe is adapted from Stephanie Alexander's original Cook's Companion. Serves 4.
30g butter
2 tbs olice oil
3 large leeks, washed and sliced
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into medium sized cubes
1 large onion
1 stalk celery
2 cloves garlic
500ml chicken stock
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs parsley
2 sprigs thyme
2 tbs finely chopped parsley
1 tbs chopped chives
salt and pepper, to taste
Heat butter and oil on medium heat till melted in a medium sized saucepan. Add vegetables and garlic and saute for 5 mins. Lovwer heat and cover till leeks have softened, making sure to stir from time to time, about 10 mins. Tie bay, parsley and thyme with kitchen string (effectively making a bouquet garni) and add to concoction along with stock and enough water to barely cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes till potatoes are tender.
Remove herbs and puree/blend soup . Season well. Reheat to boiling point, when ready to serve, and scatter with herbs. This soup is so creamy that the addition of cream is superfluous. But, if you must.....
TIP: Wash leeks by cutting in haf legnthwise , keep attached to root end and fan leaves under cold running water like a pack of cards. Cut about 2cms off the the green tops of the leeks for this recipe.
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