cold soba noodle salad

The heat continues and we're all positively fed up in Melbourne with hot days and nights in early Autumn.  The meteorologists are prognosticating these above 30 degree celcius temperatures will continue well into the next week.  Who wants to be standing over a hot stove in these conditions??  Well, my fetish with salads seems very sensible under the circumstances.  This recipe is from goop, an e-newsletter founded by Gwyneth Paltrow which contains information from parenting, to spirituality to healthy eating.  It's lately become a little too consumer-focused for my predilections, but some of the recipes are fabulous.  Like this salad which features soba noodles and coriander.  I altered the original recipe to include enoki mushrooms and roasted pepitas.  Thanks to Gwyneth I have discovered agave nectar, a natural sweet liquid from Mexico, the taste of which I prefer to honey and I'm told has a much lower GI.  But it is a lot more expensive, I hasten to add...  Serves 4

8 oz (226.80 g according to my weight conversion calculator) buckwheat soba noodles
1 tbs Japanese soy sauce
1 tbs agave nectar
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs rice wine vinegar
2 tbs toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup flavourless oil (perhaps corn oil)
2 tbs black sesame seeds (or toasted sesame seeds)
2 tbs toasted pepitas
100g enoki mushrooms
1/4 cup coriander, chopped coarsely
5 spring onions
1 red chilli pepper, chopped finely

Cook the soba in boiling water, according to packet instructions (4 mins usually).  Immediate rinse the soba under cold water and drain thoroughly. Meanwhile whisk all the liquid ingredients in a large salad bowl to make the dressing.  Toss in the cold soba with the dressing and mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Enjoy with a glass of ice cold sake!

carrot salsa

We’re all feeling a little desiccated and wilted in Melbourne, like 3 day old tulips in a quarter-full vase.  We’re actually experiencing a proper summer where the temperatures remain above 30⁰ C for days and days on end.  This not usual for our town where we’re languishing  in sleeveless tops for 2 days followed by an extreme cool change and we’re back to entombing ourselves in pashminas and peacoats.    Because we pride ourselves on being tres chic….Well, nothing screams more tres chic than an elegant summer salad.  This recipe for a very modern, light carrot salsa is from a distinctly un-chic  tome, The Cooking Book, which is furnished with 1000 recipes including coronation chicken rolls and couscous royale.   But don't let that put you off.  When I served this recently at a matinee, it was greeted with much fervour!  Serves 6.

5 large carrots, peeled and grated

1 red onion, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced

Juice of ½ lemon

2 tbs pomegranate molasses

Handful of coarsely chopped mint

Handful of coarsely chopped parsley

 ¼ cup light olive oil/ vegetable oil

100g toasted pepitas

 Just combine all ingredients excluding pepitas, cover and set aside for at least an hour (overnight would be sensational)for flavours to develop.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Add pepitas just before serving.

 

DBFG Cornflake and Coconut Biscuits

My 7 y.o daughter's book du jour is The Daring Book for Girls . On the back cover it announces that this book is ‘for every Australian girl with an independent spirit and a nose for trouble…” and it contains a plethora of information such as ‘how to fold a sari’, ‘putting your hair up with a pencil’, ‘ the story of Joan of Arc’, amongst others.  I used it as a reference book when I needed to identify the snake I encountered on my maiden bike ride down the Kew Boulevard with my new bike last December.  As I careered down the steep descent on the bike track in a state of unalloyed exhilaration, I notice something  grey with white stripes coiled ahead.  At first, I assumed it was a garden hose but then when it began unwinding I knew it was definitely not an inanimate object!  My joy morphed into sheer panic and so I swiftly swerved off the bike track onto the road narrowly eluding  a collision with a car.  I made it home in record time and later, in a somewhat becalmed state, I referred to the heading on ‘Snake Sense’ in DBFG and learnt that it was the venomous  tiger snake.  Did you know that Australia has 8 of the 10 most venomous snakes in the world?

Well, this charming book also has a couple of pages devoted to baking.  It contains a simple recipe for  cornflake biscuits, which I’ve altered by substituting  the sultanas for coconut.  I’ve made them so many times with my children who adore them.  And because they don’t contain nuts they are a superb addition in school lunch boxes.    Makes about 24.

140g butter

¾ cup sugar

2 drops vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup desiccated coconut

Cornflakes, to coat

Preheat oven to 180⁰.  Grease and line with baking paper 2 baking sheets.

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale in colour.   Beat in vanilla and egg, combining well.  Stir in the flour and coconut.  Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and roll in Cornflakes to coat, flattening them slightly.

Place 10 biscuits on each baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between them as they disperse quite brazenly in the oven.  Cook for 12 to 15 mins.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  They will look and feel soft, but they will harden up. 

Languorous Custards with rosewater flavoured strawberries and rhubarb

Making food look pretty is not my forte. So when I was called upon to host a bridal shower recently, I decided to rise to the culinary challenge and asked my friend Sharon for help.  She bought these beautiful paper baking cups.  No need for fancy piping or a deft hand in sugar art, with these polka dot wonders.  And of course I needed something with which to fill them.  Again, referring to my cook book du jour, Janelle Bloom’s fast, fresh and fabulous I drew inspiration from her recipe for roasted fruit custards.

 

This silky custard dessert with rosewater flavoured roasted rhubarb and strawberry, evokes a sensation akin to observing a belly dancer languorously emerging from a mound of velvet cushions to the plaintive sound of the nay.  Makes about 20 small paper cups

1 bunch rhubarb, trimmed cut into 1 cm lengths

400g strawberries, hulled and halved

4 tbs caster sugar

2 tbs rosewater

Stirred vanilla custard

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthways

300ml pouring cream

250ml milk

4 egg yolks

½ cup caster sugar

2 tbs cornflour

Preheat oven to 220⁰.  Lightly grease a baking tray.  Combine rhubarb and strawberries with the rosewater and sugar and place in a single layer on the baking tray. Roast for 10 mins till fruit is just tender. Remove from the oven and stand for 5 mins to produce syrup.

For the stirred vanilla custard, scrape black seeds from the centre of the vanilla bean halves.  Place cream, milk, vanilla bean halves and seeds into a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat.  Cook stirring often for 10 mins or until mixture just comes to the boil.  Remove vanilla bean, wash and set aside to dry.  (Place in a jar of caster sugar to make vanilla sugar).

Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until pale.  Add the warm cream mixture and beat on low speed to combine.   Pour mixture back into saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat for 12 mins or until custard thickens and coats the wooden spoon. 

In the meantime, place a tablespoonful of roasted  fruit into each cup until all is used.  Pour custard over.  Maybe you can make it a little prettier with a diminutive sprig of mint on top.

 

 

 

Hot Latin Lothario Tuna Wraps

Not so long ago, I attended weekly zumba classes with a friend who would travel 40 mins from the other side of town to partake of this vigorous pursuit.  There were at least dozens of zumba venues en route.  But this dear friend, a classically trained dancer, insisted that the choreography was flawless, the instructor's choice of music and his flair for simplifying the most complex dance maneouvres were unsurpassed.  I maintained that my regular attendance was motivated by the venue; a former discotheque with subdued lighting,  mirrored panels, revolving disco balls and flashing strobe lights.  It reminded  me of my halcyon days where dancing with abandon was a thrice weekly event.

But maybe, just maybe, the youthful, olive skinned Latin lothario with shamelessly exposed musculature instructing from a uber-elevated platform was the reason for our assiduous attendance....He was hot!  And so are these tuna creations made using hot paprika and chilli flakes.  Makes about  5.

2 tins of 185g tuna, unflavoured
1 tbs olive oil
1 large brown onion, chopped finely
6 spring onions
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 medium carrot, grated
1 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp chilli flakes
large bunch of parsley chopped coarsely
salt and pepper to taste
lemon quarters
5 tortilla wraps

In a frypan, saute onions and garlic on medium heat, in olive oil till soft and golden.  Add other carrots,zucchini and spices and continue frying till softened and caramelised, probably another 10 mins.  Add the tuna breaking it up in the frypan with a fork  before scattering over a handful of parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Turn off heat.

In meantime, in separate frypan or stovetop grill lightly coat surface with olive oil and heat tortilla  on both sides till browned and puffed.  Spread one-fifth of filling onto one side of tortilla, scatter some more fresh parsley and generous squeeze of lemon and roll up.  Serve hot with a glass of mojito with the strains of a latin score playing in the background.

Feta and Spinach Gozleme

I'm forever on the prowl for simple, delicious vegetarian recipes. This recipe for a type of spinach and cheese pastry is of Turkish origin, and is lighter than the traditional baked variety which is saturated in butter and oil (which I hasten to add is very moorish). This is just as moorish as it's cooked on a hot charcoal plate or in a frypan after being caressed with a slick of olive oil. There are gozleme stalls at street markets in Melbourne and I marvel at how the women roll out the pastry till it's almost transparent. My mum is very adept at that and uses a long piece of dowel and she rotates the ever enlarging circle as she rolls. And as it gets thinner, she coils it round the dowel and with a swift flick of her wrists it unravels into a fine circular pastry. One needs to see it being done and practice, practice, practice!  And experimentation with the filling is endorsed.  When zucchini is in season and it's plentiful, use 2 grated medium zucchini instead of the spinach.
 
Another asset of this fine recipe is that it is portable.  Great for picnics!   This recipe is from Janelle Bloom's fast, fresh and fabulous. Makes 4 large gozlemes.

 3^1/4 cups plain flour, sifted

2 tsp salt

^1/3 cup olive oil

360ml lukewarm water

Olive oil to brush over

Lemon wedges, to serve

 
Filling

1 tbs olive oil

1 large brown onion

2 large garlic cloves

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 tbs chopped mint

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Grinding or two of pepper

120g spinach leaves

200g feta, crumbled

50g extra tasty cheese

 

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.  Combine the oil and water and pour into the flour. Use a flat bladed knife to stir until combined.  Turn onto a well-floured surface and knead until it forms into a smooth and elastic ball.  Place in plastic freezer bag and set aside to rest for 20 mins.

For the filling, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  And onions and garlic and cook 3 – 5 mins till softened and golden.  And spinach and herbs and spices and cover briefly till wilted.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in the cheeses.  Let cool.

Preheat a barbecue plate on high until hot.  Roll one piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 3mm thick, 20 – 30cm rectangle.  Spread one quarter of the filling onto half of the dough.  Fold over the dough and press lightly to seal.  Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Brush the top with olive oil.  Reduce bbq heat to medium-low.  Place two gozlemes oil side down onto bbq plate and cook for 3 -4 mins until golden.  Brush with oil, turn over and barbecue a further 3 – 5 mins until golden. Cut into wedges and serve with lemon quarters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wright's peach, coconut and chocolate parfait

I like to start the day with a poem. Poetry enriches the soul, excites the spirit, quietens anxieties...anyway that is what I try to instill in my children as they sit at the breakfast table fidgeting and playing with their Weetbix. One of my favourite poets is Judith Wright - her poetry is infused with an extraordinary lyrical elegance which reveals her intimate connection to humanity and the earth. She was an ardent conservationist and supporter of indigenous rights up until her death at age 85 in 2000. It is worth further delving into her bio as she is a truly marvellous artist from our history. Anyway, the poem 'South of my days' haunted me today. It contains the beautiful lines,

"Seventy years of stories he clutches round his bones.

Seventy years of summers are hived in him like old honey..."

The sweetness of honey inspired me to create this dessert when our wonderful friends Eva and John visited. It's made up of a coconut cake, tinned peaches, whipped cream and chocolate almond biscotti. The coconut cake was supposed to be baked in a Gugelhopf tin to make it look pretty, but I didn't have one of those. I baked it in a large square tin and so when I bought it to be laid on the dessert table of a large family event, probably 100 guests, only a couple took a slice. And they were my husband and my mother-in-law! It really didn't look very appealing. But it was very coconutty and it is perfect with a cup of tea...or cut up and used as a base for a parfait in a martini glass. The coconut cake recipe is from Janelle Bloom's "fast, fresh and fabulous".  She also makes a passionfruit glaze which of course, coupled with being baked in a Gugelhopf, would only augment it’s pulchritude!

Happy New Year dear readers, may it be a year filled with many honey-like moments….

Coconut cake   serves 10
2^1/3 cups desiccated coconut
1 ^2/3 cups caster sugar
2 ½ cups SR flour
2 ^2/3 cups coconut milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 170⁰.  Grease a 2 – litre Gugelhopf pan or very large square tin.

Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a large bowl.  In another large bowl, beat coconut milk eggs and vanilla.  Stir into the dry ingredients.  Spoon mixture into prepared tin, smoothing the top. 

Bake cake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Stand for 10 mins before turning onto a wire rake to cool.

At this point it can be iced with your favourite glaze.  Save about a quarter for the parfait.
…
To assemble parfait for 6
300ml whipped cream
Large tin of peaches in syrup
4 chocolate almond biscotti, crumbled coursely
Chocolate sauce (heat over gentle heat 200 g of milk and dark chocolate with 200ml of cream until melted)
A wedge of coconut cake

Cut up the coconut cake into 5 cm squares and place at the base of 6 martini glasses.  Pour some syrup from the peach tin over to soak.  Place about 5 peach slices over the soaked coconut cake then a huge dollop or two of whipped cream for each glass. 

Place in fridge till ready to serve.  Just before serving sprinkle over the biscotti.  With sweet abandon, pour over hot chocolate sauce.