In my kitchen - December

This is my second "In my kitchen" post and I'm really enjoying having a look in my cupboards to see what interesting stuff I can share. Thanks very much to Celia from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for introducing me to this concept - if you check out her blog you can see what other bloggers have in their kitchens this month too. 

One of my favourite fruits is mango, so I was really happy to buy a tray to help support my 4yo nephew's preschool fundraising efforts. These have taken a week or so to get to eating stage, but they are absolutely gorgeous now. I've been making frozen mango fruity dream in my thermomix for Mr12 who has just had braces put in, and will be using a few over the next day or so to make some mango chutney. My 7yo niece loves it instead of tomato paste on pizza. Of course, they are perfect eaten over the sink with mango juice dribbling off your chin. 

Mango goes really well with coconut and I've been making a fair bit of coconut milk lately [also in my thermomix]. HUGE thanks to Jo from Quirky Cooking for giving me the idea and telling me how! I've been using the leftover coconut pulp in banana bread. If you're not sure about the wonders of a thermomix, check out Jo's blog - it's full of great meal ideas.

Our local fruit shop has a brilliant seconds table that I scour ever time I go in. Last week it was full of very ripe cherry, mini-Roma and other gourmet baby tomatoes. I grabbed a few packets and slow roasted them with a drizzle of olive oil and maple syrup [inspired by a recipe from Heidi Swanson's STUNNING book Super Natural Every Day. Her blog is one of my absolute favourites and a must read]. Pop them into a glass jar with a bit of olive oil on top and they will last for ages in the fridge.

I did a super cooking class with Jude Blereau a few weeks ago and was thoroughly motivated to eat more creatively. I was really excited to find her out of print book Coming Home to Eat: Wholefood for the family at my local lifeline bookshop about a week later. So many ideas packed in here. 

Thanks very much to Roza's Gourmet Sauces for sending me a sample pack with three of their sauces recently. I've been a fan since first tasting them at the markets about 9 years ago. I think my favourites are their blue cheese dressing, blue cheese and walnut dip and the tomato chutney, but when I tried the smokey mayo I was pretty impressed too. Not opened the remoulade yet - might need a few prawns for that one. I've been dolloping the pesto on toasted chicken wraps - a quick and easy lunch. 

I often wonder why I struggle to lose weight. Then I look at the massive pile of food mags and cookbooks I have. And wonder no more. Sigh. These are two of my favourites and I'm REALLY hoping someone gives me a subscription to Feast for Christmas [hint hint...]. My hubby was given a subscription to Healthy Food a couple of years ago and we've kept it up and it is full of great ideas.

I had a lovely few hours trawling through my favourite food places in Brisbane last Saturday. A quick trip to Inala, the Vietnamese capital of Brisbane, to stock up on fruit, veg and herbs, then home via Balaclava Street, Woollongabba to visit Pennisi and All India Foods. I've never tried paneer so thought I'd grab some. No idea what to make with it, so please let me know if you have any ideas. Finally I stopped at Samios Fine Foods to grab some of their wondrous homemade halva. This has been my favourite sweet treat since I was a little girl of about 5 years of age. It's made with sesame seeds, honey and this one has chocolate and almonds. The missing bit was gobbled in the Samios carpark. I just couldn't wait! I bought it for Christmas but will need to go back and buy more as there is only the teeniest of skerricks left.   

I met Ben from The Stock Merchant at the Good Food and Wine show and had a very enjoyable chat about some of the challenges facing small food producers and suppliers. It certainly made me more aware of many of the challenges they face. I make a lot of my own stock, but I'm looking forward to trying these, especially the Master Stock, as I have heard many rave reviews about it. Ben and Kate have a delectable sounding recipe on their website for a free range chicken or duck braised in master stock, which I simply MUST TRY. 

What is in your kitchen this month? Any new-to-you or exciting ingredients? I'd love to hear. 

Food for thought

December is one of my favourite times of year. Not because it’s nearly Christmas (although that is pretty good too), but because it’s the annual fine amnesty at Brisbane City Council libraries. Yes I confess. I’m a library lover who doesn’t always return my books on time. Smacks on the wrist for me.

How it works is this: return your overdue books and take a donation of canned or other non-perishable food. Any overdue fines, processing and holds fees waived in exchange for your donation. This includes any fees you may have racked up over the year. For the record I only have about $3 outstanding. And this was mainly for holds I had reserved.

This year, the library amnesty will donate all food to Foodbank Queensland, a brilliant organisation that distributes food to charities and community organisations who assist those in need. I was shocked to read that each year two million people rely on food relief – around half of them are children. That’s one in every ten Australians in need. Foodbank is Australia’s largest hunger relief organisation, and in 2011 provided over 32,000,000 meals.

So I did a bit of a pantry clean out the other day to find a few things to donate. Mainly foods we rarely eat [and I have no idea how they ended up in my pantry - cans of pineapple, kidney beans and a packet of Uncle Ben’s instant rice].

Not all that sure where these even came from!

The next day I saw a tweet from ex-Masterchef, all-round great guy Callum Hann.

 What it said was:

For the next seven days my girlfriend Chloe and I are only going to eat foods which appear on the Wesley's Food For Families appeal top ten most donated foods.

Wow, how cool, I thought. Then I read the top ten:

• Baked beans
• Pasta
• 2 minute noodles
• Tinned vegetables
• Tinned tuna
• Rice
• Packet potato mash
• Long life milk
• Tim tams
• Jam and honey

Um, good luck Callum and Chloe. I know that would be a massive challenge for me. No herbs, no spices, no sauces, no tea, coffee, hot chocolate, no cereals, no chips! Let alone nothing fresh!

They are doing this challenge to encourage people to donate food, but also to think about what food specifically they are donating. Well, Callum, you certainly made me think about it. I’m going to donate my canned pineapple, beans and rice, but also going to pop down to my local shops and buy some packets of my favourite spices and a few other foods that aren't on the list to add to my donation.

If you are in Brisbane and want to participate in the amnesty, pop along to your local Brisbane City Council Library between 1-31 December 2012 with your overdue books and a donation of canned food. But maybe go via the supermarket to buy a couple of foods that aren’t on the list.

The Brisbane Library amnesty is also accepting pet food. 

To help Callum and Chloe, what meal ideas can you give them from the list above? 

In my Thermomix: Beetroot and mint pesto

This is one of the best things I have made with beetroot. Ever.

I was a late convert to the wonders of beetroot. Largely because all I knew for many years was the beetroot in a can. With that overly vinegary tartness. Which my tastebuds definitely didn't like [and still don't].

There was also a memorable experience with borscht when I was about 15. Not memorable in a good way I should hasten to add.

And then there was the first time I decided had fresh beetroot in a veggie juice. I was new to veggie juicing but had heard beetroot was healthy. I was determined to give it a go. Clearly it hadn't been cleaned properly as that juice tasted unpleasantly of dirt. Needless to say it was a long time before I tried again.

I can't remember when I did - probably when I started getting loads of freshly grown beetroot in my CSA box from Food Connect. For many weeks they fed the compost worms. Then I decided to experiment. With dips and with roasting mostly. Now I seek it out and buy and eat it all the time. I'm even growing it in my veggie garden! YUM.

And now my beetroot loving-ness has been turned on its head. Again. Thanks to Mel from Vanilla Zulu cooking school.

I met Mel at a workshop on social media that I spoke at about 18 months ago. We had stayed in touch, but sporadically. She was busy setting up her cooking school. I was busy dealing with some of life's unexpected dramas, and going back to uni. We reconnected recently thanks to twitter. Man I love twitter.

Anyway, I digress.

I caught up with Mel for a coffee and she invited hubby and I to one of her cooking classes. She made a simple beetroot pesto. It was quick, it was easy, it was a flavour sensation!

I had to make it.

This is my version. For the Thermomix, but just as easy in a food processor.

Beetroot and mint pesto

Beetroot mint pesto
by Mel Kettle

What you need:
2 decent sized beetroot, scrubbed and peeled, chopped into quarters
1 clove of garlic, peeled
1/3 cup of pine nuts [you could also use cashews]
1 generous handful of mint, leaves only
1/3 cup good olive oil
bit of salt and pepper to taste

What you do:
This is the super-easy Thermomix bit.

Chuck everything into the Thermomix bowl. Whizz on speed 7 for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl, whizz again for another 30 seconds or until smooth.

Serve and eat.

Roast beef with beetroot pesto

Mel served hers smeared over roast beef which was amazing [her version had cumin, not mint]. I think it would also be beautiful with roast lamb. Or just on crackers or beautiful sourdough which is how I've been eating it.

What is your favourite pesto? Do you experiment with flavours, or do you stick to the tried and true basil and pine nut version?

Salad lovin' - salmon and potato

One of my favourite things about summer is all the beautiful salad combos that can be made. And once I realised a great salad didn't have to contain lettuce, I was stoked! Especially as I grew up with the standard salad being iceberg lettuce, tomato [usually less than ripe], cucumber, maybe a red onion ring or 3, and a fairly basic vinaigrette. Not even close to interesting. 

I really love a salad with loads of fresh herbs, so when I picked up a beautiful bunch of fresh parsley from our local crop swap recently [and thanks to Fiona from Tiffin for sharing her haul], I knew exactly what I wanted to pair it with. Beautiful new potatoes and some poached salmon. 

Salmon and potato salad

Salmon and potato salad

What you need [serves 2]:
300g chat or new potatoes, cut in half or quarters depending on size
300g fresh salmon
2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves

Dressing:
100g plain yogurt [I like Chobani]
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 red onion, finely diced
generous bunch of Italian parsley, leaves only, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste


What you do:
Cook the potatoes - put a medium sized saucepan with water with a bit of salt on the stove and bring to the boil. Add the potatoes and cook until just cooked [mine took about 15-20 minutes]. Remove from the heat, drain the potatoes and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes. 

Poach the salmon. To do this, almost fill a skillet or fry pan with water and bring it to the boil [leave about 2cm for the water to rise once the salmon is added]. Once the water is boiling, add the salmon so they are fully submerged in the water. Once the water is boiling again, turn off the stove, put the lid on the pan and leave it. Allow the salmon to cook in the hot water for about 15 minutes (maybe a bit less, depending on how thick it is). Remove salmon from water and pop on a plate with a paper towel. Leave to cool - the salmon will continue to cook. Once cool, break it ip into chunks. 

Make the dressing - add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Adjust lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. 

Once the potatoes are cool add the dressing and mix through. 

To serve, arrange the spinach on individual plates, top with potato and the salmon. 

Serve with an extra squeeze of lemon juice.  

What are your favourite salad ingredients?

In my thermomix: gluten free chocolate cherry cake

Those who know me well know that I often rave about my thermomix. It was a 40th birthday pressie fairly recently (well, maybe not that recently...) and while I don't use it as much as many owners, I can't imagine my kitchen without it. 

My favourite recipe in the basic cookbook that comes with it is easily the Torta Caprese or flourless almond cake. I've made it countless times and it has always been a huge hit. Most people are shocked when they realise it's gluten free as it is ridiculously moist and bursting with flavour. It's also incredibly simple, quick to prepare, and could easily be made by those of you unfortunate enough not to have a thermi. I've made it as is in the book, as well as adding orange zest, various liquors, and extra whole almonds to give it a different texture. 

I mixed it up again when I made it on the weekend as I was very kindly given a massive box of beautiful cherries by Cherry Growers Australia and Brisbane Produce Markets. I am a bit surprised that I had some left for baking, as cherries are amongst my favourite fruits, but even I can't eat 2kg of them on my own. Although I tried hard!

What you need

250g dark chocolate, chopped (I always use a good quality 70% chocolate)

250g almonds

200g sugar (I use raw and blitz it a bit, but you could use castor too)

150g butter at room temperature

6 eggs (59g)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tbsp cocoa

300g cherries, pitted and cut in half (this allows for a few to be eaten) 

What you do 

• Preheat oven to 180c
• Grease a 20-22cm tin and line with baking paper
• Pop the chocolate into the thermi bowl and chop for 5-10 seconds on speed 8. Set aside in a separate bowl
• Put the almonds into the thermi bowl and chop for about 10 seconds on speed 6. Add to the bowl with the chocolate
• Place remaining ingredients into the thermi bowl and mix for 20 seconds on speed 7
• Add chocolate and almonds and mix for about 30 seconds on speed 6 until it has all come together
• Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin, sprinkle half the cherries on top
• Pour over the other half of the mixture and top with the remaining cherries 
• Bake for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes. Check at the hour mark. You want it to be not fully cooked, so it has a lovely fudgy centre.
• Once cooked, cool in the tin, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours. Try not to be tempted to cut it before it is completely cool. 
• Serve with more fresh cherries, cream or ice-cream

If you don't have a thermomix, you can easily make it using another type of mixer. Either hand grate the chocolate, or blitz it in a food processor, buy almond meal, use caster sugar and mix the rest as per the order in the directions above. 

Actually, if you don't have a thermomix, just go and get one. Or at least start saving!

What's your favourite ingredient to add to a chocolate cake recipe?

Disclaimer: The cherries (and a fabulous easy to re-use box and bag) were gifted to me by Cherry Growers Australia and Brisbane Produce Markets. Thank you. 

In My Kitchen November 2012

I'm an In My Kitchen newbie this month - after reading so many others for many months I decided it was time to jump in!

To break with tradition, the first pic is In My Garden - WE HAVE CHICKENS!!! Just in case you don't follow me on twitter or Facebook :)

This one is hubby doing a bit of chicken wrangling this afternoon as three of our four ESCAPED. I was not happy. They are massacring the veggie garden. Hopefully his latest trip to Bunnings will sort it all out later today!

But despite being naughty, two of our beautiful chooks are providing us with breakfast, almost every day. YAY! Hopefully the others will start to lay soon too.  All in their own time...

Mmmmm cheese. This is a few of what is currently in the fridge. Yes, I'm a bit addicted. I also have ricotta, fetta, cheddar, parmesan and a few dregs of a blue I bought in Adelaide earlier in the month - it reached the stinky-shoe-smell stage just as I arrived back in Brisbane. Pretty sure the other passengers on my flight didn't need to smell that. Olympus haloumi is a favourite, and also made locally in Brisbane. The yellow and red cheeses are from Maleny Cheese (I really must go there one day!). These three I picked up at the Good Food and Wine Show recently. The organic Brie style is a favourite I get from Woollies every now and then.

And to go with the cheese, a selection of crackers. I LOVE the Sakata wholegrain - gluten free and soooo good. I always pick up a few packs when they are on special. The ones in the box are Fig crackers - gorgeous with a soft ripened cheese like a Brie. I'm also eating a rosemary cracker from the same company which I love. The square bikkies are Kurrajong Kitchen's lavosh bites (egg and yeast free), also picked up at the GFWS recently. They are about to increase their range in IGAs and other independent stores, so keep an eye out.

A big thanks to Emma from Chobani for sending a box of one of my new favourite yogurts. I love the 2% the most, and use it for a load of savoury dishes - most recently for tandoori chicken and a cucumber and mint raita. Hubby loves the small flavoured ones. I've been a fan since tasting them in the US a couple of years ago - I love them even more now they are made in Melbourne. Check out their success story - what a man can do with a dream :)

I'm a volunteer speaker for the Heart Foundation so when I saw they had a cookbook out by Pete Evans, I had to buy it. Especially when I found out $8 from the sale of each goes to raising awareness of heart disease. It's only $20 - it would make an excellent Christmas pressie.

I love fresh garlic - this is Australian grown, and picked up the farmer's markets in Brissie last week.

Aren't these little matryoshka dolls cute? They are also practical as they are a set of measuring cups. Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for giving me these for my birthday a couple of years ago. 

Cherries scream Christmas to me. And while I am in NO WAY ready to acknowledge that it's nearly that time of year, I was very happy and grateful to receive this gorgeous box of cherries from the Brisbane Produce Markets recently. A big thanks to them and especially to Cherry Growers Australia for providing them to me. Our cherry season is far too short, so stock up now so you don't miss out. I must say I was pretty happy to discover hubby and Mr12 are not cherry lovers. More for me. YAY!

I love these preserving jars. They are some of mum's that I inherited last year. I have many childhood memories of them being used - not just for food! Mum was a keen maker of preserves and jams and sometimes pickles and chutneys. I'm determined to use them - maybe not all of them as there are over 100 of varying shapes and sizes! I've used a few so far as vases, to make fermented tomato salsa, for mango chutney and I've gifted a few (filled with food of course!) to family members who also miss mum.

Last but not least - my thermomix. Otherwise known as the wonder machine. This makes life in the kitchen SO much easier! Most recently used to make gluten free chocolate cherry brownies. Perfect for the person who loves to cook AND the person who hates cooking :)

Well, that was fun! If you want to peek into other kitchens, check out Celia's list at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial.

What are you using in your kitchen this month??

Disclaimer: The Chobani yogurt and the cherries were sent to me. THANK YOU. Everything else featured I purchased or acquired as mentioned in the post.

Zumbo bake at home - And the winner is...

A huge thanks to everyone who entered this competition - the overwhelming flavour winner is clearly salted caramel. A flavour I also love!

I entered you all into a random number generator, and the winner is Jo! I'll be in touch to arrange delivery of your prize in the next few days.

I'm fairly sure your sweet tooth will love these - let me know what you think. And even with your perceived lack of baking prowess, I'm sure you'll be able to make the brownies. They are very easy!

New bake at home by Adriano Zumbo - and a competition

Everyone who knows me well knows that I absolutely hate packet mixes and am fairly scathing of most people who use them to bake a cake. Let’s face it. It’s not that difficult to mix some flour, milk, sugar, egg and butter in a bowl to get a cake. With real ingredients that taste great. Not much different from adding a few ingredients to a packet mix and, yes, you guessed it, mixing it in a bowl. Usually with added preservatives, and often a substandard taste.

So when I was asked to trial acclaimed chef Adriano Zumbo’s new bake at home packet mixes, my instant reaction was to say no. But I was intrigued. I, too, had marveled at the macaron tower on Masterchef. Stared in awe at the V8 cake. Winced in pain with Julie when she kept scalding her fingers on the caramel for the ginormous croquembouche.

So why not I thought. 

His range of four includes two macarons (passionfruit and salted caramel), chocolate brownies and the chocolate mirror cake. Now I love to bake, and consider myself to be quite competent [we don’t mention the forgotten butter incident much these days…], but as I’m not the target market for these goodies [did I mention I really don’t get the fuss about macarons?], I invited a few friends over to help. By which I mean bake. While I swanned around drinking champers and taking photos.

mmmm bubbles.... 

So a huge thanks to Fiona, Sherryl, Cathie and Brad for agreeing to take on the Zumbo challenge. 

I must say, as someone who has never made macarons, but who has heard loads of horror stories, these seemed quite easy. We did have a few glitches, generally due to the cooks not reading the instructions properly before starting to bake (not naming names here...). And the other main thing I would suggest is to whip that meringue mix to within an inch of its life. Just when you think it is finished, whip it some more. And maybe a bit more. Otherwise you might end up with something that looks a bit flat. Like a pancake. Which you don't want. 

Piping out the macarons. This technique was excellent. Maybe next time turn the paper over so you don't eat red pencil... 

A bit pancake like - needed more whipping :) 

These were an almost perfect first effort - check out the little "feet" 

The other key step is to leave the meringue mix to stand for 10 minutes. The whole 10 minutes. VERY IMPORTANT. But in the end they looked great and got 2 thumbs up from everyone - if you love sweet you will love these. 

The finished macarons - the darker yellow were the salted caramel, paler yellow the passionfruit.

One of the things I liked most about these packet mixes was the helpful "Must do's from Zumbo" tips on the back of the box. If you are a baking novice, check out the videos on his website - they are excellent. The box also has a QR code to scan for video instructions. This impressed me more than anything and is a great tip that many other companies can learn from. 

We also baked the brownies. Extremely easy, and surprisingly, very tasty. My only gripe with these was that I almost fell into a sugar coma after eating a tiny piece. Very, very sweet. I should add that I am the type of baker to reduces sugar in recipes by 25-50%, something that can't be done with a packet mix. 

The finished brownie. Loved the chunks of chocolate. Next time I'll add some pecans. mmmm 

So the overall verdict? Not something I would buy or rush to eat. Far too sweet for me, and a few too many preservatives in the pack for my preference (they make me go a bit loopy), but necessary for this type of product. BUT a GREAT idea for novice bakers who want to try the macarons in particular. 

If you are keen to try these, I've been given a great Adriano Zumbo hamper to give away to one lucky reader (in Australia only please). The hamper includes each of the packet mixes and a copy of Adriano's latest book Zumbarons.

To be in the running, let me know what your favourite flavour of macaron is in the comments below. Please also pop me an email so I can get in touch easily if you win.  

The competition closes 5pm Brisbane time, Monday 12 November 2012. 

Disclaimer: These products and the prize were provided to me by thesoup.com.au on behalf of Zumbo Baking.