OMG pie! Maple pecan date and bourbon pie

I'm trying not to brag, but this may be the best pie I think I've ever made. And quite possibly the best I've ever eaten. 

I've always loved pie, but rarely eat it as so many commercially made pies are a bit bleugh, usually with soggy pastry. And until recently I couldn't be bothered making pastry. So really, what was the point! 

THIS HAS NOW ALL CHANGED!! 

Some of hubby's golf mates came over for lunch a few weeks ago, at a time that coincided with my baking mojo returning. Yay! So given this happy turn of events, I thought I'd go all out and make two desserts. A gorgeous bourbon pecan tart from Jamie's America, my favourite of all Jamie Oliver books; and a sticky date tart from the latest Delicious cookbook, Home Cooking by Valli Little. 

However time passed, and before I knew it the guests had arrived. The main course was fairly well cooked (slow roast lamb with a couple of salads), the pie cases had been cooked, and part of the fillings prepped. It was about this time that my baking mojo temporarily vanished in favour of a couple of glasses of vino. You know how it is. I also realised I had cooked enough for another eight people, and that one pie would be enough. 

This is where the pie miracle began. I figured why not just combine what I'd already prepped into one pie. After all, date and pecan muffins are my favourite morning tea. 

It was about this time I also discovered I was missing a key ingredient for Jamie's recipe. So I improvised. With maple syrup. Which is one of my all time favourite foods ever. 

In one mouthful, this became the best pie I've ever eaten. I think I swooned. 

Truly amazing pie. 

Maple pecan date and bourbon pie
by Mel Kettle

Serves 12-14

What you need:
Pastry:
I make a spelt flour pastry from Jude Blereau's new book Wholefood Baking, as wheat and my tummy are not great friends. And I'm addicted to Lachlan's bagels from Flour & Chocolate, which easily gives me more than my required daily wheat allotment. 

If you don't share my wheat affliction, you can use your favourite sweet pastry recipe. Or buy a really good quality ready made pastry - my favourite is Careme. 

• 180g cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
• 130g unbleached white spelt flour
• 145g wholemeal spelt flour
• 2 tablespoons castor sugar 
• 90-150ml ice-cold water - I use tap water and stick a few ice cubes in it to quickly cool it down

Pie filling:

• 240g pitted dates
• 170ml milk
• 1tsp bicarb soda
• 450g pecans
• 3 large eggs
• 150g brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 100ml maple syrup
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 50ml bourbon 

What you do:

To make the pastry:

Put the flours and butter in your thermomix (or food processor), turbo pulse 3-4 times until it looks like small breadcrumbs. Add about 90ml water and pulse a couple of times. Add a tiny bit of more water and mix on speed 5 for about 3-4 seconds until the dough comes together. Sloooowly add more water if you need to - you don't want it too moist. Try not to overmix or it will be too tough and you won't get that lovely flakiness when it's cooked.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Once the dough is chilled, roll it out - you'll need to flour the mat or bench, and also flour your rolling pin well as the dough should be a bit sticky. Try not to use too much flour, but make sure it's enough so the dough doesn't stick. Once you've rolled it out, use a palette knife (or an egg flip if you don't have a palette knife) to carefully lift the dough to turn it. Roll the other side - you want it to be about 35cm in diameter and about 3mm thick.

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Grease a 24cm loose-based tart tin that is 3cm deep. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tin (this can be fairly easily done by loosely folding the pastry into four, placing it the tin, then gently unfolding it. Carefully push the pastry into the tin and cut off any excess pastry that hangs over the edge. You might need to use some of this excess pastry to patch any gaps or holes in the pastry. Pop the remaining pastry back in plastic wrap and in the fridge (you can also freeze it).

Pop the pastry in the tin in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill. 

Place some baking paper over the pastry and fill it with pastry weights or dried beans or rice. Place the tart tin in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove from oven and remove the pastry weights and baking paper, then pop the pastry back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Fresh out of the oven 

To make the filling:

Put the dates and the milk in a small saucepan and heat until just below boiling (not too hot a stove). Remove from the heat and stir in the bicard soda so it fizzes up (I love this bit!). Set it aside for about 30 minutes until the dates have softened. 

Blitz half the pecans in a thermomix (pulse them 3-4 times) or a food processor until they look like chunky breadcrumbs. You can also put them in a plastic bag and bash them with a rolling pin or a heavy book (this is where the yellow pages can be handy!). 

Put the sugar, cinnamon and the eggs in a medium sized mixing bowl and mix together (I just use a wooden spoon). Add the blitzed pecans and mix in. 

Without cleaning the thermomix bowl, add the date and milk mix and turbo pulse 3-4 times until it's like a chunky paste. If you don't have an electric gadget to do this, use a potato masher or a fork. 

Add the date mix to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients, and also mix in the maple syrup, melted butter and bourbon and stir well. Finally, fold in the rest of the pecans. 

Pour this into the pastry case and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. If the filling wobbles when you gently shake the tart tin, it's not quite done!

I love a flaky pastry, even if it means a less than fab photo!

Once it's cooked, leave it in the tin to cool for at least an hour - yes, this bit is hard! Especially with the gorgeous smells wafting out... 

Serve with a dollop of thickened cream, good quality vanilla ice cream or both! 

Oh, and yes, I know that a pie technically has to have a pastry top, but I love the word pie. The word "tart" just doesn't do this baked amazingness justice. And besides, real American pecan pie is called pecan pie. Not pecan tart.  

What was your best cooking experiment that surpassed all expectation?

My crazy day - food, video and tv cameras!

You never know when opportunity will come knocking and for me it was this morning with a very unexpected phone call from a producer at Channel 7. They were looking for a food blogger to help with a story on the rise of food blogging - of course I said YES!

It came about because the wonderful Amanda and Jennifer invited me to be the Food Blogger of the Month for May 2013 on the Food Bloggers Australia website - this is how Channel 7 found me. If you're a food blogger in Australia definitely consider becoming a member - it's free (!) and it can provide you with opportunities like this one - as well as loads of useful and practical information to make your blog even more fabulous.

I had a crazy morning with a video camera already planned, as I had said I'd be a cooking class member for my friend Mel who was shooting a corporate video for her cooking school Vanilla Zulu. Somedays I really do pinch myself :)

After helping cook and eat amazing food with Mel, I rushed home to slap on some more makeup and a top not splashed with flour.

Making bread with fresh, grated tumeric, flower petals and black sesame seeds - so pretty!

Simple herbed butter balls with a couple of goat cheese balls for good measure - if your butter is too hard just grate it

The final dish - cauliflower, sweet potato mash, roast red pepper, amazing lamb backstrap rolled in a spicy pistachio mix, bit of toasted proscuitto for crunch. Nom nom nom 

With 15 minutes to spare before the Today Tonight crew turned up, I frantically tidied the kitchen.  Luckily no one looked under the sink cover or in a cupboard! I don't think it's ever been this tidy!

Our unusually sparklie kitchen :) 

I had loads of fun, talking about one of my favourite topics - food! And I had a huge giggle when two of the crew walked in and almost started drooling when they saw my Thermomix :)

Emily, the Associate Producer who interview me asked loads of great questions that made me reflect on why I blog and how lucky I am to be part of such a fantastic community of like-minded people. We really do have a fabulous community - thank you to all my fellow food bloggers around the world who are a part of this.

Blogging, blogging, blogging! And a bit of promotion for the beautiful new book by the gorgeous Jude Blereau 

Julian the cameraman 

Thanks Julian, Jeremy and Emily! I had loads of fun :) 

There were a few questions about what I thought about bloggers who review restaurants and whether chefs are justified in hating bloggers. Clearly now I've seen the promo this is the focus of the story! Let's hope a few of my comments about how I blog to share my love of food comes across.

You can watch the preview here - for some reason it didn't embed :( 

I clearly said that I don't review restaurants, but that I will share positive experiences of places I go to without giving a rating or a point score or without critiquing the food in a detailed way (I don't really consider OMG YUM!! to be a critique :) ) . Let's face it, I want my blog to be a positive place. I also made it clear that no way would I blog nastiness (life is too short!), and that if I have less than great restaurant experiences I always let the restaurant know privately.

Let's see how I'm portrayed when the story airs on Today Tonight tomorrow (Wed 29 May) at 6.30pm on Channel 7.

However regardless of what happens when Today Tonight goes to air tomorrow, I had a fabulous time this afternoon, and shared quite a few laughs and a bit of my leftover maple pecan date and bourbon pie (which was a massive hit and will be blogged...).

Let me know what you think after tomorrow night!

Weekend baking - quiche Lorraine

A lazy Saturday lunch - quiche Lorraine

There is little I love more than waking up on a Saturday morning to a cloudy day full of drizzle. Especially on a day when I don't have to be anywhere or do anything. When I can roll over for another hour of sleep, and then spend a good few hours on the couch watching Rage, reading the weekend papers and drinking tea. Bliss.

Yesterday was one of those days.

At some stage I did start to think of food. Which made me think of using up some of the multitude of eggs that are in our fridge. Eggs from our beautiful chickens. Which then made me crave bacon. Which then made me think of quiche. See how my mind works?

So THEN I removed myself temporarily from the couch to see which of my cookbooks had a fabulous quiche recipe - using the absolutely BRILLIANT Eat Your Books website. If you have loads of cookbooks you rarely use, this is the site for you.

Anyhoo, Eat Your Books pointed me in the direction of the gorgeous Jude Blereau and her beautiful book Coming home to eat - wholefood for the family. I'm a massive fan of Jude's and have been for years. Her food philosophy is similar (but far more advanced) than mine, with her advocacy for eating whole foods. I'm seeing her at a Thermomix cooking demo on Monday and I cannot wait! (Massive thanks to Thermomix too, for comping me a ticket - very grateful).

Me (in the brown dress!) with Jude last year when she was in Brisbane

I love this book and was dancing the happy dance when I found it for $7 in my local Lifeline Book Shop. Especially as it's now out of print. 

What I love about this quiche recipe is that it uses spelt flour for the pastry and full cream, non-homogenized milk instead of cream (although I did add a bit of cream...). I used the beautiful milk from a cow named Dolores (owned by a friend), but you can also purchase full cream, non-homogenized milk from health food stores and some good delis.

Jude suggests that this recipe wouldn't work with regular milk, but if that is all you have, perhaps try with 50% cream and 50% milk (just don't blame me if it doesn't work!). Don't use skim, trim, soy or any other variety.

Quiche Lorraine
By Mel Kettle, adapted from a recipe by Jude Blereau 

What you need: 
90g plain wholemeal spelt flour
90g plain white spelt flour
100g chilled butter, cut into cubes
80-100ml ice cold water (I use filtered tap water and stick ice cubes in it to chill it quickly)
butter for greasing
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
450ml full cream, non-homogenized organic milk
50ml cream
80g cheddar cheese, grated
175g bacon, finely diced
1 red onion, finely diced
5-6 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

What you do:
Put the flours and butter in your thermomix (or food processor), turbo pulse 3-4 times until it looks like small breadcrumbs. Add about half the water and mix for 3-4 seconds on speed 6. Slowly add more water until it comes together to form a fairly moist ball of dough (I used about 90ml and in total it mixed for about 8 seconds). DO NOT OVERMIX otherwise it will be too tough.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Once the dough is chilled, roll it out - you'll need to flour the mat or bench, and also flour your rolling pin well as the dough should be a bit sticky. Try not to use too much flour, but make sure it's enough so the dough doesn't stick. Once you've rolled it out, use a palette knife (or an egg flip if you don't have a palette knife) to carefully lift the dough to turn it. Roll the other side - you want it to be about 33cm in diameter and about 2mm thick.

Preheat the oven to 200c.

Grease a 24cm loose-based tart tin that is 3cm deep. Carefully transfer the pastry to the tin (this can be fairly easily done by loosely folding the pastry into four, placing it the tin, then gently unfolding it. Carefully push the pastry into the tin and cut off any excess pastry that hangs over the edge. You might need to use some of this excess pastry to patch any gaps or holes in the pastry. Pop the remaining pastry back in plastic wrap and in the fridge.

Place some baking paper over the pastry and fill it with pastry weights or dried beans or rice. Place the tart tin on a baking tray and in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and remove the pastry weights and baking paper. Reduce the oven temperature to 180c and pop the pastry back in the oven for another 9 minutes.

While the pastry is blind baking make the filling. Cook the bacon in a frypan on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes (I don't add any oil as my bacon had quite a bit of fat, but you might like to add a small amount), then add the onion and the mushroom and cook for another 4-5 minutes, stirring so it doesn't burn. Set aside once cooked.

In a medium sized bowl, add the eggs, egg yolks, milk, cream and salt and pepper. Whisk it well. Set aside.

Once the pastry is cooked, remove it from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 200c.

Check there are no cracks in the pastry - if there are, use some of the excess pastry to fill them in (otherwise your filling will leak everywhere and make a huge mess). Scatter half the cheese on the bottom of the tart, then all the bacon, onion, mushroom mix. Put the tart tray on the baking tray and carefully pour the egg mixture into the tart.

Pastry shell after it was blind baked, with the cheese and the bacon, onion and mushroom mix. 

Gently place it in the oven and bake it for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 180c and bake for another 15 minutes. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top and bake for a final 15-20 minutes until the filling is lightly puffed and the centre just set. It should be a light golden colour when cooked.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Serve warm with a simple salad (mine was just baby spinach leaves, tomato, red onion and an oil and vinegar dressing).

Ready for lunch! 

What is your favourite thing to do on a lazy Saturday? or Sunday? Baking nearly always happens in my kitchen!

Chocolate decadence - Valentine's Day

I’ve never really been the hearts and flowers type, and I'm not all that into Valentine's Day [due mainly to that ghastly boyfriend who dumped me on 13 February many years ago, but then expected to get back together on the 15th! Um, NO!] 

However, I do love the occasional excuse to have a decadent dessert - and what better excuse than Valentine’s Day. 

This is really easy to make and the cake part of the recipe can be made a few days - or even weeks - earlier and kept in the fridge or freezer. I actually think it tastes even better 2-3 days after it’s been made. The best bit about the cake is it’s versatility - it’s perfect for morning tea, a quick after-school treat, or as a dessert for a dinner party. Oh, and it’s also gluten free.

And if it looks familiar, it's virtually the same recipe as the one for my gluten free chocolate cherry cake [nothing like recycling!], but tarted up for Valentines Day. If you're into that sort of thing.

What you need:
250g dark chocolate,broken into pieces (I prefer dark chocolate that has 70% cocoa solids)
250g almond meal
200g caster sugar
150g butter, softened
6 eggs (ideally 59g - if they are smaller use 7 eggs)
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water
Cream to serve
Raspberries (fresh or frozen) to serve
Icing sugar* (to serve)

What you do:

1. Turn the oven on to 180c.
2. Line the baking tray with baking paper
3. Place the chocolate pieces in the food processor and whizz until they resemble big crumbs of chocolate (if you don’t have a food processor, place the chocolate in a freezer or zip lock bag and seal, place the bag between 2 tea-towels and bash with a rolling pin or a meat mallet until its crushed). Set aside.
4. Place the sugar, butter, eggs, cocoa and baking powder into the mixing bowl and mix with the electric beaters or a wooden spoon until smooth. Mix in the coffee mixture.
5. Add the chocolate and almond meal and mix well - it might be easier to mix this with the wooden spoon.
6. Pour the cake mix into the baking tray, smooth it over with a knife.
7. Bake on the middle tray of the oven for 30-45 minutes (check it at 30 minutes - you want the centre to be soft to touch but not too gooey).

Leave to cool in the baking tray for 15 minutes then move it to cook on the wire rack.

To assemble dessert
Once the cake is cool, remove it from the wire rack and place it on a flat surface. Cut out heart shaped pieces with the cookie cutter and carefully transfer 1 heart to each plate. You should get 6 hearts out of a cake this size. 

This cake is best served at room temperature or slightly warmed. Serve with raspberries and cream. Dust with icing sugar.

WARNING! This cake is very rich and is easily enough to share. It IS Valentine’s Day after all!
* if you are serving this to someone who requires gluten free, make sure you get pure icing sugar, NOT icing mixture

What to do with leftover cake
All those leftover bits of cake (around the heart cut-outs) are great for dessert or snacks. Serve warmed with ice-cream or cream or thick yogurt. Or just eat them on their own! The cake should keep for 3 months in an airtight container in the freezer or a week in the fridge.

In my Thermomix - my favourite new summer drink

Like so many, I'm starting 2013 with a list of new food goals. I refuse to call them resolutions, as that is a sure fire way for them to fail [no alcohol in January for example...]. But moving right along...

Minty lime lemon cordial

One of my food goals for 2013 is to use my Thermomix more. And to blog my experiences with it. And share a few recipes. I've had this wonder-toy for nearly three years, and while I use it more than any other appliance, I definitely don't use it every day, or even close to its potential.

Luckily I now have many friends who also have a wonder-toy and who are happy to share recipes. Such as this one that my friends Brad and Cathie made me when I popped over for afternoon tea a few weeks back.

My wonder-toy. AKA Thermomix 

 It comes from the [I think] 2011 Thermomix calendar. This is my version:

Minty lime lemon cordial
by Mel Kettle [with thanks to Thermomix]

What you need:
80-100g sugar [I like it quite tart - makes the gin taste better]
generous handful of mint leaves
250g ice cubes
3 limes with skin, scrubbed, cut in half
2-3 lemons [2 if big and juicy, 3 if smaller] with skin, scrubbed, ends trimmed, cut into quarters
300-350g fizzy water [preferably sparkling mineral water]

What you do:
Place sugar and mint into Thermomix and blitz for 10 seconds on speed 10.

Add the ice and blitz for 6 seconds on speed 8.

Add lime, lemon and water. Set the dial to closed lid position and push the turbo button 2-3 times.

Strain through the Thermomix basket into a bowl. Once the bulk of the liquid is out, use a nut milk or a curd and jelly bag (or some muslin or a clean chux) to strain and squeeze out the remainder of the liquid.

A curd and jelly bag - just a very fine polyester bag. Great for squeezing out excess liquids

Pour the cordial into a clean bottle and keep in the fridge for 2-3 days. Discard the solids [if you have a good recipe for these I would love to hear it!].

To serve, pour equal amounts of cordial and fizzy mineral water over ice, garnish with a slice of lime and fresh mint.

Or, even better, add a generous [very generous...] splash of gin or vodka in place of some or all of the fizzy mineral water. Or replace mineral water with a bit of tonic for a posh G&T. SO GOOD!

This bottle doesn't last long in our house!

What is your favourite summer drink? With or without the generous splash?

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?

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. 

Cookbook review: South East Asian Food

They say never judge a book by its cover, and I really, really try not to. But for this book make an exception. Please. The cover is absolutely stunning. As everyone who has seen this book on my dining table has commented. The recipes throughout are equally gorgeous.

Other than the cover, a couple of things struck me about this book. There are no pictures. Rare in cookbooks in Australia these days. PLEASE don't let that put you off! And as I looked through it, seeking a couple of vegetarian dishes to cook for my photographer friend Jen (who took these stunning photos), I discovered that there aren't any. BUT don't let that stop you from enjoying this book either!

So many of the mouth-watering pastes and sauces can just as easily be used with veggies. Such as the couple I made. But more about those soon.

Rosemary Brissenden {read here for an interview} originally wrote this book over 50 years ago, when it was the among the first to discuss and characterise food from South East Asia. Additions to this edition - which has been completely rewritten - are sections on Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Countries that were less than accessible in the 1960s and 70s! Rosemary's background in international relations is apparent as each section includes a fascinating overview of the cultural and historical context of food in these countries.

While there are many books around with 30-minute Asian dinners, this book is not one of them. There are no "short-cuts" to be had with pre-made spices or sauces. All these are made from scratch, mostly with a trusty mortar and pestle {although I did cheat with one of them and used my thermomix to grind the spices}. Which means you also need to have a bit of time. And plan ahead.

Some of the spices used - ginger, garlic {grown outside Brisbane}, coriander, cardamom, cloves, cumin, chilli, fennel

The three recipes I made were all from the Malaysia and Singapore section:

• Dry chicken curry
• Tandoori chicken {Malaysian Indian} 
• Cucumber raita {Malaysian Indian}

Tandoori chicken is a favourite in this house. Usually courtesy of Patak's. But not any more! The flavours of each of the spices in this dish - coriander seed, cumin seed, chillis, garlic, ginger - were all so subtle yet blended to give a zing you just don't get with a pre-made paste.

Tandoori chicken with rice

The second dish, Dry Chicken Curry, was even more powerful on the tastebuds. The cardamom and cinnamon flavours lingered throughout our house for hours, creating a warming, Christmassy feel {which was a bit odd for an overly hot day in early Spring!}.

To make the Dry Chicken Curry:

• 1 chicken, skin removed, cut into curry pieces {I cheated a bit here and used 1kg of thigh cutlets}
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 brown onion, finely sliced
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 cup water
• 2 small potatoes, quartered
• salt to taste

Paste spices

• 2 tbs ground coriander
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp ground chillies (or more to taste)
• 3 cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 3 cardamom pods
• 2.5cm piece of ginger, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 6 shallots, sliced

Quite cleverly I didn't clearly read the recipe before I shopped, so I didn't have any curry leaves {and sadly neither did the curry tree in the back yard} and I forgot to buy shallots {I used a small brown onion instead}.

To make the spice paste, grind the dry spices to a powder in a mortar or a food processor {I used my trusty thermomix}. Add the garlic, ginger, shallots {onion...} and mash to a paste. Mix with the chicken pieces, cover bowl, pop in the fridge and let it marinate for 2 hours.

This was my tandoori paste before adding yogurt. Looks good doesn't it!

Once marinated, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion and curry leaves until the onion is golden. Add the chicken and all the spice paste and fry until fragrant {the fragrance will hit  you immediately! So fry for 5-6 minutes, making sure each piece of chicken browns all over}.

Add water, salt, potatoes and cook until chicken is tender, potatoes cooked, and gravy is almost dry. Stir well and serve with rice and cucumber raita.

What I loved about this curry is that it would be equally good with a firm white fish or pork or a big mound of veggies.

Dry chicken curry - sooooo good.....

There are so many mouth-watering recipes in this book. Especially in the Vietnamese section. And the Thai section. And the Cambodian section. Oh you know. The whole book!

What is your favourite South East Asian recipe? And cookbook?

Two big thank yous:

1. Jen Dainer, who took all these gorgeous photos - check her out at Industrial Arc Photography
2. Hardie Grant - who sent me a copy of this stunning book. 

THANK YOU!!!

Friday night pizza

Friday nights at our place, like many I suspect, can be a bit hit and miss with dinner. You know how it is, it's the end of the week, everyone's tired and a bit cranky, no one wants to cook or even make a decision about what to eat - and by 5pm all I'm normally thinking of is that big G&T or glass of red!

One of the foods that we all love (well, one of my favourite foods) is pizza. I have never been a big fan of the chain-store variety (you know the ones I'm talking about), and I find it a bit objectionable to pay $20 for a better quality but often soggy take away pizza. And I REFUSE to eat a frozen pizza.

Salami, mushroom, red pepper and bocconcini pizza

For the last couple of months we've been making pizza on a Friday night. Dough and all. It's easy and it's healthy (well, healthier than takeout pizza). And thanks to my thermomix, quick. AND since I realised you can freeze uncooked pizza dough, it's become even easier. Best of all, my stepson who is 9, and not known for his easy eating habits, LOVES it, helps make his own, and eats every mouthful. And that's a big win around here.

So, the recipe. Any basic pizza dough recipe will do, but I use:

Pizza dough
1 sachet dry yeast (make sure the use by date hasn't expired)
10g sugar or honey (a bit more than a tablespoon)
250ml warm water
3 tblsp olive oil
2tsp salt
500g plain flour (I use the '00' bakers flour but you could also use 100gm wholemeal and 400gm plain flour)

As I mentioned, I make this in a thermomix which takes about 3 minutes plus rising time, but the old fashioned way is easy too - just a bit slower!

• In a small bowl mix the yeast, sugar/honey, oil and about 1/3 water. Let it rest for a few minutes until it looks frothy
• Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the middle
• Add the wet mix to the flour mix and use your hands to mix it well together. Add more water and continue mixing until it comes together - you want it to be elastic but not sticky.
• Tip it onto a well floured bench and knead dough for about 10-15 minutes (this would be Mr 9's job if I didn't have a thermomix). Once it's quite pliable, roll it into a big ball, place it back in the large bowl, cut a cross in the top, cover with a tea towel and let it rise until it's 2-3 times the size (this can take 30-60 minutes depending on how warm it is) (see the pics below)

• Once risen, bash the dough down, knead for about 1-2 minutes, then shape into 4-6 balls (I prefer 6 so that it's a thinner and crispier base once I roll it out). To get even sized balls I roll the dough into a long sausage and cut it into 6 even looking pieces, then roll each (see the pics below)

The dough balls can now be frozen (I wrap them individually in Glad Go-between, then pop them all in a ziplock bag and into the freezer). This recipe is easily doubled, and the dough freezes well for up to 3 months. I defrost it on the bench - it takes about 30 minutes.

I pre-heat my oven to 230-250c and use a pre-heated pizza stone (I allow the stone to heat for about 15 minutes).

I usually make 1 pizza per person - whatever isn't eaten is even better the next day for breakfast.
To make the pizza, roll out each ball on a floured surface, place dough onto a piece of Glad Bake (I prefer to use a re-usable silicone sheet cut into the shape of the pizza stone so the pizza doesn't stick to the stone) cover with sauce and toppings, pop into the oven on a high heat (230-250c) and cook for until cheese has melted.

Tomato sauce
I often make my own tomato sauce too - it's pretty simple. I saute a couple of minced cloves of garlic, add a can of chopped tomatoes, simmer for about 15 minutes, add fresh (or dried) basil at the end. You can easily leave out the basil or add Italian seasoning, oregano or whatever you like.

Our favourite toppings are:

• tomato sauce, salami, mozzarella, BBQ sauce (Mr 9)
• tomato sauce, salami, mushroom, red pepper, mozzarella (hubby)
• tomato sauce, Italian sausage, mushroom, red pepper, bocconcini (me)
• tomato sauce, proscuitto, marinated artichoke hearts, bocconcini (also me)

What do you do on Friday nights for dinner? And, more importantly, what's your favourite pizza topping?

Hummos

I think one of my favourite dips would have to be hummos, and this is largely for the flavour of the chickpeas, which are one of my favourite legumes. And which I definitely don't eat enough of. Chickpeas are an excellent source of protein, are fairly high in fibre and low in fat.

This recipe is very simple and quick to make - but it helps to have a food processor or a blender.

2 cups chickpeas - I used a 375g packed of dry chickpeas, which I soaked overnight, cooked for about 30 minutes, drained and cooled - you can also used 1-2 tins of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
olive oil - about 1/3 to 1/2 cup
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup tahini
2 tsp ground cumin
very small amount of cayenne pepper
juice of 1-2 lemons (to taste)

Place everything in the bowl of a food processor and mix until the desired consistency - I like mine a little chunky. Add extra lemon, tahini, olive oil, cumin, cayenne to taste.

Serve in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a dusting of paprika.

Hummos goes with so many other dishes - it's delicious:

• as a dip with crackers, pita triangles or raw veggies (such as carrot, broccoli, celery, red pepper)
• spread on bread or toast as a butter and/or mayo substitute
• with roast lamb or chicken on the side
• drizzled over a salad (add extra lemon juice and olive oil to get to a drizzling consistency) as a dressing
• with Lebanese bread or wraps and salad.

What's your favourite way to eat hummos?