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.  

Top 5 tips for preparing for Eat.Drink.Blog. Or any food bloggers conference

Only four sleeps until I get on a plane to Adelaide for Eat.Drink.Blog, the annual conference for Australian food bloggers. AND I CAN'T WAIT!

This will be my third food bloggers conference and I would like to say I've learned from the first two. Which I have.

But perhaps one of the most important things I've learned is to be a bit organised before I go. And to find out who will be there and get to know a bit about them.

This was highlighted to me at the first conference I went to - BlogHerFood 2010 in San Francisco - after a delightful conversation with the absolutely charming Dorie Greenspan. Except I had no idea who she was. Until later. Much later. When I got back to Australia later. I may have even bragged about my baking ability. I'm blushing just thinking about it. She was very gracious. And no doubt stifling a few giggles during our chat.

So my #1 tip before you go to a food bloggers conference is check out who else is going! For Eat.Drink.Blog. you can find this out here. Check out their blogs, write a few comments, say hi via twitter [using #edb2012 so others can follow along] or on facebook.

Tip #2 - pack appropriately - don't forget to take a camera, phone, necessary charging devices, business cards (or installing the app Bump on your iPhone). I have been known to pack, and carry, every electronic device I own. All I plan to take to Eat.Drink.Blog is my iPhone, a small point and shoot camera [although I am so in love with instagram/hipstamatic/pixlromatic and the camera feature on my new iPhone I may not even bother with my real camera], my iPad, and a small notebook and pen. Gone are the days of lugging my laptop around at conferences. Especially as at BlogHerFood I think I was also carrying about 8kg of conference loot around! [thank you sponsors!]

Don't forget to pack comfy clothes - we will be eating. A lot!

Tip #3 - be willing to talk to people and get to know them. Work out how to describe yourself and your blog with confidence - have a bit of an "elevator pitch" so you can describe your blog in about 10-15 seconds. A food bloggers conference is not the time to be shy! Dig out your inner extrovert and say hi to people - even if you have no idea who they are! Also be willing to try new things - including new foods. One of the social events at BlogHerFood was sponsored by the American Pork Board - I tried [all in the name of research of course!] bacon ice-cream, chocolate coated bacon, chocolate bacon martini, amazing pork belly  and more...

Still not sure about Bakon Vodka...

How beautiful are these slices of golden beetroot? 

Tip #4 - familiarise yourself with the program and work out what sessions you want to go to - especially if there are concurrent sessions. Especially familiarise yourself with the food bits. Don't eat too much for lunch, or too many cakes at afternoon tea, if there is a massive dinner planned [yep, learned this one from experience...]

The FABULOUS food styling session at EDB 2011

 Tip #5 - be well rested! Something I preach but don't practice. I was severely jetlagged at BlogHerFood [not a great idea]. I also suspect I'll be quite sleep deprived at Eat.Drink.Blog as my final uni assignment is due the day before. And it's barely started. And yes, I should be writing it now, instead of writing this post!

Conference treats - soooo yum!

Are you going to Eat.Drink.Blog? What are you most excited about? What do you want to learn from it? The whole program looks absolutely fantastic - a massive thanks to the whole organising team, and of course to the wonderful sponsors without whom this just wouldn't happen. Special thanks to the gold sponsors, the South Australian Government and the SA Tourist Commission.

Miguel Maestre's beetroot cured trout - and a giveaway!

Every year I love going to the Good Food and Wine Show to sample a range of different and often new [or at least, new to me] foods. 

This year the show looks like an absolute cracker! [pun intended :)]

It's on at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre Friday 9 - Sunday 11 November.

This year many of the old favourites are back, including the celebrity theater [this year with Ainsley Harriott [swoon], Maggie Beer, George Calombaris, Manu Fieldel and Matt Moran], cheese and wine masterclasses and the Chef’s book signings. There are also a few new activities that looks SENSATIONAL!

I am especially excited about the Cheese Alley presented by Kurrajong Kitchen [anyone who knows me won’t really be surprised by this!]. This part of the show has been developed following feedback – get there early as it’s expected to be busy, busy, busy. I’m looking forward to tasting my way through a heap of cheese styles - fresh, soft white and washed rind styles, to cheddar and blue. Am salivating already.

I’m also really excited about the macro Healthy Living Zone, which includes a dedicated Gluten Free section. Chefs and nutritionists including Tobie Puttock, Lola Berry, Rowie Dillon and Kemi Nekvapil will give you ideas on healthy meals to cook – and recipes to take home.

WIN!

To get you in the mood, Lifestyle FOOD Chef's Table have provided me with one of Miguel Maestre’s recipes, along with a double pass to Miguel's Lifestyle FOOD Chef's Table session on Sat Nov 10 @ 3.30pm.

Miguel in action! [photo provided by Lifestyle FOOD chef's table]

Beetroot cured Trout

Serves 4

What you need:

• 
1 side trout pinboned, skinless


• 500g sugar


• 500g salt 


• 2 chillies


• 2 star anise


• 5 limes juiced and zested


• 2 lemons juiced and zested


• 150ml fresh beetroot juice

• 40ml Bertolli Extra Light Olive Oil

• 4 bunches dill

• 50ml pure creme fraiche

• 50ml trout roe

• 1 horseradish root

• Put trout in a deep tray

What you do:

• Blend all ingredients in a food processor (except for crème freche, trout roe and horseradish) to make the marinade, saving two bunches of dill

• Rub trout with the mixture and marinate for 3 hours

• After 3 hours wash the trout fillet

• Cut trout in half longways, sprinkle with chopped dill

• Roll in to cylinders. Leave to rest overnight

• Serve with creme fraiche, trout roe and fresh horseradish

• Serve with a glass of champagne

To win  a double pass to the Good Food and Wine show which includes a double pass to Miguel's Lifestyle FOOD Chef's Table session on Sat Nov 10 @ 3.30pm leave a comment below saying which part of the Good Food and Wine Show you are looking forward to the most and why. You can check out the program here. 

You'll also need to email me your answer so I can contact you if you win. I'll choose one winner. The competition closes at 5pm EST on Monday 29 October.

Disclaimer: The Good Food and Wine Show donated these tickets and also gave me free tickets to attend. 

Eggplant love - moussaka

I was at the West End markets on the weekend and they had the most beautiful looking eggplants. I just couldn't resist buying a couple, with the intent of making some baba ganoush for our dinner guests on Saturday night. One of the things I love most about eggplant is the colour - which is also the colour of our couches.

Anyway, for a whole range of reasons [mainly that I decided to cook a Mexican feast for dinner], I didn't make it.

So when it came to planning dinner for tonight, I thought "aha! I'll make moussaka!". Or, as my hubby has been calling it, Nina Mouskouri! [Yes, he makes me laugh every day :) ]

About 45 minutes in, I did wonder what I was thinking! Anyone who knows me well [i.e. since my undergrad uni days] knows that white sauce and I are not friends. AT ALL. Partly because I lived on tuna mornay for a year or two and the white sauce was always lumpy. But, you know, it was cheap. Today the smell of tinned tuna makes me gag. 

Back to the Nina Mouskouri. I had forgotten how long it took too cook, and starting it at 6pm meant there was no way we'd be eating by 6.30pm. And I was STARVING! But it was absolutely worth the wait. And the hassle of the white sauce. Mega thanks to the lovely tweeps who talked me through what to do with the sauce - @HereIAmLoulou, @lordphantom, @packetnetworks, @blackvalo and @peterpanwine. Gotta love twitter for dinner help! And so many other things... 

Check out that gorgeous white sauce!! 

What you need:
2 large eggplant, sliced about 1cm thick
1 tablespoon vegetable oil [grapeseed or ricebran are best]

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

600g lamb mince

420g can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp fresh rosemary


50g butter

60g plain flour

2 cups milk

80g grated cheese (I like Pizza Plus)

What you do:

I have a non-stick teppanyaki plate on my stove so I cook the eggplant slices on that without any oil. You could also use a non-stick fry pan, or bake them in the oven on a tray liked with baking paper. They take about 7-8 minutes on each side on a medium heat, I turn them every few minutes. 

While the eggplant is cooking, cook the mince and tomato filling. Heat the oil in a large-ish frypan [medium heat], add the onion then the garlic and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the mince and cook for about 5-6 minutes until it's cooked through. Use a wooden spoon to break the mince up, and stir regularly. Once the mince is cooked, add the tomatoes, cinnamon and rosemary. Mix it all together, turn the heat down low and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes. 

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. 

After the mince has been simmering for about 15 minutes, make the white sauce. 

Place a medium sized saucepan on the stove on a medium heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has melted and is bubbling, add the flour, stir quickly with a wooden spoon to make a roux. Turn the heat down slightly and stir until the roux is bubbling. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes then gradually add the milk - at this time swap the spoon for a whisk, and gently whisk the milk into the roux, until all the milk has been added. Whisk gently for about 7-10 minutes until it heats up and thickens. Once it has reached the consistency of a thickish custard, remove it from the heat.

To assemble the moussaka layer in the following way:

• add one third of the eggplant to the bottom of a lasagne dish
• cover with half the sauce
• one third of the eggplant
• half the sauce
• one third of eggplant
• white sauce
• sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. This allows the white sauce to thicken up a bit so it doesn't ooze everywhere. 

Serve with steamed greens or a side salad. 

Serves 6. Which means we have leftovers for lunch - yay!

Moussaka 

Are there any dishes that you put off making because of an ingredient or a particular process? 

Salad days... with haloumi

Haloumi and mixed bean salad

Before lunch I wrote a few hundred words on the transtheoretical model of health behaviour change and how it can be used to reduce childhood obesity. Please don't ask me to elaborate - I'm not actually sure I could!

Anyway, before launching into my assignment that is due Friday, I thought I'd whip up a healthy and tasty lunch. Healthy because I've written a lot lately about the causes of cardiovascular disease and obesity is a biggie. Tasty, because, well let's face it, what's the point of eating food that isn't?

So, back to lunch.

With uni two or three nights a week most weeks this year, I have needed to be a bit more organised with food. Otherwise I end up grabbing a kebab before class every time, or shovelling masses of cheese on toast [accompanied by a large-ish glass of red] down my gob after class when I get home, usually around 9pm.

This is also very helpful now I've reached the pointy end of the semester. Four huge assignments and 2 small assignments all due before 2 November. And an exam. Ugh.

To make things easier, I've been cooking up one or two meals most Sunday afternoons, which will keep well in the fridge for a few days, or can be popped into the freezer. Sunday just past I made a very scrummy pot of spag bol sauce [loads of veggies], and roasted a heap of pumpkin, sweet potato and made a big batch of semi-dried tomatoes. Perfect for adding to salads. Which I did today.

Haloumi and mixed bean salad
[serves 2] 

What you need:

• 40g baby spinach
• 300g tin of 4 bean mix [you could use any legumes - white beans, chickpeas etc. I just had a MASSIVE tin of 4 bean mix languishing in the back of the pantry...]
• 200g roast pumpkin 
• 100g semi-dried tomato
• few slivers of red onion
• 150g haloumi, sliced into 4 
• 1tbs balsamic vinegar [I use the beautiful Star Anis apple balsamic which is gorgeous on its own]
• 1tsp olive oil
• pepper

What you do:
Pop the spinach, 4 bean mix, roast pumpkin, semi-dried tomatoes and onion into a bowl. Mix the oil and vinegar into a dressing and pour over the salad. Mix together gently. Add pepper to taste.

Salad sans haloumi

Cook the haloumi [I use a non-stick teppanyaki grill on my cooktop] for about 1-2 minutes on each side until golden.

Serve the salad and place the haloumi on top.

ENJOY! [a squeeze of lemon is good too!]

What are you tips for quick meals when you are busy?

Holidays and a kangaroo salad

I've just realised it's been AGES since I last blogged! It's been a busy few months [yes, not the best excuse, but it will have to do!]. For those of you who don't know, I went back to uni earlier this year to study a Master of Public Health. In the interests of getting it finished as fast as possible, I went back as a full-time student. Which is great, but I'm still doing a bit of marketing comms consulting, so time is stretched!

I also went to Adelaide for a few days about a month ago to go to the Population Health Congress. A real highlight was catching up with Amanda from the wonderful blog Lambs' Ears and Honey - she took me to The Locavore for lunch in the beautiful Adelaide Hills. The drive there was stunning, but what I really love is their commitment to serving local food. Wherever possible their food is sourced from within a 100 mile radius, and their wine list is 100% from the Adelaide Hills. I was very impressed [so impressed I didn't take any photos!]. I would love to see a restaurant in Brisbane with this commitment to local food and wine.

I was only home from Adelaide a few days before going to Killcare [on the NSW Central Coast] for about 10 days. My brother and I are lucky our parents had the foresight to buy a holiday house there about 20 years ago, and we have been having family holidays there ever since. We do rent it out for weekends and holiday rentals, so if you are interested check it out on Stayz. My brother and I both love to cook, so a priority in the recent reno was a decent kitchen with a 90cm cooker. On our last visit I think we had friends pop in for a meal almost every day, so it and the BBQ outside were well used!

One of my contributions to the garden was to plant a small herb garden with a few basics [parsley, oregano, thyme, chilli, chives and lemongrass in the backyard], and on our last visit we added a lime and lemon tree. Hopefully they survive our sporadic visits!

The parsley has gone a bit crazy!
Sadly a possum scoffed the only chilli that looked very impressive on our last visit.

One of our favourite things about Killcare are all the gorgeous birds, who are always very well fed with our leftovers!

Sometimes I think the birds eat better than we do! The kookaburras certainly enjoyed a large amount of our leftover lamb roast!

Anyway, we have been home for about a week and straight into Brisbane summer! It's almost been too hot to cook so it's been a week of salad.

This kangaroo and bbq veggies salad I made last night was a particular winner! I first had it when my friend Sharon cooked lunch for us a few months ago and it's based on a recipe from a Michelle Bridges cookbook.

Terrible photo that doesn't do the meal justice!

I haven't eaten a lot of kangaroo - mainly because I had a bit of a bad experience when I made a kangaroo spag bol some years back. I didn't realise what a strong flavour it had, and that you only needed about half the amount of meat compared to using beef mince. The strong flavours were a bit of a shock! However after the gorgeousness of last night's dinner, it will be making a regular appearance on our dining table.

One of the things I love about kangaroo is that it is very lean [so cook it quickly and to medium rare so it doesn't get tough], and it's also high in protein, zinc and iron.

What you need [serves 2]:
250-300g kangaroo steak
olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 zucchini, thinly sliced longways
1 bunch of asparagus
1 red capsicum, seeded and cut into chunky strips
1/2 small bunch of mint, stalks removed, chopped
1tbs lemon juice or a good white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

What you do:
Marinate the kangaroo steak with about 1 tsp olive oil, garlic, about 1/4 of the mint, bit of salt and pepper. Leave for about 30 minutes.

Pop the zucchini, asparagus and red capsicum in a bowl and coat with 1tsp olive oil, bit of salt and pepper.

Heat the BBQ (or a frypan/grill pan if cooking indoors). Once hot, cook the kangaroo, turning once. I had 3 small steaks, but one was twice as thick as the other two. The thin steaks cooked to medium in about 3-4 minutes, the thicker steak was cooked to rare in that time. Ideally you want it cooked to medium-rare. Once cooked, set aside to rest for about 10 minutes, then slice thinly.

Once the kangaroo is cooked, cook the veggies, turning after about 1-2 minutes. I found the asparagus cooked in about 2 minutes as it was quite thin, the zucchini and capsicum took about 3-4 minutes. I cooked it on the grill side and did have a bit of a mishap with a few pieces falling onto the burner [sigh].

When the veggies are cooked pop them all in a bowl. Add the mint, another tsp of olive oil and the lemon juice/white wine vinegar. Mix it lightly and serve. Add the sliced kangaroo fillets on top of the veggies.

Have you eaten kangaroo before? How did you cook it?

Home made versatility - roast tomato sugo

I absolutely love tomato sauce - the sort that goes with spaghetti, over chicken parm, into a soup. Not the ketchup variety. Although that is pretty good on a sausage roll or two. And that is also even better when homemade. Not that I have ever made it. One day I will...

No, I'm talking about the tomato sauce that comes from beautiful fresh tomatoes. Now while tomatoes are a summer fruit [yes, fruit. Not veg. But don't add to a fruit salad. That is very wrong...], our local fruit and veg store currently has them in abundance. I'm going to say this is because I live in Queensland where seasonal fruit has a different meaning to seasonal fruit in a city where you actually have seasons. Anyone in Brissie this week will know what I mean. [27c anyone? anyone? Bueller?)

So anyway, back to my local F&V. Last week I picked up about 5 kilos of must-be-eaten-immediately tomatoes for about $10. Not as cheap as in summer, but given the current price of about $9 a kilo I was pretty pleased. As it is winter [technically] they don't have as much flavour as their beautiful summer compadres. So I decided to make a roast tomato sugo.

What I used:

• 5kg tomatoes, washed, core removed [I had a mix of the everyday round variety, some Roma and a few heirloom cherry tomatoes and other varieties that I found languishing at the bottom of the veggie crisper]
• 2-3 red onions, peeled, cut into quarters
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed, cut in half
• olive oil 
• salt and pepper

What I did

It's pretty easy! 

Preheat the oven to 160c [and preheating isn't even necessary. It just sounds "cheffy"]. 

Chuck all the ingredients into a large baking tray, make sure the garlic is covered by the tomatoes so it doesn't dry out, and pop in the oven to cook for about 3 hours. I gave it a stir every 45-60 minutes or so. 

Once it's cooked down, take it out of the oven, and let it cool.

Once cool, pop it into a bowl and blend up with a stick blender, or pop it into a bench blender [or thermomix] and whiz it up. 

This is about half the sauce

Use as necessary! I popped most of it into varying sized portions and froze it. You could also bottle it, I just couldn't be bothered on this particular day! 

I reckon this would be pretty good as a soup, or as a tomato sauce for a lasagne, spaghetti bol, or anything else you would normally open a can of tomatoes for. 

What do you love tomato sauce with?