Kiwis are cheap and delicious at the moment - we recently got 8 for $1 at the local farmer's market and they were beautiful. Unfortunately, we ate a couple and then forgot about them for a few days - and they got quite ripe when we weren't looking.
My mother-in-law had been experimenting with sorbets, and recently made a delightful kiwi fruit sorbet.
Inspiration met opportunity! So, last night I decided to wing it and make my own version of the sorbet.
I wanted a sorbet that was quite tart, so decided to add a bunch of lemon juice too. When making sorbets you need to make the unfrozen mixture more tart and/or sweet than you want the final mix to taste, as freezing dulls both.
Kiwi Fruit Sorbet:
Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cup lemon juice
7 - 8 peeled kiwis
Method
Put the sugar in the water in a small heavy bottomed pan. Heat over a medium heat, stirring regularly, until the sugar is melted and forms a syrup. This should take about five minutes. Put the syrup in the refrigerator to cool it down.
Puree the kiwis in a food processor or with a stick blender. Add the lemon juice and put in the fridge to chill until the sugar syrup is chilled.
Mix the fruit and syrup together well and put into an ice cream maker. Freeze according to your machine's instructions.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Sauce
While I am equipping you with brownies, it seems only charitable to include a topping for any sundae that may get made. This stuff is evil, and as an act of self preservation I would recommend making a half serve and sharing it. Thanks go entirely to Nigella for this one. No need for modifications - it is magnificent as is.
Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Sauce:
Ingredients
175ml cream
100 grams chopped chocolate (I use Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
100 grams smooth peanut butter
3 Tablespoons golden syrup
Method
Put the cream, chocolate, peanut butter and golden syrup into a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir regularly, and the sauce should be ready in about two minutes.
I can't think of a better example of immediate gratification.
Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Sauce:
Ingredients
175ml cream
100 grams chopped chocolate (I use Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
100 grams smooth peanut butter
3 Tablespoons golden syrup
Method
Put the cream, chocolate, peanut butter and golden syrup into a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir regularly, and the sauce should be ready in about two minutes.
I can't think of a better example of immediate gratification.
Brownies...further musings on a subject near to my heart
I've been conducting extensive testing recently...on brownies. I've made different batches of the "melted chocolate" variety - for which I have earlier shared the recipe. I believe, for my tastes, I have perfected the "melted chocolate" variety. Many folks have tried them and loved them, so I'm happy with where that is at.
However there is another whole class of brownies - the "cocoa" brownies. These are more like the "packet mix" brownies I remember eating when I was growing up, and have a different (in fact, cakier) consistency. I'm a declared chewy brownie fan, but have found a recipe that has that ephemeral "sort of cakey sort of chewy" consistency. These are good when you really need brownies fast and don't have any chocolate in the house...they are a slightly (ever so) lighter style of brownie (to which I am referring only and exclusively to texture...I'm sure these pack a caloric punch just like the other ones). I can't profess to have perfected these yet, but they are damn good. I thank, as always, Nigella for her inspiration though I have slightly modified her recipe.
Brownies:
Ingredients
3/4 cup salted butter (the best quality you can find)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray.
In a large bowl, combine melted butter with the sugar, and mix well. Add the cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.
Break the first egg into the batter, and stir through until incorporated. Add the second and third eggs the same way. Add the vanilla with the third egg.
If you want to add nuts, this is the point that you should. About half a cup of nuts should suffice, but I think they are an abomination in brownies so would recommend you test this out yourself.
Pour into the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The edges should be firm and the middle should be slightly sunk - don't over bake them or they really do go cakey.
And we know what I think about that. Bleh.
A glass of milk is a nice accompaniment, and sometimes you just need a fork and the entire pan. Sigh. Depends on your day. These are great under ice cream in a sundae, and are robust enough to stir through ice cream and hold their shape (if you were say, homesick and missing Ben & Jerry's Brownie Fudge ice cream and decided to replicate it).
However there is another whole class of brownies - the "cocoa" brownies. These are more like the "packet mix" brownies I remember eating when I was growing up, and have a different (in fact, cakier) consistency. I'm a declared chewy brownie fan, but have found a recipe that has that ephemeral "sort of cakey sort of chewy" consistency. These are good when you really need brownies fast and don't have any chocolate in the house...they are a slightly (ever so) lighter style of brownie (to which I am referring only and exclusively to texture...I'm sure these pack a caloric punch just like the other ones). I can't profess to have perfected these yet, but they are damn good. I thank, as always, Nigella for her inspiration though I have slightly modified her recipe.
Brownies:
Ingredients
3/4 cup salted butter (the best quality you can find)
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 pinch salt
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with baking spray.
In a large bowl, combine melted butter with the sugar, and mix well. Add the cocoa, flour, baking soda and salt.
Break the first egg into the batter, and stir through until incorporated. Add the second and third eggs the same way. Add the vanilla with the third egg.
If you want to add nuts, this is the point that you should. About half a cup of nuts should suffice, but I think they are an abomination in brownies so would recommend you test this out yourself.
Pour into the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The edges should be firm and the middle should be slightly sunk - don't over bake them or they really do go cakey.
And we know what I think about that. Bleh.
A glass of milk is a nice accompaniment, and sometimes you just need a fork and the entire pan. Sigh. Depends on your day. These are great under ice cream in a sundae, and are robust enough to stir through ice cream and hold their shape (if you were say, homesick and missing Ben & Jerry's Brownie Fudge ice cream and decided to replicate it).
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Corn Bread
It's the perfect accompaniment to soups, stews, chili...and people have clear views of what makes a good corn bread. Some love a sweet corn bread and some hate it too sweet. I have a sweet tooth, so I would never complain about a sweet corn bread. That said, sometimes I like to have a honey butter on the corn bread and even I have limits. So, two recipes for corn bread below. One is sweet - it comes up crunchy and beautiful all on its own. With a bit of butter, it is a delight. The other recipe is far less sweet, and I've included a recipe (if you can call it that) for honey butter.
Golden Sweet Cornbread:
Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Method
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Corn Bread:
Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and soda. Combine eggs, buttermilk, honey, and oil; add slowly to the dry ingredients. Mix until blended. Pour into 9 inch square pan.
Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Honey Butter
Ingredients:
250gr butter (the best quality you can get)
3 Tablespoons honey
Method:
Allow butter to soften slightly at room temperature.
Using and electric mixer, whip butter and honey together in a bowl until well mixed.
Roll butter up in wax paper, allow it to chill, and slice when ready to use.
Golden Sweet Cornbread:
Ingredients
1 cup plain flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Method
Preheat oven to 400F (200C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Corn Bread:
Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Method
Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and soda. Combine eggs, buttermilk, honey, and oil; add slowly to the dry ingredients. Mix until blended. Pour into 9 inch square pan.
Bake until golden, about 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
Honey Butter
Ingredients:
250gr butter (the best quality you can get)
3 Tablespoons honey
Method:
Allow butter to soften slightly at room temperature.
Using and electric mixer, whip butter and honey together in a bowl until well mixed.
Roll butter up in wax paper, allow it to chill, and slice when ready to use.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tomatoes and more tomatoes
When I was a kid, I hated tomatoes. There is a photo of me at around 5 years old, being encouraged to eat a cherry tomato. You could be forgiven for thinking it was a stink bomb aimed at my mouth based on my expression. I've learned to love tomatoes. Two of my favorite recipes are quite healthy "meat-free" options - one uses fresh tomatoes and the other, canned.
Pappardelle with Roasted Tomato, Spinach & Ricotta:
Ingredients
¼ cup good balsamic vinegar
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium tomatoes or 8 Roma tomatoes (about 600g worth) cut into wedges
375g pappardelle pasta (the wide ribbon shaped pasta)
100g baby spinach leaves, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g ricotta
salt to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Combine vinegar, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, and garlic in a small jug. Place tomato, in a single layer, on oven tray. Pour vinegar mixture over tomato. Roast, uncovered, for about 25 minutes or until tomato is browned lightly and softened.
Cook pasta until tender.
Combine drained pasta, tomato, spinach and oil in large bowl. Break ricotta into approx 3cm pieces. Add to pasta mixture, toss gently to combine.
A word of advice - use the best quality pasta you can get, or make your own. This is a dish of simple flavors, and the pasta is center stage.
Tomato and lentil soup:
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup red lentils
400 gram can chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until sizzling. Saute the chopped onion and garlic until the onion is soft.
Add the dried red lentils, can of tomatoes, tomato paste and 3 cups chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring often, until the lentils are soft and creamy.
Taste, and add salt and pepper as required.
This soup is great served with some toasted, buttery Turkish bread.
Pappardelle with Roasted Tomato, Spinach & Ricotta:
Ingredients
¼ cup good balsamic vinegar
3 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 medium tomatoes or 8 Roma tomatoes (about 600g worth) cut into wedges
375g pappardelle pasta (the wide ribbon shaped pasta)
100g baby spinach leaves, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
200g ricotta
salt to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180C.
Combine vinegar, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, and garlic in a small jug. Place tomato, in a single layer, on oven tray. Pour vinegar mixture over tomato. Roast, uncovered, for about 25 minutes or until tomato is browned lightly and softened.
Cook pasta until tender.
Combine drained pasta, tomato, spinach and oil in large bowl. Break ricotta into approx 3cm pieces. Add to pasta mixture, toss gently to combine.
A word of advice - use the best quality pasta you can get, or make your own. This is a dish of simple flavors, and the pasta is center stage.
Tomato and lentil soup:
Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup red lentils
400 gram can chopped tomatoes
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper to taste
Method
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until sizzling. Saute the chopped onion and garlic until the onion is soft.
Add the dried red lentils, can of tomatoes, tomato paste and 3 cups chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring often, until the lentils are soft and creamy.
Taste, and add salt and pepper as required.
This soup is great served with some toasted, buttery Turkish bread.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Granola Bars
So I like to make sure my daughter has a healthy lunch every day, including lots of fresh fruit and whole grains. My daughter inherited my sweet tooth, and would quite happily have her lunch box filled with fudge and Snickers. As a part of the recent food revolution in our house, I have been making lots of the "snacky" things that we eat from scratch. I can control the amount of salt and fat and sugar and preservatives - and importantly, I have at least expended effort and time for the junk food rather than just grabbing something from the cupboard. It's instilled an appreciation in our family for the "treats" versus healthier food.
In my quest to make healthier lunches for Claire, I researched what goes in to granola bars (muesli bars). There is an unholy amount of crap in most of the supermarket brands - and it seemed a fairly simple thing that I could make fresh myself on a more regular basis. Costco sells oatmeal in 5 kilo boxes (and huge bags and large tubs of everything else required), so they are really incredibly cheap to make.
As per my philosophy on brownies, I prefer a chewy granola bar. These aren't as chewy as some of the commercial bars, as they don't have the emulsifiers and guar gums etc in them.
Chewy Granola Bars:
Ingredients
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy works)
¼ cup golden syrup/honey
¼ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ - 2 cups cups oats (start with 1 ½ and add more as needed to get to the right consistency)
½ cup raisins/craisins/dried blueberries
½ cup chocolate chips
Method
Preheat oven to 175C. Combine 1st five ingredients, stir well. Add oats and whatever "extras" you are putting in. Mix well to ensure everything is evenly coated.
Press into 8 inch square pan coated with baking spray.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool in pan (important - they will fall apart if you don't let them cool in the pan), then cut and wrap up individually in cling wrap.
In my quest to make healthier lunches for Claire, I researched what goes in to granola bars (muesli bars). There is an unholy amount of crap in most of the supermarket brands - and it seemed a fairly simple thing that I could make fresh myself on a more regular basis. Costco sells oatmeal in 5 kilo boxes (and huge bags and large tubs of everything else required), so they are really incredibly cheap to make.
As per my philosophy on brownies, I prefer a chewy granola bar. These aren't as chewy as some of the commercial bars, as they don't have the emulsifiers and guar gums etc in them.
Chewy Granola Bars:
Ingredients
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy works)
¼ cup golden syrup/honey
¼ cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ - 2 cups cups oats (start with 1 ½ and add more as needed to get to the right consistency)
½ cup raisins/craisins/dried blueberries
½ cup chocolate chips
Method
Preheat oven to 175C. Combine 1st five ingredients, stir well. Add oats and whatever "extras" you are putting in. Mix well to ensure everything is evenly coated.
Press into 8 inch square pan coated with baking spray.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown.
Cool in pan (important - they will fall apart if you don't let them cool in the pan), then cut and wrap up individually in cling wrap.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Basic Sweet Muffin Mix
I've always loved eating blueberry muffins and since I was old enough to use the oven, I have loved making blueberry muffins. When I was a kid, I used boxed mixes and didn't really know much better. Once I was out on my own, I wanted to learn how to make my own from scratch. It took a few years of tweaking, but eventually my go-to recipe for sweet muffins emerged. You can use most fruits in this recipe, but blueberries are still my favorite. I've added cranberries and orange zest which was lovely, or you could add chocolate chips and raspberries. In general, add about 1 cup of whatever it is you are adding.
Basic Muffins:
Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 oil (canola or other mild tasting oil)
2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 - 1 cup of fruit/choc chips
Method
Heat oven to 200C/400F. Grease bottoms of muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a small bowl, beat egg then stir in milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour the liquid mix in with the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. It is likely to be a bit lumpy, but you should make sure to not over-mix.
Add whatever bits you are going to mix through, and distribute evenly into either a 12 regular size muffin tin or a 6 jumbo muffin tin.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
Basic Muffins:
Ingredients
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 oil (canola or other mild tasting oil)
2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 - 1 cup of fruit/choc chips
Method
Heat oven to 200C/400F. Grease bottoms of muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients - flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a small bowl, beat egg then stir in milk, oil and vanilla. Mix well.
Pour the liquid mix in with the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. It is likely to be a bit lumpy, but you should make sure to not over-mix.
Add whatever bits you are going to mix through, and distribute evenly into either a 12 regular size muffin tin or a 6 jumbo muffin tin.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Homestyle Biscuits & Gravy
For those of you not from the midwest of America, "biscuits & gravy" conjures up a horrible image of cookies with brown gloop on them - nothing could be further from the truth. To a good Kansan like myself, nothing says home cooking like fluffy buttermilk biscuits and creamy, peppery, sausage gravy. Transplanted to Australia, I found it impossible to get biscuits (scones are the only alternative here and they are emphatically *not* the same thing) and even more impossible to find American style breakfast sausage to make the gravy.
As is my wont, I ended up figuring out how to make it all myself. And just quietly, mine are better than what I've been able to find in most restaurants in the US. The only difference is the "home made" element - the biscuits are fluffy but crunchy on the outside and the sausage mix is made from freshly minced pork. Not a sausage factory in sight.
These are more work than going out to a restaurant for breakfast (unless you are me and it involves at least 15 hours on an airplane) but you will notice the difference. Trust me.
Breakfast Sausage Mix:
Ingredients
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Dash crushed red pepper flakes
Small dash ground cloves
1 pound (500 grams) ground pork
Method
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly, cover, and let sit overnight. The flavors need to come together before you cook the meat.
Buttermilk Biscuits
½ cup butter
2 ½ cups flour (sifted)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold buttermilk (plus a bit to get the consistency right, up to 1/4 cup)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1. Heat the oven to 230C/440F. Cut butter into small cubes and freeze for 15 minutes.
2. Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mix resembles a coarse meal.
3. Stir the buttermilk using a wooden spoon into the flour mixture just until combined to form the biscuit dough; do not over-mix.
4. Remove the biscuit dough to a lightly floured board and knead 4 - 5 turns. Pat/roll out to a thickness of 1 1/2 inches. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2 -inch cutter and place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter.
5. Bake the biscuits until golden-brown, about 15 minutes.
Sausage Gravy:
Brown the Breakfast Sausage Mix until there is no more pink in the meat. Using fresh pork mince, there may not be enough fat to make a good gravy - you will need to eyeball this. If there isn't, add some butter and let it melt. Stir in a rough equivalent of plain flour (e.g. if there are about three tablespoons of fat in the pan, add about three tablespoons of flour). This isn't science and it isn't precise. Cook the mix for about a minute, and then add some milk (give or take a cup to start with). The mixture will thicken quickly, so you need to stir well and be prepared to add some more milk (not too much at a time and mix really well each time to avoid lumps). As the mixture stabilises to your desired level of thickness, add some freshly ground pepper and some salt (to taste).
To serve, crack the biscuits in half and pour over some gravy.
Forgive yourself in advance for this meal.
As is my wont, I ended up figuring out how to make it all myself. And just quietly, mine are better than what I've been able to find in most restaurants in the US. The only difference is the "home made" element - the biscuits are fluffy but crunchy on the outside and the sausage mix is made from freshly minced pork. Not a sausage factory in sight.
These are more work than going out to a restaurant for breakfast (unless you are me and it involves at least 15 hours on an airplane) but you will notice the difference. Trust me.
Breakfast Sausage Mix:
Ingredients
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Dash crushed red pepper flakes
Small dash ground cloves
1 pound (500 grams) ground pork
Method
Mix all ingredients together thoroughly, cover, and let sit overnight. The flavors need to come together before you cook the meat.
Buttermilk Biscuits
½ cup butter
2 ½ cups flour (sifted)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold buttermilk (plus a bit to get the consistency right, up to 1/4 cup)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1. Heat the oven to 230C/440F. Cut butter into small cubes and freeze for 15 minutes.
2. Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in butter until mix resembles a coarse meal.
3. Stir the buttermilk using a wooden spoon into the flour mixture just until combined to form the biscuit dough; do not over-mix.
4. Remove the biscuit dough to a lightly floured board and knead 4 - 5 turns. Pat/roll out to a thickness of 1 1/2 inches. Cut the dough into rounds using a 2 1/2 -inch cutter and place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet. Brush tops with melted butter.
5. Bake the biscuits until golden-brown, about 15 minutes.
Sausage Gravy:
Brown the Breakfast Sausage Mix until there is no more pink in the meat. Using fresh pork mince, there may not be enough fat to make a good gravy - you will need to eyeball this. If there isn't, add some butter and let it melt. Stir in a rough equivalent of plain flour (e.g. if there are about three tablespoons of fat in the pan, add about three tablespoons of flour). This isn't science and it isn't precise. Cook the mix for about a minute, and then add some milk (give or take a cup to start with). The mixture will thicken quickly, so you need to stir well and be prepared to add some more milk (not too much at a time and mix really well each time to avoid lumps). As the mixture stabilises to your desired level of thickness, add some freshly ground pepper and some salt (to taste).
To serve, crack the biscuits in half and pour over some gravy.
Forgive yourself in advance for this meal.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Summer Berries & Cherries
Summer memories for me involve memories of the summer fruits - watermelons, berries and cherries are my favorites. As watermelon isn't known for its good baking qualities, my baking interest turns to berries and cherries. This first recipe is somewhere between a cobbler and a clafouti - but it is super easy and a delicious way to finish off some summer cherries. I've tried this with mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries and raspberries) and it just doesn't come out as well. You can vary the amount of sugar in the batter to suit your own tastes - the recipe calls for 3/4 cup and that is my optimal level but you could probably make it with as little as 1/2 a cup. Also, if you don't have a cherry pitter...run out and get one. I only got my cherry pitter a few weeks ago (in advance of our French dinner party) and I fell in love with it instantly.
Cherry Cobbler:
Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk
3 - 4 cups pitted cherries
¾ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Method:
Preheat oven to 175C. Place butter in 9 x 13 pan to melt (give or take 5 minutes, but make sure not to brown the butter).
Cherry Cobbler:
Ingredients
½ cup butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk
3 - 4 cups pitted cherries
¾ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Method:
Preheat oven to 175C. Place butter in 9 x 13 pan to melt (give or take 5 minutes, but make sure not to brown the butter).
Stir together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and the baking powder. Mix in the milk until well blended. Pour in pan over butter. DO NOT STIR. (sorry for yelling - but you really don't want to stir)
Toss the cherries with ¾ cup sugar and 1 T flour. Distribute over batter. DO NOT STIR. (again, sorry for yelling...really don't stir this okay?)
Bake 50 – 60 minutes.
If you are looking for something delicious to do with some blueberries, blueberry scones are a nice idea. I've made this recipe a few times, and they are a real treat. I like to serve them with some lemon butter, and that flavor combination just makes me melt. I use fresh blueberries in this recipe, but I do freeze them so that they are easier to work with and less likely to give you bright purple scones.
Blueberry Scones:
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
150gr blueberries
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
150gr blueberries
Method
Preheat oven to 200C. Spray a shallow 20cm round pan with some non-stick spray.
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour in enough buttermilk to mix to a sticky dough - you may not need the full 1 ¼ cups of buttermilk, so take it slowly. Fold in blueberries.
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Pour in enough buttermilk to mix to a sticky dough - you may not need the full 1 ¼ cups of buttermilk, so take it slowly. Fold in blueberries.
Gently knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Use hand to flatten out dough to about 3cm thick. Cut 8 5.5cm rounds from dough. Place rounds, slightly touching, in prepared pan.
Bake, uncovered, in hot oven about 20 minutes or until browned lightly.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Grimoire? Food Witch? Huh? Also, pudding.
By way of an explanation of the name of this blog, it's all my husband's doing. Anthony's nickname for me for a very long time has been "food witch". I'm meant to believe this is because I go into the kitchen, scrabble about with pots and pans and POOF out comes something delicious.
I just simply love to cook - I'm certainly no chef and I have no aspirations for a career in a kitchen somewhere. Cooking is a creative outlet and a major source of stress relief for me after a long day at work and being a mom/wife/daughter. My family is all from the Midwest of the US, and like so many cultures around the world, we use food to show love and care for people. Nothing like making someone a pie to show them you care. I have learned to source premium ingredients and to explore varied cuisines, but really I'm still just trying to show people my love for them when I cook.
A Grimoire is a witch's textbook...filled with spells. Anthony thinks I should write a cookbook with the same name...I debated long and hard about a cook book versus a blog - and obviously the blog won. I don't want all of the administrivia and blah blah work blah that is involved in trying to get published. So this blog will be the textbook of good cookery, and hopefully I will learn something about food as I write it. Hopefully as a minimum you'll get a good recipe for brownies out of this exercise.
I hope you are enjoying the blog...I'd really welcome feedback - the deathly silence makes me feel like I'm talking to myself. Maybe that's a good thing. But really - I want to hear what recipes are of interest, what you want to see more of, what you made and how it turned out. In return, I promise to try and figure out how to get pictures working on this damn thing!
To leave you today with a little morsel, here is my recipe for Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding - a British delight which I first discovered here in Australia. It is everything I enjoy in a dessert, and super delicious. Use the very best cocoa you can source, it is the big ticket flavor item in this dessert. Served with some thickened cream, this is comfort food at its finest. For those who use packet mixes, this should very easily replace them forever. It is no more difficult, and infinitely nicer tasting. I promise.
Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding
Cake:
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Method
For the cake, mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8” casserole dish.
Topping:
Ingredients
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 ¼ cups hot water
Method
For topping stir together sugars and cocoa and sprinkle evenly on top of cake mix. Pour over hot water. Do NOT stir. Bake in a 160C oven for 35 – 40 minutes until center is almost set.
I just simply love to cook - I'm certainly no chef and I have no aspirations for a career in a kitchen somewhere. Cooking is a creative outlet and a major source of stress relief for me after a long day at work and being a mom/wife/daughter. My family is all from the Midwest of the US, and like so many cultures around the world, we use food to show love and care for people. Nothing like making someone a pie to show them you care. I have learned to source premium ingredients and to explore varied cuisines, but really I'm still just trying to show people my love for them when I cook.
A Grimoire is a witch's textbook...filled with spells. Anthony thinks I should write a cookbook with the same name...I debated long and hard about a cook book versus a blog - and obviously the blog won. I don't want all of the administrivia and blah blah work blah that is involved in trying to get published. So this blog will be the textbook of good cookery, and hopefully I will learn something about food as I write it. Hopefully as a minimum you'll get a good recipe for brownies out of this exercise.
I hope you are enjoying the blog...I'd really welcome feedback - the deathly silence makes me feel like I'm talking to myself. Maybe that's a good thing. But really - I want to hear what recipes are of interest, what you want to see more of, what you made and how it turned out. In return, I promise to try and figure out how to get pictures working on this damn thing!
To leave you today with a little morsel, here is my recipe for Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding - a British delight which I first discovered here in Australia. It is everything I enjoy in a dessert, and super delicious. Use the very best cocoa you can source, it is the big ticket flavor item in this dessert. Served with some thickened cream, this is comfort food at its finest. For those who use packet mixes, this should very easily replace them forever. It is no more difficult, and infinitely nicer tasting. I promise.
Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding
Cake:
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
Method
For the cake, mix the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla and beat until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8” casserole dish.
Topping:
Ingredients
½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 ¼ cups hot water
Method
For topping stir together sugars and cocoa and sprinkle evenly on top of cake mix. Pour over hot water. Do NOT stir. Bake in a 160C oven for 35 – 40 minutes until center is almost set.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Coconut & Pecan Slice
Here in Australia we call it a slice...in America it is a "bar" but regardless of what you call it, this recipe is delicious. I don't like coconut very much and I'm not a huge fan of nuts in food (I am actually a kind of an idiosyncratically ridiculous, picky eater with some things) but I love this slice. It is rich and sweet, but just a lovely combination of flavors. Everyone that eats this one wants the recipe...posting it here should lighten my work load. Something different for folks who don't like chocolate but feel like a brownie sort of a sweet.
Crust:
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Method
1. Heat the oven to 170C/340F .
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the flour and mix well.
3. Place the mixture in a parchment-lined 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan, pressing the mixture firmly onto the base of the pan to form a packed, even layer.
4. Bake the crust until lightly golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside until cool.
Filling:
Ingredients
2 cups light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
2 cups pecan pieces, smooshed
Method
1. Heat the oven to 170 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, vanilla and eggs well. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the coconut and pecan pieces.
4. Pour the filling over the cooled crust, spreading evenly with a spatula. Bake until set, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool before cutting and serving.
Crust:
Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
Method
1. Heat the oven to 170C/340F .
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the flour and mix well.
3. Place the mixture in a parchment-lined 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan, pressing the mixture firmly onto the base of the pan to form a packed, even layer.
4. Bake the crust until lightly golden, about 20 to 25 minutes. Set aside until cool.
Filling:
Ingredients
2 cups light brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
2 cups pecan pieces, smooshed
Method
1. Heat the oven to 170 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, vanilla and eggs well. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Combine the flour mixture with the egg mixture until thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the coconut and pecan pieces.
4. Pour the filling over the cooled crust, spreading evenly with a spatula. Bake until set, about 40 to 50 minutes. Cool before cutting and serving.
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