Chewy Choc Chip Cookies

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 170g unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg plus another yolk
• 1 cup packed brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Line cookie sheets with baking paper and preheat oven to 165 C.

Sift flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

 

In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, brown and white sugars until well blended. Beat in egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract until creamy. Add dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the choc chips (today I used a mixture of small milk chocolate chips, and large white choc melts). Put heaped tablespoon sized balls (shape by hand) onto baking sheets, and leave plenty of space in between as they spread.

 

Bake for 12-15 minutes. They should be lightly brown around the edges, but still look and feel slightly uncooked in the middle. Remove from oven and leave to cool on trays for a few minutes, then move to cooling racks.

One degree of separation

My husband gave me the 'Gourmet Farmer' series 1 DVD for my birthday earlier this month, and we have been thoroughly enjoying working our way through it. Matthew Evans (Sydney food critic) takes you on a journey as he moves from the big smoke and rat race, to a farm in Tasmania, where he grows his own food, mixes it with the local foodies and cooks up some inspiring meals. If you've ever seen River Cottage (Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's empire), its pretty similar, just as enjoyable, and he calls ingredients by their aussie -known name (zucchini instead of courgette, eggplant instead of aubergine... you get the idea)! Both these guys are great inspiration and source of information for food lovers, or people like us who are eager to increase the productivity of our little farming plot and get that pendulum swinging further in the direction of self-sustaining, rather than supermarket reliant!

http://www.sbs.com.au/shows/gourmetfarmer

Matt Evans introduces his vision for food sourcing:
to either:
 1. grow it himself,
 2. source it directly from the grower, or
 3. source it from someone who knows the person who grew it by name.
The idea is that the food has up to only one degree of separation from the farm to your source, none if you can help it.

This had me thinking. Could we be getting more of our food from growers that we can actually talk to? I headed off to my local butcher this morning, and was pleased to purchase beef that he grows on his own farm in Kotupna (about 40 kms from where I purchased it), and pork that his friend and neighbour grew. 

This got us onto a conversation about free range chicken. He sells Hazeldene chicken, which he said isn't free range, although advised that he can buy in free range chook - but usually cant sell it as well as his Hazeldene's products - for one simple reason. Free range costs more. If I want to buy it, I have to commit to 6kg minimum lots. Better get a deep freeze.

Think about the difference in eggs that come from free range chooks, compared with cage or "barn' chickens. Non-free range eggs are pale and anaemic looking.  They don't have that gorgeous bright orange yolk. And their taste doesn't compare. The same applies for the meat that comes out of them. Do you really want to eat meat from a bird (or any animal for that matter) that has spent its life in a cage too small to build up enough speed to raise a sweat!? Never experienced natural light? Thanks, but I'm not putting that in my body. For me, the argument is ethical, as well as nutritional.

So the butcher tells me this morning that the local supermarket chain selling free range chicken in those bright green plastic trays is in fact, 'gas flushed'. He explained this means that all the air is removed from the meat (kind of like the cryovac process), then preservative gas is pumped back in, which doubles the shelf life. Hmm. Delicious?? Ok... what are my alternatives? Grow it myself. Get the free range from the butcher which has a total kill to plate life of 7 days max. Yep, let's do that.

I'm going to have a go at living Matt Evan's philosophy grow it, get it straight from the grower, or someone that knows the grower. The supermarket will be the exception (the back up plan), not the rule.

Wish me luck!


Snow peas from our friends' garden, picked last night. Total carbon miles = 8.

Eggs from our gorgeous happy girls, including one super sized (101g) laid this morning. Tomorrow's breakfast. This is what I love about nature! Imperfections. Blue egg from the Araucana.

Quince

Its not the right time of year, but here are some photos of honey baked quinces I did a few months back.

Quinces oxidise very quickly, but I don't think it impacts on the delicious flavour. The skin is pretty tough. I've done this recipe before and removed the skin, but I think they work best if you leave it on, as the skin holds all the juice inside. The skin is yummy and softens once its baked.

This is Stephanie Alexander's Honey Baked Quinces, from 'Cooks Companion' which is our home's most referenced book. Unfortunately I didn't get any shots of the finished article, but they turn ruby red when done, you drizzle the pan juices over when serving. Good with yoghurt or double cream. But double cream goes with everything!

Ingredients

• 3 Quinces
• 80grams butter
• 4 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup water

Method

Serves: 2-3

1. Pre-heat oven to 150 C.
2. Halve but do not peel quinces, then remove pips and core from each with a spoon to make a neat hollow.
3. Select a gratin dish that will hold quince halves snugly and grease with 1/3 of the butter.
4. Arrange quinces halves hollows uppermost. Divide remaining butter and honey between hollows and pour water gently around sides.
5. Cover with foil and bake for at least 3 hours until quinces are soft and a rich red. (Turn quinces over after 1 1/2 hours)
6. Serve hot or warm with hollows filled with honey juices and offer thick or clothed cream.

Sticky Date Pudding

Stephanie Alexander's Sticky Toffee Pudding - a favorite in our house:

pudding
170g dates, stoned and chopped
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
300 ml boiling water
60 g unsalted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (or castor)
2 eggs
170g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

sauce
400g brown sugar
1 cup thick cream
250g unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split

Preheat oven to 180 celcius and butter an 18cm square cake tin. Mix dates and bicarb. Pour over water and leave to stand.

Cream butter and sugar, then add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Fold flour in gently, then stir in date mixture and vanilla (I used vanilla bean instead) and pour into prepared tin. Bake in centre of oven for 30-40 minutes until cooked when tested with skewer.

We always do these in individual ramekins, they cook in about 20 minutes and are fun to eat.

To make the sauce, bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean. Pour a little sauce over warm pudding(s) and return to oven for 2-3 minutes so sauce can soak in. Serve with extra sauce to pass around.

Hope you enjoy as much as we do.

P394 Cook's Companion 2nd edition.

Lamb Shanks

I love weekends at home! Slept til nearly mid day today - must have needed it.


Today I'm cooking one of my hubby's favorite meals, to celebrate his birthday yesterday. Thought I'd share the recipes and some photos of the cooking.


Main - Lamb Shanks, crunchy smashed spuds and greens
Dessert - Home made vanilla bean icecream and sticky date pudding


Apparently lamb shanks used to be dirt cheap - they were considered unclassy, and butchers could hardly give them away. Yesterday I paid $4.50 each! They are about half that at the Vic Market, but unfortunately in a regional town, we pay a premium.  Slave to food fashion.


Lamb Shanks
Cant remember where this recipe originated from, but I have bastardised it anyway, so here's the adaption i used today for 10 shanks. Would normally do about 4-6, depending on their size, but we're feeding a crowd tonight. I have put in [brackets] the standard recipe.


1. Rub freshly cracked pepper and sea salt into 10 shanks [4 shanks];
2. Smash 3 dried chillies and 2 heaped teaspoons of whole coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle or other 'smasher' of choice [1 dried chilli, 1 teaspoon whole coriander];
3. Finely chop 1-2 twigs of rosemary (minus the twigs) and mix into the chilli and coriander mix [1 twig], along with a teaspoon or two of dried marjoram.
4. Rub that all over the shanks, press it in really well and don't forget the ends of the shanks.
5. Dust shanks with plain flour.
6. Heat oil in a thick bottomed casserole dish (I used two, because I did 10 shanks - suggest you make sure the shanks will fit comfortably in a dish before you start, so you don't have any mid-cooking crises and wind up flapping your arms around your kitchen while the contents of your cooking dish cupboard pours onto the floor... not that this happened to me, i'm far too organised and well prepared...)
7. Brown the shanks on all sides (I did two at a time in each pan), remove from pan and set aside. There will be some black bits on the pan, don't worry, its all part of the taste sensation.
8. Quarter and slice a bunch of celery, 3 or 4 carrots, 3 onions, 5 garlic cloves and add to the pans, dividing equally or in proportion to the number of shanks you're going to fit in each. [If you're doing a normal sized batch of 4 shanks, use 6 sticks of celery, 1 carrot, 1 onion and 1-2 garlic cloves].
9. Once vegetables are soft, add 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and cook until syrupy. This doesn't take long. I used two pans, so 2 tablespoons in each for those playing at home. [2 tablespoons balsamic]
10. Add 2 wineglasses of dry white wine [about 170ml if you're doing standard size batch]. Cook for a couple of minutes.
11. Add 12 anchovy fillets [6 anchovy fillets for standard], and 4 tins of whole peeled tomatoes [2 x 400g tins for standard].
12. Let it cook and mix it up good.
13. Return shanks to the pan, try to get them as low in the dish as possible with the juice and veges, bring to the boil, put the lid on.
14. Put into oven 180 degrees for 1.5 hours, then lid off for another 30 minutes. I started mine in the oven at about 12.30pm, and have it on about 140-150. They should be perfect by dinner time.
15. Check every half hour or so, moving the shanks around so they all get the same amount of time submerged.


You can serve these with mash and veges, or whatever you like. I'm doing smashed baked potato - to do this, peel (optional) and chop your spuds, bake on a sturdy tray with olive oil. when soft enough to squash them, use a masher to push them down. add more oil, and salt, and bake some more. Smoosh them around again after 5-10 minutes. When they're done they'll be all crispy and chunky. Will try to post a photo later so you get the gist.




Here's some photos:

Chilli, coriander, marjoram

Rosemary

Chilli, coriander, marjoram and rosemarty rubbed into shanks.

Dusted with flour

 Browning on the stove

 Starting to worry they wont all fit

 Onion, garlic, carrot, celery

 The view from my kitchen window

 Keiramoo, lady of the house

 shanks have been returned to pan

 thankfully they all fit!

 and after some adjusting and coaxing, they fit in the oven. PHEW!

Just quietly... smells awesome!

Hopefully I'll have time later to post some shots and recipe of the sticky date pudding...

Happy weekend everyone!

x

Hurry Curry!

'The hotter the better' my hubby says, while I prefer the kind that is rich, a bit spicy and a lot flavoursome! We both agree, life is not the same without curries!

My first exposure to the wonderful world of curry was in the 90's when my beautiful and talented Mum went through a phase of cooking recipes by Madhur Jaffrey [an indian actress turned celebrity chef]. She even had us eating vegetarian and not complaining!

Curry is becoming one of the favored comfort foods in our house, and is one of the frequented go-to dishes when we don't know what to cook. Until recently, I'm ashamed to say I hadn't experimented far with curries - the occasional red or green curry paste out of a jar (the shame!), or the only recipe I knew... Jamie Oliver's "Favorite Curry Sauce" - http://homepage.mac.com/kevinread/blogwavestudio/LH20041008194501/LHA20050312184224/index.html, which is versatile, easy, and super tasty... and most of the ingredients are easy to find in the local supermarket.

After spending some time recently in Melaka (Malaysia), where we ate curry four meals a day, I have decided to learn more about curries - and what better way than to get cooking!

Here is a recipe I'm loving at the moment - have substituted chicken once and it was great too:

Lamb Pasanda
According to my highly reliable and accurate google machine, Pasanda is a popular North Indian and Pakistani dish, derived from a meal served to emperors. The word 'pasanda' is derived from the Urdu word 'pasande' meaning "the favorite one" which refers to the prime cut of meat traditionally used when preparing.

Serves 4-6.

Ingreds:
- 600g bonelss shoulder or leg of lamb [I have used cheap cuts and chops - as well as the cut per recipe, both delicious - just cook for longer [and slower!] if you have cheaper/tougher cuts].
- 2 tbsp Garlic and Ginger paste (this is just 1:1 mix of garlic and ginger - I do it in the food processor/bamix but you could use mortar and pestle or just cut  really finely if you're camping in the outback and don't have the above options at your disposal.
- 55 g ghee (of 4 tablespoons veg oil or groundnut oil) - I think its worth finding ghee - it has an interesting aroma and doesn't burn like butter.
- 3 large onions, chopped.
- 1 fresh green chilli, deseeded and chopped (use 2 if you like to taste the hotness!)
- 2 green cardamom pods, bruised (assume there is a technical way to do this, but i just press on it with the side of the knife blade)
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half (last time I made this, I didn't have any sticks, so used a teaspoon or so of ground cinnamon - which worked okay)
-  2 tsp ground coriander (I like to use the whole seeds and give them a bash in the mortar and pestle - fresher or something)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 250 ml water
- 150 ml double cream
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garam masala
- paprik and toasted flaked almonds to garnish.

1. Cut meat into thin slices, then place slices between clingfilm and poud with a rolling pin or meat mallet to make them even thinner [I have made this about 4 times and never bothered - keep it simple!] ut the lamb slices in a non-metallic bowl, add the garlic and ginger paste and use your hands to rub the paste into the lamb. Cover and set aside in a cool place to marinate for 2 hours (at least!)

2. Heat a large frying pan with a tight fitting lid over a medium-high heat, then add the ghee. Add the onions and chilli and cook, stirring frequently, for 5-8 minutes until the onions are golden brown.

3. Stir in the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, coriander, cumin and turmeric and continue stirring for 2 minutes or until spices are aromatic.

4. Add the meat to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes until it is brown on all sdes and the fat begins to separate. Stir in the water and bring to the boil, still stirring. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting, cover the pan tightly and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the meat is tender.

5. When the lamb is tender, stir the cream and ground almonds together in a bowl. Beat in 6 tablespoons fo the cooking liquid from the pan, then gradually beat this mixture back into the pan. Stir in the sale and garam masala. Simmer for a further 5 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.

6. Garnish with paprika and toasted flaked almonds and serve immediately. Great for leftovers too.

I like serving this one with red quinoa - it is nutty, gluten free and just super tasty. It doesn't clag together like rice, and I think it reheats better too.

I also love a little raita with this...
grab a small frying pan on medium heat - when the pan's hot, throw in a dozen peppercorns and a teaspoon of whole cumin seeds. Jiggle the pan, toasting until they release their aroma - should be less than one minute. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then bash them up in your mortar and pestle. Peel and cut a small cucumber into small pieces (remove the seeds if you like, but I like it with them in). Place 175g natural yoghurt, 1/4 teaspoon raw sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt into a small bowl and mix well. Mix the bashed up spices into the yoghurt and serve with a pinch of paprika over the top. Pappodums add value too!         from Curry Bible by Love Food

Tonight I am trying my first Beef Madras, from the same book:

This one originates from southern India, getting its name from the city of Madras, now known as Chennai.

1-2 dried red chillies (I used 3)
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp black mustard seeds (I only had brown)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp pepper
140g creamed coconut, grated, dissolved in 300ml boiling water (i don't even know what this means, I used coconut milk from a can instead)
55 g ghee or 4 tbsp veg oil or groundnut oil
2 onions, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
700 g lean stewing steak, trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes (I used what I had, 300g chuck steak, and 400g scotch fillet - hoping they work out alright!)
250ml beef stock
lemon juice
salt

1. Chop chillies and put them in small bowl with coriander, turmeric, mustard seeds, ginger and pepper. Stir in a little of the coconut milk (or whatever you decide to use!) and make a thin paste.

2. Heat a large frying pan with a tight fitting lid or a flameproof casserole over a medium-high heat, then add the ghee. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown. Add the spice paste and stir for 2 minutes, or until you can smell the spices.

3. Add the meat and stock, and bring to the boil. Recude the heat to its lowest level, cover tightly and simmer for 90 minutes, or until the beef is tender. Check occasionally that the meat isn't catching on the base of the pan, and stir in a little extra water or stock if necessary.

4. Uncover the pan and stir in the remaining dissolved coconut cream with the lemon juice and salt to taste. Bring to the boil, stirring, then reduce the heat again and simmer, still uncovered, until the sauce reduces slightly, serve immediately.

Thanks to Wiki, and 'Curry Bible' by Love Food

...

Now sitting eating the Madras... the full can of coconut milk made it a bit runny, and had to cook it off - would use half next time, and use coconut cream if possible. Other than that, very enjoyable! Having steamed green beans, and toasted naan as the support act.

Beetroot Recipes

A friend asked for a few beetroot recipes as she has a glut and is looking for inspiration, so here goes:

Pickled Beetroot (Fowlers Vac style)

8 medium beet
1 litre of vinegar, either malt or white
1/2 cup granulated sugar
25 g Sausetta Blended Spices (or just an italian herb mix) if you're not using this recipe in the 70's!

1. Wash beetroot to remove soil, taking care not to break skin for beets bleed easily;
2. Place in saucepan with sufficient water to cover, bring to the boil, simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or untiol, when beets are pinched, skin removes easily;
3. Remove beets to cold water. REmove skins;
4. Cut into slices, quarters or dice;
5. Place rubber rings on throughly clean and just rinsed FV  jars/bottles;
6. Fill bottles with prepared beets, shaking or bumping bottle on palm of hand to pack firmly, leaving 12 mm gap from top of bottle;
7. Combine venegar, sugar and Sausetta, cover, bring to boil, then cool. Strain through a fine nylon sieve or muslin.
8. When cold, pour over beets to the brim of the jar, using a pakcing stick to remove any air pockets;
9. Place covers and clips on bottles;
10. Place in the preserver with required level of cold water (mine is thermometre manual type, so i'd do 3/4 of the way up the jars;
11. Process in presever using 'standard pickle preserving method'. (see below)

Standard pickle preserving method:

THERMOMETRE CONTROL: Bring temp slowly up to 92 deg celcius, taking at least 45 minutes, then maintain this temp for 45 mins.
THERMOSTAT CONTROL: Turn thermostat dial to 92 degs, switch on at power point, and leave on for 1/14 hours. Remove jars from preserver to a wire cake rack or wooden board to cool for 12-18 hours. Remove clip. Test for vacuum seal. Wipe bottles clean with damp cloth. Label.




Hugh Fearnley's
Chocolate and Beetroot Brownies
(Clair, if you make these, I want one!)

Ingredients

• 250g/10oz good, dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 250g/10oz unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for greasing
• 250g/10oz caster sugar
• 3 free-range eggs
• 150g self-raising flour (we used wholemeal self-raising)
• 250g beetroot, boiled until tender, peeled and grated

Method: How to make chocolate and beetroot brownies

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Grease a baking tin of approximately 20 x 30 x 3cm and line the bottom with baking parchment.

2. Break up the chocolate into pieces, cut the butter into cubes then mix them up a bit in a heatproof bowl. As the oven begins to warm up, put the bowl onto one of the shelves for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter starts to melt. Stir, and put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.

3. Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl until combined, then beat in the melted chocolate and butter until smooth. Gently fold in the flour then the beetroot – be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.

Be careful not to overmix or it will make the brownies tough.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over the top with a spatula. Bake for about 20 minutes. A knife or skewer pushed into the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Don't be tempted to overcook them! Remove the tin from the oven and leave on wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

Roasted Beetroot and Orange Chutney
880 g beet, trimmed and washed;
zert of 1 orange
150 ml white wine vinegar
150 g white granulated sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat oven to 200 deg c
Wrap beetroot in foil and bake for 1 hour, or until tender. Remove and cool a little before peeling. Grate the cooked beetroot.
Finely chop the orange zest and place it in a saucepan with vinegar, sugar, cinnamon stick, and onion, and bring slowly to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the grated beetroot and cook for 10 minutes until reduced. Remove from head, pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal.
Sterilise in a hot-water bath for 30 minutes, or store in fridge.

(Syd Pemberton - Jams & Preserves)

Beetroot and Apple Chutney

750 g beetroot, peeled and grated
500 g apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 onion, chopped
750 ml malt vinegar
500 g white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated fresh giner
200 g raisins

Place all ingreds in a preserving pan, and leave to stand for 2 hours. Place pan over a medium heat and slowly bring contents to the boil. Simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours until reduced, thick and syrupy. Remove from heat, pour into warm, sterilised jars and seal.

also, check out one of my older posts for Beetroot Icecream!

Preserving, Fowlers Vacola Style

Last week I was lucky enough to be gifted a car load of Fowlers Vacola gear from a family friend, after spending the last 6 months trawling op shops, slowly acquiring second hand jars, clips and other parephernalia. Unfortunately most of our summer fruit crop has been harvested, and dealt with in other ways - fresh eating, jams and poaching mostly, so I will just be dreaming about what I will do with next year's apricots, mulberries, plums, peaches and nectarines. All is not lost though, as I have one later variety of plum, which is just hitting its straps now. I cleared all the fruit off it this morning - only about 25-30 plums. I think they were slightly under ripe as they were quite firm, but the resident possum has started eating them this week, so I thought it was time to salvage what I could.

I was given 3 preserving units - the thermometer type. They have been well used and loved by their previous owners, but I'm confident they will still work just as well as the day they were purchased.

Here's some photos of the gear I acquired:

One of the 3 preserving units:

 A book my hubby found me in an op shop for a couple of dollars - now my bible!

Purchased from ebay seller znak42 - great supplier - very fast delivery.

Jars from a local op shop - $1 each including lids. Only one of the 12 I bought was unusable - with a chip at the top, couldn't see it with the lid taped on, but I figure pretty good value all the same.

Some of the treasures from Shirley:

Left: Size 2 lids, they are so cute! She gave me some sauce bottles these lids.
Middle: Cherry pip remover
Right: I think something to remove core from apple/pear

Size 2 clips to go with the lids. Shirley's secret is to store the clips with a bit of vaseline on them, to prevent rusting, the wrap in cotton, see below:

Support crew and chief sampler:

Jar tongs, to remove the hot things from the preserving unit;
Wooden packing stick?
Various peelers and corers

 My gear!

 What I used today:

Also needed chopping board, peeler, knife

These are plastic lids that snap on to the preserving jars (these fit size 3 jars) once you have opened them and are storing in the fridge for a couple of days.

Support crew again:

These are my brand new rubber seals, my bible says to soak them in warm water for 15 minutes before stretching over the top of the jar. They are for 3 inch jars, but start about 2 inches across before stretching.

Rubber seal on the jar, with home grown plums. I only had enough for 2 jars of plums, and since the preserver takes 12 jars, I decided to do a batch of apples we scrumped from a roadside recently.

 Once the fruit is in the jar, you pour in either water, or sugar syrup. I used sugar syrup, about 2 cups water:1 cup sugar.

First jar ready to place into the preserver! Yeehaa!

The first lonely jar waiting to be accompanied by another 11 jars.

And here they are: (about 4 hours later!) 10 x apple, some with cinnamon stick, some with cloves, some with just the syrup, and 2 x plum:
Snug as bugs in a hug!

Thermomerom Shirley came up beautifully after a gentle wash, here it is keeping an eye on my precious fruit.

So now I am patiently waiting for the temp to reach 92 degrees celcius, where I"ll keep it for one hour.
Great rainy day activity!