whisks' pasties

one of my friends, miss cathryn, recently made some pasties, and inspired me to do the same. this is what i did with what i had. what i made was by no means authentic cornish pasties, but i don't think i heard a single complaint. i didn't have any lard, so i used the 2 cartons of sour cream i had in the fridge to make the pastry. i didn't have turnips or swedes and wasn't going to the shops just to get for that either, so i did the sacrilegious and used carrots(!!!).

i really did go out of my way to not be authentic, didn't i? but they were delicious, and with that, i rest my case.

makes 16 big pasties

pastry

2x300ml cartons sour cream
4 cups strong bakers' flour

combine together in the thermomix or food processor until the flour and cream come together. tip the mixture onto a lightly floured board and knead lightly into a ball and place into a plastic bag. seal and place in the refrigerator to rest.

filling

1 large onion
3 large carrots (or turnips/swedes, if you want to get it right)
30 grams olive oil
1 kilo skirt steak
3 large potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 eggs

line 3 baking trays with baking paper.

place the onion and carrots/swedes/turnips in the thermomix bowl and chop on speed 5 until just chopped - you can hear when this is done and this takes about 3 or 4 seconds. add the olive oil and saute for 8 minutes at 100C on speed 1.
i like my steak and potatoes cubed by hand, but this can be chopped up with the thermomix, if desired. if you want to chop the steak with your thermomix, cut the meat into 4 centimetre cubes and chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes before chopping. turbo once or twice to get the consistency you like. peel the potatoes and quarter, and place into the thermomix bowl. chop the potatoes using the turbo function pressing the turbo button once or twice to get the size you like. combine the carrots, onions, potatoes and meat together and season generously.

preheat the oven to 200C.

retrieve the pastry and divide it into 16 portions and roll each portion into a thin disc. you will be surprised at how thin this pastry can be rolled and even more surprised at how strong it is...at least i was - it holds the filling admirably. once all the discs have been rolled, divide the filling amongst them. fold the pastry over and press to seal, then crimp however you wish. if you don't do the crimping thing, just press the tines of a fork around the pastry - not only does it add a decorative feature, it helps to seal the pasty. place the pasties on the prepared baking trays. place the egg(s) into a bowl and whisk lightly. brush the pasties with the egg generously and bake the pasties for 25 minutes or until golden.

vanilla custard, just like grandma's

on saturday, i got together with a few friends who were longing for some old fashioned comfort...old fashioned comfort food. so after having a nice comforting risotto, i made vanilla custard from scratch. no custard powder, and the yellow in the custard came from the eggs. yolks to be specific.

the verdict? one of the guys sighed and proclaimed it to be just like gran's and breathed in all the vanilla-iness. and everyone nodded in agreement and continued eating their custard. lol.

2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons maize cornflour
3 egg yolks
1/2 litre milk
vanilla bean paste to taste

pop it all into the thermomix bowl and set the thermomix to cook at 80 degrees for 7 minutes on speed 4. so good. so easy. no comparison could be made with the bought stuff.

congee

congee is a rice porridge commonly eaten for breakfast in asia, but i love it any time of the day for its comforting qualities. it is basically rice cooked in lots of water until the rice is soft; the amount of water used depends upon one's preferences and the region where one comes from. while i'm not cantonese, this is a cantonese version.

2 cloves garlic
a small knob of peeled ginger
a generous slurp of sesame oil
a generous slurp of rice bran oil
100 grams jasmine rice, rinsed
1 teaspoon salt
a splash or chinese rice wine
1750 grams water

place the ginger and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.

add the sesame and ricebran oil to the thermomix bowl and saute the ginger and garlic for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 2.

add the rice, salt and rice wine and saute for 3 minutes at 100 degrees on reverse speed 2.

add the water. bring to the boil at 100 degrees, reverse speed 2, and reduce the temperature to 90 degrees. cook for 25 minutes. raise the temperature to 100 degrees and allow to come to the boil. add your choice of meat and vegetables and allow to cook for a few moments before serving.

my favourite addition is chicken...i also like preserved bean curd with it...sigh...

cauliflower au gratin

this is one of my favourite versions of cauliflower cheese. i think it's the addition of horseradish, shallot and garlic - it makes it just that little bit exciting.

this is all perfectly do-able without a thermomix, but when i was converting it to a thermomix friendly recipe, i decided i didn't want to make this without a thermomix anymore - the thermomix makes it all too easy...such is my dependence...oh, woe is me (not really)...i'm a junkie...

1 cauliflower
2 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
250 grams water
1 teaspoon stock concentrate
250 grams cream
1 to 2 tablespoons horseradish, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)
60 grams gruyere cheese

preheat the oven to 220°C. cut the cauliflower into small florets. reserve the stems. place the florets in varoma and set aside.

place the reserved cauliflower stems, shallot, and garlic into the thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 5. add the butter and saute for 3 minutes at 100°C on speed 1. pour in the water and stock concentrate. set the cauliflower filled varoma on the thermomix bowl. cook on varoma temperature for 10 minutes on speed 4. most of the liquid will have evaporated.

remove the varoma and set aside.

add the cream, horseradish, salt, and pepper to the thermomix bowl, and puree the contents on speed 8 for 15 seconds.

gently coat the cauliflower florets with the cream mixture in an ovenproof terrine or casserole.

place the cheese into the cleaned thermomix bowl and grate on speed 8 for 10 seconds.

top the cauliflower with the cheese and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

pasta cooked in one pot

sometimes when i go shopping and i see semi preprepared meals like dinner winner and wonder what they're like, but never have the guts to try them. instead, i use the same concept they use and sometimes cook my pasta like this. i'm sure it wouldn't win any brownie points with italians, but it ain't half bad.

375 grams lean mince
2 tablespoons olive oil
200 grams sliced mushrooms
1 capsicum, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
a few sprigs parsley, basil, oregano, chopped roughly
750 mL tomato basil pasta sauce
salt and pepper
500 grams pasta
parmesan cheese to serve

heat the olive oil in a large deep saucepan and add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until the onions have softened. add the beef, breaking it up with a spoon, and cook until no longer pink. add the mushrooms, capsicum, herbs and salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
add pasta sauce, 3 cups water (this depends on the pasta you're using - use good judgement and adjust accordingly; also, i like to replace some of the water with wine) and bring to the boil. add pasta; reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender but firm, about 12 minutes. check for seasoning and adjust, if necessary.
serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

poulet au moutarde

this is a well flavoured casserole which was originally a rabbit recipe. it was the first, and dare i say, last rabbit dish i ever made, not because i'm squirmish or anything, but i like chicken, beef, pork and lamb better than rabbit. if i have to eat rabbit, i will, but i like this dish made with chicken - i loved the flavour of this sauce so much i decided to translate it.
if you do choose to make this dish with rabbit, joint and soak the rabbit overnight in salted water to which some vinegar has been added.
i like serving this dish with rice or mashed potatoes so there's something to absorb the delicious sauce; bread isn't a bad addition either, never mind how uncouth it may be.

2 kilos chicken pieces
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
30 grams butter
4 onions, quartered
2 rashers bacon, cut into strips
3 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons french mustard
salt and pepper
a bouquet garni consisting of thyme, a bayleaf, celery, parsley and tarragon
1/2 cup cream
parsley to garnish

rinse the chicken pieces and pat dry with paper towels. dust lightly with the flour seasoned with salt and pepper. set aside.
heat the oil and butter in a heavy based casserole and and the onions. colour the onions briefly, remove and set aside.
add the bacon and also allow to colour briefly, remove and set aside.
add the chicken pieces in batches and sear until each piece is golden.
pour in the stock, and add the bouquet garni and mustard.
return the bacon and onions to the casserole.
bring to the boil and lower the heat to a bare simmer for 40 minutes or until tender.
remove the chicken to a warm serving dish and boil the sauce rapidly to reduce and slightly thickened.
skim off the fat.
add the cream and taste for seasoning and correct, if necessary.
pour some of the sauce over the chicken and pour any remainder into a gravy boat for those who like things saucey.
garnish with parsley.
serve.

apple crumble

i like my crumble quite plain, not oaty, not coconutty, not nutty ....... i like it made just with flour, brown sugar and butter. and i like lots of it and lumpy. very often, i've seen it dry and not at all generous. if you're going to have crumble, have it.

160 grams butter
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cups brown sugar

a quantity cooked apples

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
for the crumble, place the butter, flour and sugar in a medium sized basin and use a hand mixer to combine them (you could use your fingers to rub the butter throught the flour, but i don't like to dirty my hands).
place the cooked apples in an oven safe dish and sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
bake the apple crumble in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
serve with cream and/or icecream.

steamed minced pork with salted eggs

whenever i want something comforting and i'm feeling somewhat jaded with cooking, i turn to the simple things in life. this is one of them. i don't really have a proper recipe for this, but i used these approximate quantities the other day.

3 or 4 salted eggs
500g minced pork (i usually buy the lean mince, but it is really good with the fatty mince)
a little stock or water
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 or 2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
grated ginger
spring onions to garnish

separate the egg whites from the yolk - this is easy because the yolks are solid. set the yolks aside and place the egg whites in a large bowl.
place the pork, stock/water, cornflour, sesame oil, pepper and ginger in the bowl with the egg whites and stir together until well combined - i like using the hand held electric mixer to do this - less elbow grease. pour into a shallow bowl large enough to contain the mixture. place the egg yolks on top and steam for 20 minutes or until done.
sprinkle with spring onions and serve with rice or congee and vegetables.

some recipes also add in a fresh egg or two while mixing the mince and also add soya sauce; i do sometimes, but i didn't this time because i had so many salted eggs of my own.

stuffed potatoes

if you think you're going to be having a baking day or that the oven will be on for a while, why not bake some potatoes? and stuff them....
these are seriously delicious comfort food, and you can make them as simple or as fancy as you like.

8 large potatoes
100 grams butter
1 cup sour cream
1 cup chopped, cooked bacon (you can pop the bacon into the oven to cook with the potatoes - i do)
1 onion diced and sweated (again, this can be cooked in the oven), or
1 cup of sliced green onions, which you can leave raw
1 cup grated cheese
freshly ground pepper
1 cup grated cheese, extra - optional

bake the potatoes for an hour at 200 degrees celcius or so until they are easily pierced with a skewer.
slice the potatoes in half when they are done and scoop out their centres into a large mixing bowl.
add the butter, bacon, sour cream,onion/green onion, cheese and pepper. and stir around with a knife. the potatoes will break up into chunks and blend with the other ingredients. if you want your potatoes smooth, go ahead and mash them smooth, but i like mine with chunks. the butter will also melt and be absorbed by the mixture.
when mixed to your liking, pile the mixture into the potato skins and sprinkle over extra cheese, if liked. return the potatoes to the oven to warm through and serve.
if you'd like the potatoes to be fancier, you can add celery seeds, capsicum, mushrooms, sweetcorn, chicken, leeks etc to the mixture. the world's your oyster.

another variation

i just realised that there was something else which we like to make with the my basic bread dough - hong kong style frankfurt rolls. if you haven't had them before, they are like a hot dog, but frankfurt is baked inside, rather than added after the bread has been baked. it doesn't have any nutritive value, but is quite conforting to eat, like a regular hot dog. if you don't like hot dogs, chances are that you probably won't like this. miss k likes them for lunch on those days when i'm not bothered to go to the shops to buy a loaf of bread for her sandwiches for school and would rather make my own bread.

to make these frankfurt rolls, get yourself a piece of dough the size of a small tennis ball and wrap it around half a frankfurt (or use cocktail frankfurts) and pop it into a grease loaf tin. a loaf tin looks like this:


once you've filled the pan with the frankfurt rolls, set it aside in a warm place for an one or so, so the dough can rise.
preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius and pop the risen rolls in the oven for 20 minutes to bake.
when golden and ready, remove the rolls from the pan and place them on a wire rack so they don't go soggy in the pan.

pound cake revisited

pound cake again? yes, pound cake again. this time it's a blast from the past. back to 1977, in fact.
in 1977, i was still in high school and every school holiday, i would always make an effort to get myself down to the city and make my way down to the sydney county council building on george street and collect recipe sheets. i actually remember that on this particular occasion, i was with julia and anna and one stephen o'leary and we were on our way to see star wars. my friends were good, weren't they? allowing me to detour and get my recipes sheets. well, they were eventually rewarded by a piece of cake, so there was really not too much to complain about. they did have to wait until the following year, i think, before i actually made it for them to try, because i remember taking it to musical rehearsal - we were doing bye bye birdie and i remember bringing it along and offering it around. i still remember my costume, and i have a scary feeling that it may still be somewhere hanging in someone's wardrobe.....it was a very bright yellow, so it shouldn't be too hard to find if i wanted to find it. but i digress....
barbara lynch and doreen andrews presented switched on living monday to friday at 10am on channel ten, and these recipes would be the ones they demonstrated. i loved them. and i loved this cake. it was a cake that worked and tasted good.
this is from the issue week commencing 5th december 1977, "gifts from the kitchen" part I. i hope there are still many of these treasures tucked away in someone's files or drawers or massive piles of things - i find this so comforting and relaxing....can a recipe be relaxing? well, it gives me a warm sort of fuzziness...or something.... i hope i continue to discover other pound cake recipes.

2 2/3 cups flour
1/4 level teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 level teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 level teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 1/4 sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
8x50 grams eggs
1-2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

sift first 4 ingredients.
cream butter and sugar very well, add vanilla essence.
add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
add flour mixture all at once and mix at low speed till smooth and well blended, add rind.
place into a well greased, lined and floured 23 cm (9") tube pan.
bake in moderate oven 180 degress celcius for 1 hour and 40 minutes or till cooked. cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out.

pound cake by whisks

does this title sound boring? i guess it does, but a good pound cake has been one of those elusive things in my life. it's a simple cake, but it isn't....a good one that is. then, there's always this thing called "personal preference" - for me, i want a pound cake to be fragrant, comforting and have a mouth feel that's...that's...velvety, smooth....i don't know, it's hard to explain exactly....i must lack the eloquence, especially in between mouthfuls.
i've tried making this cake in lots of different ways - i've tried it where i don't beat until the sugar's dissolved, i've tried it where i beat it until the sugar's dissolved....i've even tried baking it with half plain flour and half self raising flour (no, i didn't run short of either - i just wanted to experiment) and permutations of these and other methods. all methods were delicious, but perhaps the one where i used half self raising flour and half plain flour and dissolved the sugar was my favourite. that said, this is a favourite cake in all its permutations.....maybe because it's so deliciously buttery and fragrant....something old fashioned and comforting....bliss.... go ahead and try making it - it's almost foolproof, and wonderful to eat.


125g butter
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup self raising flour
2 tablespoon powdered milk
1 tablespoon corn syrup
juice of half a small lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
add eggs one at a time and mix well.
add in flour, powdered milk, and corn syrup.
beat each in well.
add the lemon juice, salt, vanilla, nutmeg, and mace.
make sure everything is well combined, and pour into a greased loaf pan.
bake 180 degrees celcius for 45 minutes, checking for doneness by inserting a toothpick and seeing if it comes out clean. try not to over bake this - it's much nicer when its just done.

cinnamon scrolls by whisks

these are essentially a glorified scone which i like to make when we need something comforting for afternoon tea and we just don't have the time or patience for a scroll made with yeasted dough.
these are really quick and easy to make. when making these, remember that the less you handle the dough the better they will turn out. once you get the hang of making them, you will find that making them is really no effort at all.

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 grams butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
60 grams very soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

line a 20cm square tin with baking paper and preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.
combine flour and salt in a medium sized bowl.
mix melted butter, milk and vanilla together.
pour the liquid into the bowl with the flour and stir quickly and gently with knife just until dough leaves sides of bowl.
tip the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
sprinkle a little flour onto the top of the dough and roll the dough into a 1 cm thick rectangle about 30 centimetres long and 20 centimetres wide.
spread the dough with the very soft butter.
combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle it over dough.
roll up, starting on long side.
cut into 16 rounds and place rounds, with sides just touching, in the prepared pan.
bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.
remove from oven and drizzle with glaze.
serve warm.

for glaze:

combine the milk icing sugar and vanilla and stir until smooth.

cabbage, ham and potatoes

i'm in the middle of reading angela's ashes by frank mccourt and i had to try cooking this because of the following excerpt:

Every morning Grandma cooks Bill's dinner and takes it to him at the lime kiln. Mam wonders why he can't take it with him in the morning and Grandma says, Do you expect me to get up at dawn and boil cabbage and pig's toes for his lordship to take in his dinner can?
Mam tells her, in another week school will be over and if you give Frank sixpence a week he'll surely be glad to take Bill Galvin his dinner.
I don't want to go to Grandma's every day. I don't want to take Bill Galvin his dinner all the way down the Dock Road, but Mam says that's sixpence we could use and if I don't do it I'm going nowhere else.
You're staying in the house, she says. You're not playing with your pals.
Grandma warns me to take the dinner can directly and not be meandering, looking this way and that, kicking canisters and ruining the toes of my shoes. This dinner is hot and that's the way Bill Galvin wants it.
There's a lovely smell from the dinner can, boiled bacon and cabbage and two big floury white potatoes. Surely he won't notice if I try half a potato. He won't complain to Grandma because he hardly ever talks outside of a snuffle or two.
It's better if I eat the other half-potato so that he won't be asking why he got a half. I might as well try the bacon and cabbage too and if I eat the other potato he'll surely think she didn't send one at all.
The second potato melts in my mouth and I'll have to try another bit of cabbage, another morsel of bacon. There isn't much left now and he'll be very suspicious so I might as well finish off the rest.
What am I going to do now? Grandma will destroy me, Mam will keep me in for a year. Bill Galvin will bury me in lime. I'll tell him I was attacked by a dog on the Dock Road and he ate the whole dinner and I'm lucky I escaped with being eaten myself.
Oh, is that so? says Bill Galvin. And what's that bit of cabbage hanging on your gansey? Did the dog lick you with his cabbagey gob? Go home and tell your grandmother you ate me whole dinner and I'm falling down with the hunger here in the line kiln.
She'll kill me.
Tell he don't kill you till she sends me some class of a dinner and if you don't go to her now and get me a dinner I'll kill you and throw your body into the lime there and there won't be much left for your mother to moan over.
Grandma says, What are you doin' back with that can? He could bring that back by himself.
He wants more dinner.What do you mean more dinner? Jesus above, is it a hole he has in his leg?
He's falling down with hunger below in the lime kiln.
Is it coddin' me you are? He says send him any class of a dinner. I will not. I sent him his dinner.
He didn't get it. He didn't?
Why not?
I ate it.
What?
I was hungry and I tasted it and I couldn't stop.
Jesus, Mary and holy St. Joseph.
She gives me a clout on the head that brings tears to my eyes. She screams at me like a banshee and jumps around the kitchen and threatens to drag me to the priest, the bishop, the Pope himself if he lived around the corner. She cuts bread and waves the knife at me and makes sandwiches of brawn and cold potatoes.
Take these sandwiches to Bill Galvin and if you even look cross-eyed at them I'll skin your hide.
Of course she runs to Mam and they agree the only way I can make up for my terrible sin is to deliver Bill Galvin's dinner for a fortnight without pay. I'm to bring back the can every day and that means I have to sit watching him stuff the food into his gob and he's not one that would ever ask you if you had a mouth in your head.
Every day I take the can back Grandma makes me kneel to the statue of the Sacred Heart and tell Him I'm sorry and all this over Bill Galvin, a Protestant.

i don't know about you, but i love reading books which refer in some way to food; they add some reality and human aspects. in angela's ashes, the references are there because they're starving and too poor to buy food (but not a pint), and the dish frank describes here is basic, not fancy in any way. we aren't starving, maybe sometimes hungry because it's close to mealtime, and we still find the appeal of this dish. it is comfort food in the truest sense. i cannot imagine what torture frank must have had to endure on the days following the first delivery of bill's lunch. he couldn't resist the smell the first day, what happened on the days following? he had had a taste already. if you do get a chance to try this, i'm sure your heart will go out to frank and be grateful for never knowing what it must be like to go through what he did as a child.

i used a ham bone, sliced carrots, whole potatoes and shredded cabbage, added just enough water to cover the potatoes and left it to simmer until the potatoes and carrots were cooked through.
miss c and miss k thought it was delicious, and considering the ease of getting the whole thing together, i thought it was excellent winter fare. told them that traditionally the leftovers were used to make bubble and squeak and they thought that that sounded pretty good, having heard of it before, but never having tried it. next time, they want me to make more so there'll be leftovers.....so there'll be bubble and squeak! i can't wait.

just think. we thought this was delicious. frank must have felt like he died and went to heaven when he ate bill's dinner....

porcupines

these are groovey looking meatballs with "something extra"- the rice pops up during cooking so the meatballs look like little porcupines! real old fashioned comfort food. i've suggested minced beef and tomato soup here, but the choice of meat and soup can be varied to suit individual tastes. i'll give you some examples to get you started:

chicken with cream of chicken
lamb with vegetable
beef with cream of mushroom

i'm sure you get the idea.

also, this is easily translated to an oven ready meal by using a casserole dish instead of a frypan, and popping it into the oven heated to 180 degrees C for an hour. easy, really.

1/2 kg minced beef
1/2 cup uncooked regular rice
1 finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 can tomato soup
1 cup water

combine minced beef, rice, onion and seasonings together.
form tablespoonfuls into meatballs.
arrange meatballs in a single layer in a non stick frypan.
stir together the tomato soup and water and pour over the meatballs gently.
cover the pan with a lid and place over medium heat, then simmer for 45 minutes.
Uncover and simmer for another 15 minutes.
serve over extra rice, if desiredrice.
makes 4 to 6 servings.