raspberry and strawberry charlotte

eggs benedict

just a photo this time. i made this and loved the flowing yolk...have a great day!

anders ousback's grilled pepper relish

the first time i had this was july 1st, 1999, 13 years ago. i was at simon johnson's pyrmont store for the vogue cookbook launch and need i tell you that it was delicious? it was served with a beautiful artisan sourdough baguette and the creamiest ripe brie.

8 large red capsicums, halved and seeded.
olive oil
3 teaspoons cracked peppercorns
3 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
3 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
3 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 knobs ginger, peeled and shredded
3 chillies, finely sliced
2 large onions, diced
2 large apples, peeled and diced
6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
4 bay leaves
4 tablespoons currants
4 tablespoons honey
200ml port
200ml white wine vinegar
sea salt to taste

preheat the oven to 200°C. place the capsicums, cut side down, on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 30 minutes or until the skins start to blister. cool, slip off the skins and slice into long strips. set aside.

place a little olive oil into a heavy based saucepan and roast the peppercorns, mustard and corriander. add the garlic, ginger, chilli and onion and cook until the onions are translucent. add the apple and cook a further 10 minutes.

add the tomato, bay leaves, currants, honey, port, vinegar, salt and capsicums and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours or until the mixture has thickened. remove from the stove and spoon the relish into warm sterilised jars. seal whilst hot and allow to cool. store in the refrigerator or a cool cupboard.

what to cook if you can't cook...

dear friend, miss cathryn, and i were chatting this morning about recipes that we could share with her niece who has recently moved away from home.

the first recommendation i made was that miss cathryn teach her niece how to cook a steak. steak is quick and easy once one is taught the basics.

i then referred miss cathryn to two easy ones which i dig up for anyone who can't cook but has to - my daggy porcupines and internet chicken. yes, i know, they are both recipes which use canned soup, but it's a start for someone who can't cook, and while i haven't had those dishes for a while, i think of them rather fondly. i do think it's important if one can't cook that one starts with something which will result in a tasty and comforting dish.

hot cross buns

i made hot cross buns for the first time this year. they weren't something i had placed on my "to do" list, but they were made because i had to...
determined that they were to be successful, i perused a number of recipes and even procured recipes from my friends for good measure. this is the recipe i settled on, and having shared the buns with nearly thirty strangers the first time i made them, with many coming up to me declaring how good they were, i feel confident in sharing this recipe with you.

360 grams milk
60 grams butter
2 teaspoons dried yeast
2 teaspoons bread improver
1 teaspoon sea salt
60 grams raw sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice
600 grams strong bakers' flour
100 grams sultanas
20 grams mixed peel
80 grams currants

this recipe makes about 40 mini hot cross buns, or about 12 regular sized ones...instructions are for the mini ones because they are so cute!

line the base of two lamington tins with baking paper and set aside.

place the milk, butter, yeast, bread improver, salt, sugar and spices in the thermomix bowl and heat at 37°C for 2 minutes on speed 1.

add the flour to the warm milk mixture. mix for 6 secs on speed 5.

knead on interval speed for 1 minute. add the dried fruit and knead for another minute on interval speed.

tip the dough out onto your a lightly floured surface and give it a light knead to further incorporate the fruit. divide the dough into 40 golf ball sized portions and place them into the prepared lamington tins. cover the tins loosely with a clean tea towel and let rise somewhere warm until doubled in size, approx 40 mins. Preheat oven 200°C.

once the buns have risen, pipe the crosses with the following paste:

1/4 cup plain flour
scant 1/4 cup water

place the flour into a small bowl and mix with enough water to make a thick batter. transfer into a small zip lock bag, snip a tiny corner off the bag and pipe the crosses onto the buns.
bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden.

once the buns are baked, brush with a glaze made with 1/4 cup raw sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water to achieve a glossy appearance. serve warm if possible - you want everyone to know what real hot cross buns taste like. these aren't half bad served the next day, but there isn't anything like a fresh hot cross bun!

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.

whisks' favourite gingerbread cookies

when my best friend from high school told me she liked gingerbread cookies, i set upon a journey to find a recipe for gingerbread cookies, and this is what i came up with. generally, i like to bake them slowly so they don't burn, yet come out firm. they do soften nicely and the flavours develop beautifully. once rested, this is a beautiful dough to work with and smells divine.

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
125 grams butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup golden syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
a few strips lemon rind (optional)

place flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and lemon rind in the thermomix bowl and mill for 10 seconds on speed 10 until well blended. set aside.
place butter, brown sugar, egg, golden syrup and vanilla into the thermomix bowl and combine for 10 seconds on speed 5. scrape down bowl and combine again for 5 seconds on speed 5.
add the flour mixture which was set aside earlier to the thermomix bowl and combine for 10 seconds on speed 6.
set dial to closed lid position and knead for 40 seconds on interval speed.
divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic and let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours. this dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, but in this case it should be refrigerated. return to room temp before using.
preheat oven to 170°C.
line cookie sheets with baking paper.
place 1 portion of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
sprinkle flour over dough and rolling pin.
roll dough to a scant 2mm thick.
use additional flour to avoid sticking.
cut out cookies with desired cutter.
space cookies 3cm apart.
bake 1 sheet at a time for 10-15 minutes (the lower time will give you softer cookies-- very good!).
remove cookie sheet from oven and allow the cookies to stand until the cookies are firm enough to move to a wire rack.
after cookies are cool you may decorate them any way you like - they look wonderful decorated with royal icing.

whisks' orange coconut custard

this is my answer to making a dairy, egg and gluten free pouring custard to serve with christmas pudding, or any cake, or anything (or nothing) for that matter.

the rind an orange
60 grams sugar
10 grams maize cornflour
500 grams coconut milk
orange liqueur, optional, but nice to add for something festive

place the orange rind, sugar and cornflour into the thermomix bowl and grind on speed 10 for 10 seconds. take a good long sniff of this mixture - it smells so good.
add the coconut milk and cook for 8 minutes at 90 degrees at speed 4.
if you're adding some orange liqueur, now's the time to add it...at your discretion, and give it a stir in the thermomix on speed 4 for about 5 seconds.
pour this into a jug and serve. just a warning, this is hot, so if you want to have a taste, spoon some out to let it cool, then have a taste. very delicious. as with all custards, this one will form a skin. if you like the skin, you don't have to doo anything. if you don't want a skin to form, place a piece of baking paper on the surface of the custard and remove it before serving.

hair by whisks

yes, you read correctly. hair by moi. miss k had a formal to go to (her own), and i did her hair. it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing. she was trying to do her hair herself, and i couldn't help myself and took over. then, when ohno offered her the corsage, what did i do? i put it in her hair...of course. this worked out to be quite a practical way of wearing the corsage as opposed to wearing it on the wrist where it often would get bashed around.

just a little taste...

blutsie picked this little booklet up for me from kinokuniya last week, and it's a gem:

so often, being time poor and all, wanting to have a little browse at cookbooks can be a luxury, which makes places online like amazon useful, but i'm old fashioned and i like having a hard copy sometimes and this is the next best thing. there are recipes from rowie dillon, of rowie's cakes fame - the clever lady who has found a niche market for gluten free cakes, adriano "does he need a last name" zumbo with his self named publication, zumbo, and seven other delightful books of varying levels of sophistication; in other words, there's something to suit everyone. there's a recipe from each book which provides a nice introduction to what to expect.

good on kinokuniya for doing this and taking cookbook catelogues to the next level.

cast iron cookware

on saturday, blutsie and i headed off to an organic cooking class where they were promoting cast iron cookware and there was some discussion on how to season the cookware. people have their own favourite method, but i quite liked the method they suggested. the way they seasoned their cookware was to lightly saute vegetables in a vegetable oil, so, today, i tried it, and the vegetable i used was some cut up red onion, and the oil of choice was rice bran oil. i set my induction hotplate to the lowest setting, poured my oil in generously and tossed in the onion and left it there to cook away slowly. not exactly saute, but i chose to do it slowly so the oil would have a chance to seep into the pores. i'm sure some of the onioniness will seep in, but that's fine. it will make for interesting buckwheat pancakes, won't it? just have to make sure that they're savoury pancakes.

another interesting fact i learnt at the class about the cookware was that not all cookware which a magnet will stick to is induction friendly. for example, cookware which has a copper base encapsulated in stainless steel is not as efficient on an induction hob as one which is totally steel, as a cast iron pan is. i have wondered in the past why some pots heated up faster than some others, and now i know! this has never stopped me from enjoying my induction stove, but it has answered a few questions. and it's a good excuse to get new pots and pans...sigh...

chocolate brownies for tn

this is an oldie, but a goodie which i first made in 1991 when i was expecting miss c. never to do things by halves, i made a double or triple quantity batch in my large pan. i have since shown much more restraint and have been making single quantity batches of this. yesterday, tn and his family came over for a visit - they were in town from perth, and i had to make this because tn likes it...actually, i remember him liking chocolate truffles, as well, which i will save for the next time they come over for a visit.

125g butter, cubed
150g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
250 grams brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
75 grams plain flour
25 grams self raising flour
125 grams chocolate chips

line a square 19 cm pan with baking paper. preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

place the chocolate and butter into the thermomix bowl and melt for 6 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 1. add the sugar. eggs and vanilla and combine for 10 seconds on speed 5. add the flour and combine for 10 seconds. scrape the nowl down and combine for another 5 seconds. add the chocolate chips and pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out the best you can. you don't have to mix the chocolate chips through the thick batter because they'll get mixed in when you pour this mixture out and spread it out. bake for 30 minutes. whatever you do, don't over bake the brownies. they should be cooked through, yet somewhat fudgey in the middle.

these brownies are supposed to have good keeping qualities, but i wouldn't know because they always get eaten up...even the triple quantity batches...

hints on making sorbet

my hints on making sorbet in the thermomix.

more ice makes for a firmer sorbet. useful to know if using a fruit which gives a slacker mixture. alternatively, you can chill the fruit until firm.

homemade ice is far superior to using ice bought from the servo or supermarket. bought ice makes the sorbet very slack because it is too wet; homemade ice straight out of the freezer is dryer. the cubes of ice i use are actually very big, but they make a good sorbet.

if you want to make watermelon sorbet, freeze the watermelon...in fact you could use all watermelon and omit or use less sugar. on the subject of melon, rockmelon sorbet is divine. blutsie and i don't tolerate rockmelon well, but we find it quite irresistable, worst luck.

fibrous fruits, such as pineapple, give the sorbet a really lovely texture.

no need to peel pears for sorbet - can't tell the skin's there.

fruity dream is to fruit as is the stock concentrate is to veggies. waste not, want not.

oh, and this one is important, so you should commit it to memory. the addition of alcohol greatly improves the sorbet's keeping qualities (or non keeping qualities, depending on circumstances).

i can't believe all the fibre's there

i know. it doesn't have the same ring to it as i can't believe it's not butter, but that's the incredible thing about juicing in the thermomix. being the fibre sook i am, i was juicing the likes of oranges, pears, berries...nothing too tough, but on a trip to bankstown a couple of months ago, i bought some huge bethonga pineapples and decided to give pineapple juice a go, and boy am i glad i did - it's amazing. to me, bethonga pineapples seem really fibrous, but when juiced up in the thermomix, you'd never know it.

about half a large pinapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
a little sugar, to taste (or not)
about 400 grams ice cubes

pop all this into the thermomix bowl and blitz away on speed 10 for a minute or so. pour into a jug.
pour about 500 grams of water into the thermomix bowl and blitz to self clean and add this to the jug of juice, if desired. can you tell i don't like to waste a thing?

you can't tell that there's any fibre in the juice at all - the juice isn't thick, and it's very clean tasting - quite different from the juice from a juice extractor...and all the fibre's still there - isn't that wonderful? you might think there's a lot of water in the juice, but that's not a bad thing - we need to drink more water, and this is a easy way to have it - don't want to overwork our pancreas, do we?

20 ways to get good karma

this is by the dalai lama and i thought it would be something i'd like to have in the blog.

1.take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2.when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3.follow the three R’s:
- respect for self,
- respect for others and
- responsibility for all your actions.
4.remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5.learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6.don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7.when you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8.spend some time alone every day.
9.open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10.remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11.live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12.a loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13.in disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14.share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
15.be gentle with the earth.
16.once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17.remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18.judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19.if you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
20.if you want to be happy, practice compassion.

priorities

recently, i was asked about which cookbook was my favourite. my all out favourite is probably not the sensible person's choice, but i have a soft spot for the AWW quick mix cakes cookbook. baking a cake was one of those things i had always wanted to do well. whether it had anything to do with my mother not being able to bake, i don't know, but it was important to me. i wanted to be able to bake something for my children. you'd think that knowing how to cook a proper meal would be way ahead on the list, but no, cakes were by far, more important. i know i have my priorities right - i'm right there with marie antoinette when she said "let them eat cake"...now, there's a woman who had her priorities straight! imagine the ball the two of us would have had on baking day!

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.

whisks' eggplant chutney

having just run out of my favourite indian wedding pickles, i decided to whip up a batch of my favourite eggplant chutney so i'd have something on hand to liven up my sandwiches and cheese platters. add salt and sugar at your discretion, but remember that you want it to be well flavoured.

1/2 cup salt
1 kilo skinny eggplants
water
2 large onions
1/4 cup crystalised ginger, chopped
5 red chillies, chopped
5 cloved garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
4 teaspoons madras curry powder (or a mixture of ground cumin, coriander, fennel)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup your choice of dried fruit

cut the eggplant into 1 cm cubes, combine with the salt and cover with water. leave overnight. next day, drain and rinse the eggplant, squeezing out as much water as possible.
place the eggplant, onion, ginger, chillies, garlic, salt and oil in a large stockpot stir to coat ingredients with oil and place on a low to medium flame. stir frequently to avoid the relish from sticking to the base of the pot. once the onions and eggplant are soft,sprinkle in the curry powder, sugar, vinegar and dried fruit. cook a further 10-15 minutes. pour into sterelised jars and seal whilst hot.

Let me introduce myself

Hello!

What can I say about myself? I have a ton of cookbooks and I'm working my way through them and I thought it might be fun to post a cookbook recipe each time as I go along, or you have any recommendations or requests, please let me know.

I do have a tendency to dislike typing as a general rule, so unless there's a good reason to post a long recipe, I'll be posting short and sweet recipes.

See you around!

dorothy floate's secret of success cookery book

i actually have three copies of the dorothy floate's secret of success cookbook - one for me and one for each miss c and miss k, but have realised i really only need 2 because they will only need one each when i'm dead and gone. i guess the spare will be up for grabs.

that aside, it is an excellent read and dot takes her cooking very seriously, explaining everything so very carefully.

dot was never shy in letting her readers know which of her recipes won prizes, and good on her. and good on her for sharing her tips on achieving the finest results from each recipe. after all, why waste good ingredients with a bad recipe?

i was looking at an article about old or new recipes and decided that i, too, should share one of dot's gems - in fact, her (prize) gem scones, no less. i'm copying her recipe just as she wrote it - i think there's a certain charm about it. ask me if you need help with conversions - can't have anyone wasting good ingredients.

(prize) gem scones

1/2 lb s.r. flour
2 eggs
3 ozs butter
4 level tablespoons castor sugar
9 tablespoons milk

cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat a litte, then add a little sifted flour and beat well. then a little milk and flour alternatively until all milk and flour has been used. add a few drops of essence of lemon. bake in gem irons. put irons into oven and get them very hot while you are mixing the scones. gem irons should be so hot that when greased the butter will sizzle. it is a good idea to have butter melted and use a glazing brush for greasing irons. have your mixture ready before taking irons out of oven, grease and put about a teaspoon of the mixture into
each iron, bake in moderate oven 10 to 15 mins.