winosandfoodies

Hay Hay Its Donna Day #4 - Bruschetta and Crostini

My thanks to Bron  for hosting this event.  Hopefully  Clare  will soon be fit enough to  return to normal blogging and the round up of  Event  #3 ,  Chequerboard cookies.

Here are my two entries.

Pear and Bacon Bruschetta

Peel and slice pear and place in acidulated water until ready to use.
Grill bacon.
Dry pear slices on a paper towel and layer on toasted bread slices.
Top with bacon and serve.

Zucchini and Fetta

Brush zucchini slices with oil and grill on both sides.
Layer sliced fetta on toasted bread and top with zucchini slices.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Check back with Bron Marshall  for her round up next week.  I'm looking forward to seeing Donna at the Auckland Food Show  on Thursday.

Amazon Cake - That Should Read Amazing Cake

I found this cake when I was visiting Debbie  .  How can a cake that is made without eggs or butter be so good?  I have no idea but it is the quickest and easiest cake to make and tastes fabulous.

Debbie quotes from the original article by Gastropoda   and I've copied it here.

Cocoa works best in recipes that are designed for it. . . . Even something as simple as the classic Amazon, or black-bottom, cake found in so many cookbooks uses no dairy products or eggs, only vegetable oil and vinegar with cold water. The cocoa reacts to the combination to produce the darkest, moistest cake seen outside the photo on a box of mix.

Check out Debbie's  photos as they are so much more appetising than mine.

Amazon Cake
From The New York Times
Adapted from Cafe Beaujolais by Margaret Fox and John S. Bear
serves 6 to 8

1 ½  cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa (I used organic Dutch Cocoa)
1 t. baking soda
1 cup sugar
½ t. salt
5 T. corn oil (I used light olive oil)
1 ½ t. vanilla
1 T. cider vinegar
Confectioners’ sugar.

Heat the oven to 350 (180) degrees. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, vanilla and vinegar with 1 cup cold water. Whisk in the dry ingredients, blending until completely lump-free. Pour into a greased 9-inch round cake pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when pressed gently. Cool before removing from the pan and dusting with confectioners’ sugar, or frosting if desired.

I baked it at 180C in a fan forced oven and it was ready in 30 minutes. I also lined the tin with parchment paper.

Hay Hay Its Donna Day#4

While we wait for Clare  to get back to blogging the round up for event #3 we have decided to go ahead with event  #4. 

Visit Bron  for her post featuring the recipe and the most mouth watering pictures based on a recipe in  Donna's  latest magazine. Entries for judging must be in to Bron Marshall  by 31st July with a winner to be announced on 11th August.  Bron and I look forward to your entries and some clever combinations.

Any readers in Auckland might like to visit the Food Show  3rd - 6th August  and see Donna  in action. 

Lime and Matcha Steamed Puddings

Every time I open my fridge door I see the little tin of matcha  and think I must do something with that.   Ray McVinnie   featured an orange marmalade steamed pudding  in his  Sunday Paper column recently and it seemed like it would be easy to substitute the orange flavours with lime marmalade and matcha tea.  It worked a treat with a subtle tea flavour to the sponge part.

Lime and Matcha Steamed Puddings
6  dessertspoons lime marmalade
90 grams butter
125 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon matcha tea
2 eggs
150 grams flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
80 ml milk

METHOD
Place a spoon of marmalade into 6 x 150ml capacity heatproof dariole moulds or coffee cups.
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale, thick and creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
Stir in the flour, baking powder and matcha tea and milk until well mixed but do not beat.
Fill each container with the mixture and cover with buttered foil.
Put containers into a steamer and steam  over high heat for 20 - 30 minutes until a skewer inserted into one of  the puddings comes out clean.
Remove from the steamer, take out the moulds by running a small knife around the side of each container.
Serve with crème anglaise or whipped cream.

For conversions to ounces or cup measurements check Gourmet Sleuth  site.

Blogathon 2006

On July 29, hundreds of bloggers from around the world will put their endurance to the test for charity, blogging every 30 minutes for 24 hours straight. This is the Sixth Annual International Blogathon, an event that creates a worldwide community for a day, serves up fascinating content, and most importantly, raises tens of thousands of dollars for dozens of charities. Bloggers choose the charity and collect sponsorships. At the end of the event, those sponsors fulfill their pledges directly with the charity.

It's not too late to sign up if you'd like to blog!  You can also help by sponsoring a blogger, just check out the List of Bloggers at the site.  Stay up late, make a difference.

I won't be blogging but I'll be following the very energetic Sam  to see what she has to say on the day.

Donna Hay Day Delay

Sorry to all who took part in our Hay Hay It's Donna Day #3. You are probably wondering what has happened to the round up. Unfortunately our very busy host Clare over at Eatstuff  was involved in an incident involving several cars and a bike and poor Clare is not up to spending time at the computer at the moment. We wish her a speedy recovery.  We will have the write up posted as soon as possible.

Wok's For Dinner

Barbecued Spareribs...I've been making this recipe for about 20 years now.  It is one of those recipes I've cut out of a magazine...I don't remember which...probably Gourmet Traveller or Vogue Entertaining and Travel.  My family love it. Actually one of my sons once told a chef at the hotel he was working, after a staff meal where the chef served spareribs  "My Mum makes the best spareribs. I'll get the recipe for you".

RIBS WITH ORANGE GINGER GLAZE
2 pounds pork spareribs, separated into ribs, cut into 2 inch lengths (I don't bother cutting them into 2 inch lengths)
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons soy sauce
5 slices fresh ginger
4 green (spring) onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 pieces star anise

1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons chopped orange peel
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 garlic clove minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Combine ribs, 1/4 cup soy sauce, sliced ginger, green onions and star anise in large pot.
Cover ribs with water.
Bring to boil and simmer 20 minutes.
Cool to remove temperature in cooking liquid. Drain ribs.

Whisk chicken stock, sugar, orange peel, minced ginger, garlic and 3 tablespoons soy sauce in bowl.
Heat oil in wok or large skillet.
Add ribs and broth mixture.
Stir fry until liquid is reduced to glaze - about 5 minutes.
Serve 2 as a main course or 4 as an appetiser.