winosandfoodies

A Slice Of Cake For Cooking To Combat Cancer 2

Chris at Melcotte has announced her annual Cooking To Combat Cancer event. I hope you will join her. Chris has thoughtfully made the closing date April 29th so as not to clash with LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow, which finishes on April 19th. Isn't she just the sweetest person? Thanks Chris.


When I was diagnosed with cancer I bought all the books, read all the information, listened to all my friends, talked to my oncologist. I drank gallons of freshly juiced carrot juice, beetroot juice, apple juice. I swallowed flaxseed oil by the tablespoonful. I loaded my oatmeal with wheatgerm and bran.  I drank the cleanest possible water by investing in an expensive filter.

Then one day I decided I didn't want the rest of my life to be controlled by what and how I ate. If I felt like carrot juice I would have it. I no longer would be juicing carrots and washing that damn juicer every morning. Somedays my grape juice would come in a bottle marked 13.5% alcohol. I had exercised and eaten reasonably healthy all my life. Changing my diet to bran and flaxseed oil  would make no difference to my future....and god I hate flaxseed oil.

Now this didn't mean I would go out and eat cakes and sweets with gay abandon. No, that would just be silly wouldn't it? However the occasional cake or piece of chocolate would not hurt me. And cakes can be a little healthy with the right ingredients.

Back in 2001 and thanks to AFS, our beautiful French daughter, 16 year old Diane, entered our lives.  She introduced me to Yogurt Cake, where she would use the yogurt jar to measure the ingredients. Together we made lots of yogurt cakes in the 12 months she lived with us.
  
Now she is all grown up, graduated, and coming to visit us in July. I'm not sure who is more excited, her or me. So I thought now might be a good time to renew my yogurt cake making skills.  This recipe is from Clotilde's Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook.  It contains two cancer fighting ingredients. Firstly yogurt, and secondly I have added some blueberries to the original recipe.

Gateau au Yaourt
2 eggs
250grams (1 cup) whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt
200g (1 cup) sugar
80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
240 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon light rum
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F), line the bottom of a round 25-cm (10-inch) cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, oil, and rum.
In another bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together until just mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Place blueberries on top, they will sink into the batter as it cooks.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

Thanks Chris for hosting Cooking To Combat Cancer.


 

Rice Pudding from Isabel's Cantina

Just before I went on holiday last year several books arrived into my mail box.  One being Isabel's Cantina by Isabel Cruz .  I took it on holiday, I took it home, then we decided to move to Australia so it was packed into one of the many boxes labelled cookbooks. Since being unpacked it has shared shelf space with the remainder of my collection I had decided to keep. ( Some  went to good homes) .

Our favourite Creampuff  did an extensive review of the book last year......and tested many of the recipes. 

I finally got out of the pool  did a little cooking this week.  I wanted to try the rice pudding as it has condensed milk as an ingredient.  And who doesn't like to have a can of that open  in the fridge to sneak a spoonful of when no one is looking.  Isabel serves hers with mango but I decided to serve mine with nectarines stewed in white wine and sugar.

Rice Pudding with Cinnamon, Star Anise and Fruit
(Serves 4)

1 cup medium or short grain rice
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole milk
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 whole star anise (I left this out as I didn't have any)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Bring two cups of cold water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the rice and the salt, stir once, reduce heat so that the mixture simmers. When the rice has absorbed most of the water (about 20 minutes), add the whole milk, sweetened condensed milk, star anise, cinnamon and vanilla bean.  Stir thoroughly to combine.

Simmer the pudding over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it begins to thicken, 15 - 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and begin stirring regularly to avoid scorching as the pudding begins to thicken to an oatmeal consistency. This can take about 30 - 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Remove the star anise, cinnamon and vanilla bean. Refrigerate the rice pudding until cold, at least 1 hour or, covered,  for up to  three days.

Serve the chilled rice pudding in individual bowls and top with fruit.

I think I will use this book more living in the warmer climate of the Gold Coast than I would in the cooler New Zealand.

Hay Hay Bron Made Clafoutis

Last month's winner and this month's host  Bron Marshall  has announced the next Hay Hay Its Donna Day theme and it is Clafoutis .  Last day for entries to Bron is April 21st.
 

Luscious Lemon Dessert For LiveSTRONG Day

It is 12 months since our dinner at Aria.  A lot has happened in the past twelve months and as much as I wanted to cook from  Matt's book  it didn't happen. Looking for a lemon based dessert last week  I found Matt had the perfect recipe.  I combined elements from  two dishes to create this dessert. 

Lemon Cream with Honey Tuiles and Blueberries

Honey Tuiles
40grams unsalted butter
50 grams icing sugar
85 grams honey
60 grams plain flour

Cream butter and sugar until thick and pale.
Mix in the honey, then stir through the flour.
Leave the mixture to rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 160C.
Line a baking tray with baking paper, then spread the mixture into six 6cm x 1mm rounds. (this is quite difficult and mine were probably a little thick)
Bake the tuiles for approx 10 minutes or until they are a deep golden colour. Leave to cool.
Any left over mixture will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Lemon Cream
2 eggs
120 grams caster sugar
80 ml lemon juice, strained
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
150 grams unsalted butter, diced
200 grams thickened cream, whipped

Lightly mix the eggs and sugar in a bowl until sugar has dissolved; set aside.
Place the lemon juice and zest in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat and whisk in the egg mixture.
Return the saucepan to low heat and cook until the mixture thickens.
Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the butter piece by piece.
Leave to cool, then cover with plastic film and refrigerate. When ready to serve, fold in the whipped cream.

To Serve
Place Lemon Cream in a glass dish, top with blueberries and a Honey Tuile.  You could replace the blueberries with raspberries for an even better combination. Raspberries are wickedly expensive here sadly.

Don't forget to post your LiveSTRONG Day entries by 19th April. You will find the rules here .

Happy Easter Everyone

We will be spending quality time with friends visiting from Auckland. I hope everyone has as much fun over Easter as I plan on having.

A Vintage Wedding Blanket From Morocco

Remember I said Maryam  had been doing a little shopping  in Morocco for me. It arrived this week.  My beautiful vintage  Moroccan Wedding Blanket.

It is covered in  rows of  sequins which sparkle in the light and jingle sweetly when I touch it. I think it will look beautiful by candlelight.

And hiding inside a little gift from Maryam - these beautiful soft sparkling slippers. Thank you Maryam.

UPDATE: Visit Yoli over at Musings to discover the background to  these Moroccan Wedding Blankets.

A Little Yellow For LiveSTRONG Day 2008

A little more yellow food for LiveSTRONG Day 2008 .

 

I first tried this soup as a child at the home of  a Cypriot friend.  To my young Australian palate it was one of those food moments you remember forever.  A soup with eggs and lemon juice -  hmmm - that's different - I like it.

Checking  my cookbooks there doesn't seem to be any variation on the ingredients of chicken stock, lemon, rice and eggs.  This recipe is from the The Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander.

Avgolemono  - Greek egg and lemon soup

1.5 litres well flavoured chicken stock
salt
freshly ground black pepper
100 grams long grain rice
3 large eggs
juice of 2 lemons

Bring stock to simmering point. Adjust seasoning and drop in rice.
Simmer for 15 minutes until rice is cooked.
Beat eggs and lemon juice until frothy.
Add a ladleful of hot stock to egg mixture and continue to whisk.
Remove stock from heat and let cool for 2 - 3 minutes.
Tip egg mixture back into stock, stirring to mix well.
Taste and season.
Serve at once.

Don't forget LiveSTRONG Day entries should be posted by 19th April. The round up will be posted to coincide with LiveSTRONG Day on May 13th.

 

RULES FOR LIVESTRONG DAY 2008

1. Event is open to all food and wine bloggers. Photo must be taken by the blogger and photos by professional photographers cannot be accepted.

2. Participants make and post any recipe they chose. Recipe must contain an element of yellow food.

3. Entries can be posted at any time from today but must be forwarded to me by Saturday 19th April. This will give me plenty of time to complete the round up in time for LiveSTRONG Day. Any entries received after this date will not be eligible for photo competition. The write up will be posted on winos and foodies  on 13th May 2008 .

Entries must be made specifically for A Taste Of Yellow  and cannot be entered into other blog challenges.

4. To be eligible for the photo competition you  must include a LiveSTRONG yellow wrist band in your photo. The publishers of  photographer Lou Manna have kindly donated a copy of his book Digital Food Photography  to go the winner.

5. You may include more than one photo in your post but the first photo in the post will be the only photo considered for judging.

6. Judging will be based on quality of photo, originality and creativity.The judges decision will be final. (Judges have yet to be announced).

Please send your entries to me at  atasteofyellowATgmailDOTcom before Saturday 19th April.

Please include:

1. Your name and where you live.
2. Your blog name and URL.
3. The link to your LiveSTRONG with A Taste Of Yellow entry and the name of the recipe.

LiveSTRONG with A Taste Of Yellow has been accepted  by the Lance Armstrong Foundation  as an official LiveSTRONG Day event.

Hay Hay Bron Bron Won Won

Bron's a second time winner of Hay Hay Its Donna Day. Congratulations Bron Marshall . Looking forward to an exciting theme from you. Thank you to everyone who participated and especially to  Bordeaux at Marita Says ,the host of Hay Hay Its Donna Day - Coconut Chocolate Tarts.

Breakfast With Maryam At Peacock Pavilions

Sadly, a cyber breakfast only.  I'd like nothing more than  to be hanging out in Morocco with Maryam.  I can only imagine my day.  I think the moment I awoke I would walk lazily rush to the window to look gaze dreamingly at the peacocks under the olive trees in the grounds of  the  Peacock Pavilions.  Perhaps I would shower and dress, perhaps I would feel very  relaxed and  wander out in my nightie,  to sit in the morning sun and eat my  breakfast off  Maryam's pretty blue and white dishes . I'm sure I'd feel relaxed with Maryam as my hostess.

How I found Maryam shows the power of the internet.   Reading  Brett one day I came across a comment from  Jennifer . I surfed in and enjoyed the writing and so  another blog was added to my reader.  Back in July 2007 Jennifer mentioned  Maryam on her blog.  I remember leaving the comment "I want Maryam as my best friend" - she lives in Morocco, she is building a guest house and she loves to  shop.

....and yet another blog was added to my reader. Now it feels as if I have known Maryam forever.

When she asked so nicely   for breakfast suggestions I was more than happy to help. She is a very busy blogger girl  and she'd rather be shopping than spending the day in the kitchen so this menu can be prepared beforehand and assembled in the morning. 

Breakfast At Peacock Pavilions

Yogurt Cheese  with Macerated Apricots and  Almond Ma'amoul with Mint Tea

Yogurt Cheese is also known as labnah.

Line a sieve with a layer of clean muslin . Pour a 1kg pot of plain yogurt into sieve and leave in fridge for 48 hours. Liquid will drain away leaving a soft cheese.

Variations: For this recipe leave plain but it can  be flavoured with herbs and garlic or cinnamon and honey. Some recipes stir in a teaspoonful of salt before draining. I don't bother.

Macerated Apricots

Place 150 grams dried apricots in a wide bowl with 1/2 cup sugar and cover with cold water.
Leave on bench for 48 hours. Apricots will absorb water and plump up. Strain apricots and reserve.
Put apricot liquid into a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil making sure all sugar crystals have dissolved. Increase temperature and boil until syrupy and reduced.
Pour back over reserved apricots.

Variations: add other dried fruits as desired. Add more sugar for a sweeter version.Or for a softer fruit you could stew the apricots.

Almond Ma'amoul

150 grams plain flour
125 grams soft butter
2 tablespoons rosewater
50 grams flaked almonds

Place flour in bowl, add butter and rosewater and mix to a paste.
Take teaspoonfuls of dough and roll into a round ball.
Flatten between palms and dip one side into flaked almonds.
Place on tray lined with baking paper.

Bake at 180C for 12 minutes.
Leave on tray for 2 minutes before removing to cool on rack.

These can be stored in the freezer and brought to room temperature before serving.

Variations : replace flaked almonds with chopped pistachios or pine nuts. Because there is no sugar in the dough these taste rather nice with a glass of beer.

To serve - spoon yogurt cheese into bowls and spoon apricots on top. Alongside add the Almond Ma'amoul.

For extra sweetness and crunch serve with honey and roasted pine nuts.

I tasted my first real mint tea at L'Institut de Mondu Arabe in Paris. The real thing is so much nicer than the teabag variety we buy in our shops.

Moroccan Mint Tea (from Claudia Roden's Middle Eastern Food)

1 1/2 tablespoons green tea
a handful of fresh mint (mentha viridis variety)
150 - 180 grams lump sugar

Heat the teapot. Add the tea leaves and pour a little boiling water over them. Swirl around and quickly pour the water out again, taking care not to lose the tea leaves. Add mint and sugar, and pour in about 1 litre of boiling water. Allow to infuse for 5 - 8 minutes, then skim off the mint that has risen to the surface. Taste and add more sugar if necessary.

Of course you do know I have peacocks in my yard too.  Well in the park  next to our apartment building actually. This one played dead when he heard my camera.

The park fence is designed with a peacock theme.

 

I think the blogger girl would like the peacock shadows.

Maryam did a little shopping for me recently. Come back in a few days to see what she bought. Please hurry Mr Postman.

 

World's Best Tarte Tatin

I would go back to Port Douglas just for this Tarte Tatin.  After three days of non stop rain we needed sugar badly. Under the cover of big umbrellas  we headed to Harrison's on Macrossan street for a mid afternoon sugar rush.

This really is the best tarte tatin I have ever eaten. Not too sweet, perfectly crisp edges and a slight burn to the caramel decoration.  Served at the perfect temperature so the ice cream lasted all the way to the end of the tart.

I loved the simplicity of the decor and the individual little touches.

Read more about Harrison's at this recent  review .

HARRISON'S
Address: 41 Macrossan St, Port Douglas
Ph: 4099 6364

 

A Little Yellow Food For LiveSTRONG Day

Add some protein to you lunchtime salad with not quite hard boiled eggs.

Just a reminder for the LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow 2008  event.

Deadline for posts 19th April

Round up will be posted on winos and foodies  on  LiveSTRONG Day on May 13th.

Entries must be made specifically for A Taste Of Yellow  and cannot be entered into other blog challenges.

If entering the photo competition the photo must feature a LiveSTRONG yellow wrist band. The first photo in your post will be the only one included in the judging but you may include others in the post. I still have a few wrist bands left if you would like one contact me in time for me to post it to you.

Don't forget to send your entry to me and include your name, where you live, your blog URL and the link to your post. Email to atasteofyellowATgmailDOTcom

Fig Balsamic Vinegar and Baking Powder

Fig Balsamic vinegar is my drug condiment of choice at the moment. Having found the supermarket one overly sweet I decided to make my own.  A Google search came up with several recipes but I decided to go with my own. Fresh figs are in season here but you could use dried figs.

FIG BALSAMIC VINEGAR
250 ml balsamic vinegar (regular supermarket, nothing expensive)
10 fresh figs, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla.
1 tablespoon honey
20 grams dark chocolate ( I used 70%)

Place all ingredients into a saucepan and place on medium heat.
Heat until it boils and then turn temperature down to low.
Simmer for an hour.
Remove from stove and leave to stand overnight.
Drain solids and return liquid to pan. (You could try using the fig pieces in another recipe. I did not experiment)
Boil on high heat until reduced and thick and syrupy.
Pour into container and store in the fridge. I don't know how long it will keep as it is the first time I've made it.

I have also begun making my own baking powder using Heidi's recipe.

BAKING POWDER
1 part baking soda (bicarb of soda)
2 parts cream of tartar
2 parts arrowroot (I didn't have arrowroot so used cornflour)

Mix everything together and store in an airtight container. It should last for a month. To test if it is still active drop a teaspoon into a  glass of hot water. If it bubbles vigorously, the powder is still active.

LiveSTRONG Yellow Wristband

I have received a bunch of yellow Livestrong bands from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  If you'd like one to enter the photo competition please send an email to me at  pinotgrisATgmailDOTcom and convince  me to send you one.  Even better if you can get together with a couple of other bloggers in your country and I can send one package for you to distribute. First in, first served.

Arfi's Cupcake Spectacular

There are just so many food blog events now days I find it hard to keep up.  As much as I'd like to participate  in them all I can't.   An unfortunate ongoing side effect from previous  chemotheraphy is tiredness.  I need to plan ahead and make sure I shop the day before I am making and photographing my entry. That way my day is free to make my entry and photographed it and still leave me with the energy to write my post.
No matter how tired I was though I wanted to support Arfi's Cupcake Spectacular .  She is a friend I met through blogging and I miss her now I live in Australia.

And I wanted chocolate cupcakes, very chocolate cupcakes. With real chocolate not just cocoa powder. I searched the web with the words "chocolate cupcakes made with chocolate". Which is where I found these very chocolatey chocolate cupcakes.  Veronica's Test Kitchen adapted a Dorie Greenspan recipe. So here is my adaptation of Veronica's adaptation of Dorie.

Chocolatey Chocolate Cupcakes
For the cupcakes
120 grams cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
113 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup milk
60 grams dark chocolate, melted and cooled
For the glaze
100 grams dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 tbs icing sugar, sifted
30 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place paper muffin cases in a muffin pan

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Beat the butter at until soft and creamy.
Add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes, until it is blended into the butter.
Add the egg, then the yolk, beating 1 minute after each addition.
Beat in the vanilla,
Stir in the  half the dry ingredients,
Add the milk, mixing until incorporated, then mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
Stir in the melted chocolate and mix it in with a metal spoon. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cases.
Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes are dry and springy to the touch and a knife inserted into their center comes out clean.  Cool to room temperature on the rack before glazing.

To make the Glaze
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of shimmering water.
Stir the icing sugar into the chocolate, followed by the pieces of cold butter.
Spread onto cooled cupcakes and decorate with sprinkles.

Some of you may have seen this last week when I accidentally hit the wrong button and released it to the world.  In trying to block it I then lost it and had resigned myself to writing a new post.  Then Sarah at Readable Science kindly sent me it from her reader. I may have lost some of the  early comments.