winosandfoodies

Kumara Curry Recipe

I had never heard of  kumara  until we moved to New Zealand.  A roast dinner in New Zealand is not complete without a few kumara tossed in with the potatoes and roasted.  So much nicer than the sweet potato I grew up with in Australia.

Thankfully they are now available in Australia.  Although I  love them roasted,they also make a great soup. This week I discovered they make a quick and easy vegetable curry for lunch.

KUMARA CURRY (lunch for 2)

1 large orange kumara, peeled and cut into cubes about 2cm

1 tablespoon each of oil and butter

1 small onion, sliced

1 cup coconut cream ( I make my own in the Thermomix)

1 level teaspoon each of salt, tumeric, curry powder

Parsley for serving

METHOD

Melt butter and oil in medium saucepan

Add onion and cook until soft

Add kumara and cook a few minutes to seal with out browning

Add salt, spices and coconut milk

Cover with lid and cook until soft, about 10 minutes

Remove lid and cook until liquid reduces a little

Serve with crusty bread

I Heart You # 21

A little BOKEH heART

Not planned I just saw it when I downloaded the photo.

..and a few hearts I've seen around the internet this week.

Kalyn's hearty vegetables

Tim's beautiful blue door

Paz's pretty pink flowers

Project 365 Week 21

Project 365 week 21 complete. View over at winosandfoodies project 365.

Orange Cheesecake for Hay Hay Its Donna Day

Hay Hay Its Donna Day is back, overseen by  Denise at Chezus . This month, host Mardi at Eat.Live.Travel.Write has chosen Donna's Blackberry Cheesecake Pots. As blackberries are out of season in my neck of the woods  I replaced them with our new seasons oranges.

ORANGE CREAM CHEESE RECIPE

250 grams cream cheese

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cream

zest of 1 orange

segments of 1 orange, pith removed

METHOD

With a blender mix the cream cheese,sugar, cream and orange zest until smooth. Chop half the orange segments and stir through the mixture.

Spoon into pots, decorate with orange slices and serve with a biscuit or cookie.

What I Did With My Second Bar Of Lindt Fleur De Sel Chocolate

Remember when I lost my Lindt stash? (di$claimer) Well, the lovely Sarah at Lindt kindly send me some more....and he's what I did with the bar of Fleur de Sel.

First, I made praline

Line a tray with baking paper

Over low heat  dissolve 1/2 cup caster sugar in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Increase heat to high and bring to the boil.

Boil with out stirring for 5 - 7 minutes, or until mixture turns golden. I use a candy thermometer and take it to 75C. Remove from the heat and rest for 2 minutes.

Add 1/4 cup slivered almonds.

Pour onto prepared tray. Allow to cool, Break into shards.

Crush praline into small pieces. I used a stick blender.

Next

Break bar of Lindt Fleur de sel into squares and place in a heat proof bowl. Place bowl over hot water (Water must not touch base of bowl) until chocolate melts.

Place a little chocolate into small paper cases.

Add a layer of crushed praline.

Cover with a layer of melted chocolate.

Set in fridge. Remove paper cases and serve.

I'm still working on getting the ratio of chocolate to praline right. I think the top layer (which ends up on the bottom when served) should be slightly thinner.

But the salt of the chocolate goes fabulously with the praline. I'm not even sure fabulously is a word. But it suits.

Boonah Show Day

Boonah, is a country town in the Scenic Rim.  There annual show day is a mix of animals, side show, rides and exhibitions ranging from the biggest pumpkin to the best wheat to perfectly made cakes.

Here is a few photos of the day.

I Heart You # 20

AvoHeART on a layer of jamon served on a Taco.

Project 365 Week 20

View all original photos at winosandfoodies project 365.

Russian Tea Cakes Recipe - aka The Heroin Cookie

'Some nights, when I think no one is looking, I tiptoe quietly into the kitchen.  By the light of the moon,  shining through the kitchen window, I open the pantry door. Standing on tiptoes I reach into the back of the cupboard and take out the blue tin. Very carefully I remove the lid.   In the semi darkness, my fingers search the tin for one of the little white orbs.  I quickly pop it into my mouth. My eyes close and I learn back against the wall. Bliss. The cookie barely needs chewing. It melts by the warmth of my tongue. I lick my lips to catch any missing flecks of the sweet powdered sugar.'

Last week I decided to declutter my collection of recipes. I came across a cookie recipe  I'd printed off,  from Cath at  A Blithe Palate.

When I first stumbled across Cath's blog she was on a road trip in the Napa Valley with friends. Wine country. Friends. Road trip......my kinda person.

Cath has a way with words. She has the rare ability to take you places in your head.  Her visit to the British Museum had me on the edge of my chair, my heart pounding. 

I remembered her writing about how good these cookies were.  As  Cath will be in my 'hood next year,  I thought maybe I should trial them before she gets here. That way I could make them for her if  she is missing home.

......and the rest is history. Cath's Russian Tea Cakes will forever be known in our house as heroin cookies.

Cath's Russian Tea Cakes Recipe

1 3/4 cups (6 oz) almond flour (this is finely ground blanched almonds; alternatively you may use other nuts and grind them to a fine meal in a food processor)
2 cups all purpose flour
6 T sugar
8 oz unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 t vanilla extract
1 t salt

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325. (I cooked them on 180C)

Cream butter and 4 T sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla until combined, then reduce speed and add the flour, almond flour, salt and the remaining 2T of sugar.  Using a small scoop or two spoons, scoop a spoonful of dough and roll it into a 1 inch ball.  Place them on a lined baking sheet. 

Bake them until they are light brown, approximately 20 minutes.  At ten minutes, switch the cookie sheets between the racks and rotate them so they bake evenly.  Do not let them overcook or become too brown.  Remove from the oven and dust them liberally with confectioner's sugar.  Cool on a rack.

To store, keep in an airtight container at room temperature.

Read   Cath's post on these cookies . You'll love it.

I Heart You #19

Hundreds and Thousand hEART

Project 365 - Week 19 and Some Winners

Week 19 of Project 365 is complete. View originals at winosandfoodies project 365.

The winners of the Electrolux Tetsuya Masterclass competition have been announced.  Congratulations Kerry Heaney of the Brisbane blog Eat Drink Be Kerry.  The  Electrolux team  selected Kerry from the winos and foodies entries.

The second prize of Tetsuyas book, chosen by me using an on line random number generator, is Nigel from Curious Kai in New Zealand.

Congratulations Kerry and Nigel.

Paella In The Park

The worst paella I've had was in Spain. It wasn't up to the standard of the Ritz Hotel Madrid  version of Paella.  I've never eaten at the Madrid Ritz, but I have been making their version since the day I found the recipe in a 1999 Vogue Travel and Entertaining.

To be fair, the one time I tried Paella in Spain, it was in the lone restaurant of a tiny, hilltop village in  Northern Spain. As far away as you could possibly get from it's birthplace Lake Albafura, a lagoon in Valencia on the east coast of Spain.

The original paella would have been a mix of rabbit or chicken and seasonal vegetables. Seafood is a recent addition to the paella pan.

This is a easy picnic version of my usual paella. The Ritz recipe uses ham, pork, chicken, prawn  and scampi. I've simplified it, by removing the meats and scampi, and adding chorizo with the prawns.  All the vegetables are prepared at home and  then put together in a paella pan, set over a gas camp cooker at the park.

PAELLA

INGREDIENTS

150ml olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 chorizo sausage, sliced

1.5 litres chicken stock (room temperature) When I make paella at home I add heated stock.

600 grams short grain rice ( I use a Calasparra rice from Spain)

3 lemons, quartered

a large pinch of saffron threads, and 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped, ground together in a mortar and pestle

1 cup green peas (frozen are fine)

1 medium red capsicum, sliced

500 grams green prawns, peeled

METHOD

Heat the oil in the paella pan (mine is a 30cm pan) over medium heat. Fry the onions until soft. (about 5 minutes).

Add the tomatoes and chorizo and cook, stirring, for another 5 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to the boil.

Sprinkle in the rice, stir and return to the boil.

Add the garlic and saffron mixture to the simmering stock.

Add the peas, red capsicum and prawns. Stir to mix.

Cook over high heat for 8 minutes.

Reduce heat to low and cook a further 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and rest for 5 minutes. Serve with lemon.

Pomegranate Memories For Cooking To Combat Cancer

You know how some days are etched in your mind. You may not remember everything about it, but something stands out to keep the memory of that day alive for the rest of your life.

This was one of those days. I was about 9, we were traveling home to Margaret River after a visit to my Grandmother in Perth. On the way we drove off the highway to visit my Grandfather, who was looking after a North Dandalup farm for his friends, while they took a holiday. 

The house was your typical farm cottage of the fifties. A few steps up to a front verandah, into a hallway with sitting room on left, main bedroom on right, big kitchen at the end of the hall way and a door out to the back verandah and bathroom and usually a lavatory built at least 10 metres from the house. Fruit trees in the yard.

I remember the day as a typical Perth summer day, hot as hades. A day when it's cooler outside than inside, especially a  post war farm cottage. My brother and I played under a tree on the lawn. A tree just like this one.

At some point that afternoon my grandfather reached up and picked some of the fruits and handed one to each of us.  Having never seen one before we had no idea how to eat it. I guess we figured it out because I remember trying the seeds and being seriously unimpressed.

Forty years passed before I came across another pomegranate. Again I remember the day clearly. The Barossa, autumn,  a wine festival, holidaying with dear friends. Nope, still not impressed with pomegranate seeds.

And then one day last year I was given a glass of pomegranate juice to try. It was like a light went off in my head. Finally, I understood the attraction of pomegranates.

I am now, possibly their biggest fan. The tart juice,  arils scattered on a chicken tagine,  sprinkled over a fruit platter, dipped in chocolate. Some days I'm happy to just sit in the sun and eat them one by one straight from their shell.

The modern pomegranate, now grown commercially in Australia, is more pulp, less kernel. Which is good taste wise, but for kids who like to play spit the kernel the furtherest, not so much fun. 

And how good is pomegranate for you? Pretty darn good they say. High in antioxidants it's an ideal subject for Mele Cotte's annual Cooking To Combat Cancer event.

 There are probably easier and more modern ways to juice pomegranates...but I kinda like the old fashioned way. Standing at the bench, pushing down on the seeds to extract  the juice and thinking about my grandfather.

Breaking apart the whole fruit and removing the arils, as the seeds are called... it's a little like mining for rubies.

Scrape the pomegranate arils into a strainer.

I use a small plate to push down on arils to release the juice.

I love this juice.

Please visit Mele Cotte and support Cooking To Combat Cancer.

I Heart You # 18

SOUP heART

..and a couple of happenings.

On Sunday my gravlax sandwiches will feature on Foodista as blog of the day.

I'm also honoured to be included in this list of 50 best food blogs for the avid traveler.

Project 365 - Week 18

Week 18 of Project 365 completed. View photos at winos and foodies project 365 .

Orange and Prune Rice Cake Recipe

Some months back Tea mentioned a book from Murdoch Press called Bake It.  I came across it when browsing in a book store recently. However this is a reprinted copy, and I personally feel not as well presented as the previous book. It is a smaller size - about the size of a novel. It does have some great recipes though.

I also found it really irritating that some of the recipes have the ingredients  on one page and you need to turn the page for the method. Which is fine I guess if you indulge in a  bit of mise en place and get all your ingredients together and measured out before continuing with the recipe. I don't always do that. In fact I rarely do that. And yes I know that's bad practice. And yes some days I mess up the recipe because I don't do that. But that's just how I do things in the kitchen. 

ORANGE  AND PRUNE RICE CAKE (adapted from Bake It)

1 vanilla bean

200 gr (7 oz/1 cup) medium grain rice

1 litre ( 35 fl oz/4 cups milk)

2 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

4 eggs, lightly beaten

170 gr (6 oz/3/4 cup) caster sugar

200 gr (7 oz) fresh ricotta cheese

60 gr (1/2 cup) slivered almonds

Prune filling: 200 gr (7 oz) pitted prunes

115 gr (4 oz/1/2 cup) caster sugar

125 ml (4 fl oz/1/2 cup) orange juice

METHOD

To make filling - soak prunes in 2 1/2 cups boiling water for 30 minutes. Add prunes and water to orange juice and sugar and bring slowly to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, or until prunes are soft. Cool the prunes in the liquid, then strain, reserving the liquid.

Split vanilla bean down centre and scrape out seeds. Put beans and pod into a saucepan with rice and milk. Bring slowly to a simmer, then cook over medium-low heat for 15 - 20 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside, covered for 20 minutes, or until cooled slightly. Remove vanilla pod.

Preheat oven to 170C (325F).

Lightly grease an 18cm (7 inch) round spring form cake tin and line base with baking paper. Wrap a piece of foil around the outside of the tin and up the sides to completely seal it.

Combine the zest, eggs, sugar, ricotta in a bowl and, using a wooden spoon, stir until smooth. Add the egg mixture to the rice and stir to combine.

Pour half the rice mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top. Arrange the prunes on top, pour over the remaining rice mixture and scatter the top with the almonds. I forgot the almonds, so when serving I sprinkled some crushed praline over the top. Which I think was better anyway.

Put cake tin into a roasting pan and pour enough boiling water into pan to come half way up sides of cake tin. Bake 50 minutes or until cake is firm in the centre. Cover the cake with foil half way through cooking if it browns too quickly.

Meanwhile, put the reserved prune liquid into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by one third. Cool the rice cake in the tin. Unmold onto a serving plate and serve with whipped cream and the syrup.

UPDATE:   This post was written before Tea's post about sharing recipes.  I subbed orange juice for the alcohol. I also forgot to add the slivered almond before baking, so added a topping of crushed praline.

Pomegranate and Chocolate

Ooh yeah, this is good. Fiddly, time consuming, messy.....but oh so good. Pomegranate seeds in chocolate.

I was wondering how to use my pomegranates when Maryam tweeted she was was nibbling on chocolate coated pomegranate seeds. And so from  afternoon nibbles in Marrakesh this recipe was born.

It's pretty simple, just pomegranate seeds in melted chocolate. Now you could go all out and temper the chocolate first. But I didn't. I just melted the chocolate and dipped the seeds in and set on parchment paper on a tray in the fridge.

I did put a lot of effort into cleaning the seeds first. Which is necessary to remove the pith from the peel. Cut the pomegranates in half and scrape the seeds out into a bowl of water. Rinse the seeds, then lay out on paper towels to dry. Blot top of seeds with a paper towel. Leave to dry for a couple of hours before dipping.

Melt chocolate in a basin over hot water, making sure the hot water doesn't touch the basin containing the chocolate. I made two different types, one with the seed totally covered and one with seed showing.

1. Dip some of the dry seeds into melted chocolate. I used a Lindt 50%  dark chocolate. It was just sweet enough to of set the tartness of the seeds.

2. Place a teaspoon of chocolate onto parchment and carefully drop a seed onto the top and leave to set.

I feel these would work well with white chocolate. They also would make a great decoration for cakes. Imagine adding a touch of gold leave alongside the red seed.

We had them with after dinner coffee.

They should be kept in the fridge and eaten within a few days.

DISCLAIMER: I received the pomegranates from Royal Pom Australia and the chocolate was a gift from Lindt Australia. The pomegranates are from the first  commercially grown crop in Australia.

I Heart You - # 17

I fell in love with  Philippa Blair's art back in the '80's. In particular, her folded and painted canvas' known as the tepee series. Way out of my price range, but I was able to afford a couple of her lithographs.   'Mon Coeur' above, was part of a series of her works featuring hearts.

Ocean Emotion by Martin Hill , a New Zealand artist.

 
And thanks to Sam for this Banksy  work in San Francisco.

Recently two of Banksy's works have been painted over by local councils. One in Melbourne, Australia and another in the UK.