Tarte Tatin

Posted on August 19, 2012 by DemeterG

Ever since the first MasterChef Tarte Tatin challenge, I’ve been wanting to give one a go.  So I gave two a go, a pear (on the right) and an apple (on the left).

Next time I’ll even have a go at the pastry from scratch instead of using a sheet from the freezer.

Ingredients:

½ cup caster sugar
50g unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped
6 pears or 4 apples, peeled, cored and halved
1 sheet frozen puff pastry

Method:

Melt butter in an oven proof, 20cm frypan. Stir in vanilla seeds and strips of pod then sprinkle the sugar evenly over mixture. Arrange fruit (cut side up) tightly in fry pan. Cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes shaking the pan occasionally, until sugar mixture is golden in colour. Cool for 30 minutes in the pan.

Cut a 22cm circle from the pastry sheet and place on top of the fruit, tucking pastry edges in around the edges of the fruit.

Bake at 190°C for 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden. Stand for 20 minutes. Invert  and serve warm with ice cream.

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The Little Baby Cheeses……

Posted on August 12, 2012 by DemeterG

I travelled south for an hour to Woodbridge District High School where I was to spend my day learning to make camembert.

I had a great day and learnt so much about milk, cheese, enzymes, bacteria, and mould, amongst other things. A big thanks to Nick Haddow from The Bruny Island Cheese Company for taking time out of his weekend to facilitate the Adult Learning course.

We paired up and heated our milk, which had only been milked from the cow that morning and delivered direct from the dairy. Then after a while of adding and standing around (us and the mixture) we discovered our pot of milk had separated into curds and whey.

From there we cut the curd, stood around some more, cut it again…. repeated the process a few times and then we got to hoop the curd. This basically meant putting the curd into moulds (hoops) to take the shape for the cheese. The little cheese then sat and drained, we turned then, turned them quite a few more times and then the little baby cheeses were tucked up for the night.

Today, I had to bath the little darlings. So they got to come out of their hoops and have a lovely refreshing salt bath while I washed their house. They are tucked back up in bed and I need to turn them every day. In about a week they will start to grow some fuzz. This means my baby cheeses have turned into teenagers. I get to wrap them up and leave them for a few more weeks. They will then be matured and I guess that means they are adult Camembert and get to leave home. Which means I get to unwrap them and eat them. I can’t wait!

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Thai Cashew Chicken “GAI PAD MED MA-MUANG”

Posted on August 12, 2012 by DemeterG

This is my favourite Thai dish. I am sure it is not a completely authentic recipe, but it does taste just like what I used to get from the Thai take away where I used to live.

Serves 4


Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canola oil
500g chicken thigh, thinly sliced
salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 ½ tablespoon Sambal Oelek or chilli paste
½ cup chicken stock
1 large capsicum (red or green), seeded and cut into strips
½ large brown onion, diced
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 red banana chillies, finely diced
½ cup unsalted cashews, toasted
5 scallions, diced
Steamed Thai jasmine rice or noodles, for serving (we use noodles as B1 is not a fan of rice)

Method:

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok medium-high heat. Add half the chicken and stir fry until cooked through. Put the chicken in a bowl and set aside. Repeat with 1 tbs. of the oil and the rest of the chicken.

Add the remaining oil to the empty wok. Add the Sambal Olek, stirring constantly to break it up for 1 minute. Add the chicken stock, capsicum, onion, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir well and simmer for 3 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium, return the chicken to the wok and cook until the sauce is slightly thickened and the vegetables are tender, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chillies, cashews and scallions, stir to combine and serve immediately over rice or gently stir through prepared noodles.

Posted in Asian, Chicken, Favourite Recipe, Recipes, Thai | Leave a comment

Fish with Aromatic Indian Spices

Posted on August 5, 2012 by DemeterG

I was fortunate enough to have lunch at Saffire‘s restaurant a few months ago and as an added bonus, Chef of the year Simon, was kind enough to let me have the recipe for the wonderful claypot spiced flathead that was served. The recipe was for barramundi, but I used flathead as well. My version was not as good (I would have been very surprised if it was), but it was still very tasty! 

My attempt is on the top, the restaurant dish is on the bottom. On the right is the rainbow that was presented while we ate our lunch and took in the fabulous Tassie view of the Hazards Mountains.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Barramundi or other white fish (I used flathead). Enough to serve six

Coconut Sauce:
1 lt Coconut Milk
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Knob Ginger, Julienne
30 mls Fish Sauce
3 Tablespoon Palm sugar, grated
Fresh Curry leaves

Tomato Base:
1 large Onion, finely diced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1×2 cm Fresh Turmeric, minced
1 Large Knob Ginger, peeled and minced
5 Small Thai Green Chillies, minced
250mls Vegetable Oil
6 Vine-ripened tomatoes, cored and de-seeded
1 Tblsp Madras Curry Powder

Garam Masala:
¼ cup Green Cardamon Pods , Roasted
1 tsp Cloves, Roasted
1 tsp White peppercorns, Roasted
2 Sticks Cinnamon, Roasted
4 Star Anise, Roasted

Method:

Tomato Base:
Cook the onions, garlic, turmeric, chillies and ginger in the vegetable oil in a heavy based pot. Cook slowly until caramelised. This can take up to 1 hour.

Add the Madras curry powder and cook for another 10 minutes.

Dice the tomatoes into 5mm. When onion are cooked add the tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.

Garam Masala:
Grind all spices in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle till very fine.

Coconut sauce:
Bring all ingredients to a slow simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and discard solids.

In a clay pot, place tomato base in bottom, then coconut sauce. Place portion of fish on top and sprinkle with a little garam masala. Place lid on and cook in the oven at 180°C for 25 minutes or until cooked.

Serve with rice pilaf.

Posted in Favourite Recipe, Indian, Recipes, Seafood | Leave a comment

Monte Carlo Whoopie Pies

Posted on July 31, 2012 by DemeterG

Another favourite of the DB is the good ol’ Monte Carlo biscuit. As I had been promising B1 more whoopie pies, I thought I’d aim to please everyone and create a Monte Carlo Whoopie Pie. I made a golden syrup whoopie pie and filled it with jam and cream. Next time I will try jam and an icing filling.

Makes 22.

Ingredients:

Whoopie Pies:
125g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
2 eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ cup buttermilk
icing sugar for dusting

Jam and Cream Filling:
1 ½ cups thickened cream
4 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of raspberry jam, sieved

Method:

Whoopie Pies:
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line 4 biscuit trays with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and golden syrup until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda and baking powder into a bowl.

Combine buttermilk and vanilla in a jug.

Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mix and stir to combine. Add a third of the buttermilk and stir. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk until just combined.

Drop level tablespoons of the mixture onto prepared trays, 5 cm apart. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes util puffed and golden. Allow to stand on trays for 2 minutes than transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Jam and Cream Filling:
Using an electric mixer, beat cream, icing sugar and vanilla until firm peaks form. Gently fold through the jam until almost combined, so that yu can see ribbons of jam throught the cream.

Spoon tablespoons of filling on half the cakes and top with the other half. Serve dusted with icing sugar.



Posted in Baking, Biscuits, Cakes, Recipes | Leave a comment