Soup and Steamed Pudding Month – the story so far……

Posted on June 18, 2012 by DemeterG

OK, so I am half way through and I have my soup quota done. I made Chicken and Sweetcorn soup tonight, so hope to have that one posted soon. Only one more to go. The steamed puddings are just not going so well.

I tried the pear and almond and to be honest, I hated the pudding. The pear part was divine. I poached a pear in Riesling, vanilla, cinnamon and star anise and then layered slices of it in the bottom of the pudding bowl, to do an upside down pudding. It looked great and tasted divine. The pudding however was made with marzipan, grated into the pudding mixture. I thought the store bought marzipan tasted “funny” – almost rancid – but I used it anyway, hoping the pudding would sort itself out. Unfortunately it didn’t and all I tasted was an awful, oily, marzipan taste, not the nice Almond taste I was expecting. So I have crossed that one off the list and moved onto another.

The coconut and raspberry was nice. I will blog the recipe soon…. unfortunately I did forget to put the coconut in…. so it was really just raspberry, but you can work it out when I publish the recipe for how it was supposed to be.

Third attempt was a lemon pudding. I love lemon, but this one was a flop as well, with a real doughy pudding, that I really didn’t enjoy. I think I used too much syrup and probably should have put the syrup over the top at the end.

So, I have scrapped the whole steamed pudding idea for now and I am moving onto cup cakes and whoopie pies instead. I will admit that both of these are also gaining mixed results, but only because I keep forgetting ingredients.

The Anise cup cakes worked a treat and were very well received by all the licorice lovers. The next batch were lemon….. did I mention I love lemon?……. almost as much as bacon…..
Again, I got side tracked and somehow forgot the baking powder and ended up with pancake-cupcakes. The idea was to squirt some lemon curd in the centre and use lemon icing. A real lemon overload. I ended up doing all that and taking the batch into work. They were all very nice and said they tasted great, but hopefully the next batch will be better. Especially if I remember all the ingredients……. I really do think I am getting alziheimer’s sometimes……

The latest success, Red Velvet Whoopie Pies. How Yum are they? The marshmallow filling was so sweet, but delicious. Next time I think I’ll do a cream cheese filling. B1 is very sad that there are none left and I didn’t have time t make more. Soon, I promise!

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Red Velvet Whoopie Pies with Marshmallow filling

Posted on June 18, 2012 by DemeterG

A whoopie pie is a cross between a biscuit and a cake and I have been wanting to try making whoopie pies for awhile I was inspired on the weekend when I saw a You Tube video of them being made. I Googled a few recipes and did a mix of two which B1 is calling “almost my new favourite food”

Despite the strange name, which also resulted in them being called Whoopie Cushions and Whoop-de-doo Pies at home, we all agree they are worth making again.

Ingredients:

125g butter, room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 teaspoons red food colouring
1 ¾ cups plain flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
½ cup buttermilk

Marshmallow filling:
3 egg whites
1 ¼ cups caster sugar
2 tablespoons glucose syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line 3 large baking trays with baking paper.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg.

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

In a jug, add the buttermilk, food coloring and vinegar.

Add one third of the flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until combined.
Add half the buttermilk mixture. Mix until combined. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk until just combined.

Drop level tablespoons of mixture onto prepared trays, 5cm apart, allowing room for spreading. Alternatively, to get even amounts and nice round mounds, use an ice cream scoop.

Bake each tray for 8 to 10 minutes or until puffed and cooked through. Stand on trays for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Cool.

To make the marshmallow filling, whisk the egg whites, sugar, glucose, vanilla and salt in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water for 10 minutes or until a ribbon trail forms when whisk is lifted.

Transfer the marshmallow mixture to an electric mixer bowl and beat for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture has cooled, is thick and holds it shape.

Place whoopies, base-side up, on a clean work surface. Either spoon or use a piping bag to fill one half of the whoopies. Place the remaining whoopies on top and press lightly to sandwich together. Place the whoopies in the fridge until you’re ready to serve them.

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Potato, Leek & Bacon Soup

Posted on June 17, 2012 by DemeterG

This one is a new family favourite and has almost (almost) taken over from DB’s pumpkin soup. For a vegetarian option, just leave out the bacon. But for me, when doesn’t bacon make a meal taste better 😉

 

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil
20g butter
2 leeks, white section only, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg potatoes, peeled, coarsely chopped
1L  chicken stock
750ml  water
250ml  thin cream
250g diced bacon

Method:

Heat oil and butter in a saucepan over medium heat Add the leek and garlic and toss to coat. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for 18-20 minutes or until soft.

Add the potato, stock and water, cover and simmer over medium-high heat, partially covered, for 25-30 minutes or until potato is tender. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

Meanwhile, fry bacon until crispy.

Using a stick blender and blend until smooth. Add the cream and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle among serving bowls. Sprinkle with bacon and serve with crusty bread.

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Cream of Spinach Soup

Posted on June 6, 2012 by DemeterG

Despite the fact that this soup looked very similar to pond scum, it was really very tasty and as an added bonus, very healthy.

Not one for the kids if they don’t like green stuff.

 

Ingredients:

1 whole garlic bulb
2 cups fresh spinach, washed
1 cup zucchini, roughly chopped
1 cup chopped red onion, diced
¼ cup spring onions, sliced
¼ cup parsley, chopped
¼ cup celery, roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
 ¼ cup raw cashews, crushed
dash of fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste
Sour cream to garnish 

 

Method:

Roast the garlic whole in the oven on 200°C for 30 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.

In a large saucepan, saute onions and spring onions with a pinch of salt, until translucent.

Add in spinach, celery, zucchini and parsley and cook for 5 minutes.

Add in stock and squeeze in roasted garlic pulp and bring to the boil.

Simmer for 20 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through.

Allow to cool slightly and then puree with a stick blender. Stir in crushed cashews and return to the stove to warm and serve. Season to taste.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and crusty bread.

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Vanilla, Almond and Anise Cupcakes

Posted on June 2, 2012 by DemeterG

One of my favourite blogs is Rosie Alyea’s Sweetapolita. I was browsing her recipes and saw her licorice delights: Vanilla, Almond & Anise cupcakes. As the DB absolutely loves aniseed rings, I thought these might hit the spot nicely.

Usually B1 is the Cupcake Queen of the house. She experiments with all manner of (usually bright) colours and flavours and while she never uses a recipe, they always turn out great. Well, the few that I have been able to taste were great. Mostly there are crumbs left when I come home to find cup cakes have been made.

B1 was away for the weekend, so it was an even better time to launch myself into a cupcake experiment. There were no experts around to judge them – MasterChef style. Which is the way most food is judged at dinner time and the final result is a thumbs up, or down rating. An exceptionally good meal usually ends up with not enough thumbs and big toes getting involved.

The recipe can be found here, and those of us in Australia who have no idea what cake flour is; 1 cup cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup plain flour plus 2 tablespoons corn flour.

The vanilla and almond cupcakes were nice, I might experiment with almond meal next time instead of the almond extract. The icing was nice and I did add more anise extract then was in the recipe. My piping skills however are lacking. I think I might need to make some more cupcakes and practice the piping thing a bit more……. I wonder when B1 is away for the weekend next 😉

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