Sunday, January 30, 2011

Chilli Marmalade


This recipe actually came about because of two different recipes. . .and a whole load of oranges. I was given a huge amount of oranges off my uncle's tree. And one thing I will say: just because an orange doesn't look perfect on the outside doesn't mean that the orange is flavourless or juiceless on the inside. The oranges I was given had spots and marks all over them but, due to my uncle's good soil and organic principles in his garden, the oranges were the juiciest ones I had ever tasted.

Anyway; after looking up recipes for marmalade (there is only so much orange juice you can drink in any given week) I found a good one in the book 'A Year in a Bottle' by Sally Wise and I was happily boiling away, stirring the fruit in my overly large boiler when I began to wonder why was I making so much damn marmalade. I don't even eat jam at all. Sure I planned to give some away to friends and family, and I didn't want  to let the oranges go to waste, but I didn't eat jam. The only time I ever used any jam at all was for another recipe Sweet & Spicy Chicken from the '4 Ingredients Book' by Kim McCosker & Rachel Bermingham.

Sweet & Spicy Chicken was the only reason I kept marmalade in the cupboard; and I kept it in the cupboard because the recipe is so easy to do after a hard days work and you only need three ingredients. The recipe simply requires that you add chilli powder to a cup of marmalade and mix together. Place the mixture in a zip lock bag, add some chicken legs and mush all around. Take the chicken legs out and place them on a baking tray. Spoon over the chilli marmalade mixture and bake. It's a great recipe.

So I'm stirring away at my boiler thinking- well why don't I just add the chilli now. So I did. And hence Chilli Marmalade. I gave my mum a jar and told her how to make Sweet & Spicy Chicken. When she went to make it the jar of Chilli Marmalade was gone. My dad had eaten it on toast! I have since given away a lot more jars and while the women seem to use it for Sweet & Spicy Chicken, the men seem to prefer it on toast. Go figure!

So here is the recipe as found in the book 'A Year in a Bottle' plus my addition of Chilli.

Chilli Marmalade ( also known as Man's Jam)
500g oranges
1 Lemon Cups water
2 Cups orange juice
1.5kg sugar - I use raw sugar but white sugar works just as well
Chilli powder to taste- I use-for a double batch- 6 flat teaspoons. this gives it a decent bite without overriding the sweetness of the jam

Cut the fruit up very finely and place in a large pot. Add water and orange juice. Bring to the boil and cook until the fruit is soft. Add sugar and bring to the boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add chilli powder. Boil hard for 25 minutes or so until setting point is reached. Allow to stand for ten minutes before pouring into warm sterilised jars and then seal immediately.

I have a particularly large boiler so I often do a double batch or even a triple batch. I also have a preserving unit so I can seal the jars. However you can seal the jars quite easily without one. First you need to make sure the jars and lids are sterilised. (Reuse any jars that have that pop top type lid eg Dolmio). Sterilise the jars by placing them on a tray in a cold oven with a little bit of water in the tray. Turn the oven to 110 degrees and heat the jars until that temperature is reached. Then turn the oven off and let them sit until you need them. Boil the lids, boiling for a minimum of 10 minutes.

To seal the jars place them in a boiler and cover with water and boil. Remove them from the water and as they cool the lids should suck in of their own accord. Make sure you leave space in your jar between your jam and your lid.

This recipe is a nice, easy recipe. Even without the chilli it is a particularly nice marmalade. The chopping of fruit can take time and if you have mincer you could use it to save time and effort. If you make this marmalade try it on toast but make sure you try the Sweet & Spicy Chicken too.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Black Forest Trifle


I know that I seem to only be focusing on desert recipes but we've just been through Christmas and this is when I make most of my deserts. I chose this recipe for a dinner with friends, one of whom has a particular fondness for Black Forest Cake.

Now Black Forest cake is renowned for being fiddly and when you've got someone coming to dinner that particularly likes this type of cake you want to get it right. With Traditional Black Forest Cake that's not always easy so when I found this recipe in my September 2009 issue of Super Food Ideas I knew it was going to be a good option.

Firstly, this recipe by Cathie Lonnie, is not a Traditional Black Forest Cake and therefore cannot be compared against other shop bought perfections. It will stand on its own. Secondly it's a lot easier to make. Apart from there being a few different stages to this trifle (as with all trifles) there is nothing overly difficult in it at all.

You will need: 2 x large cans of stoneless black cherries in syrup- it has to be syrup because you need it for the recipe-
                      1 1/2 Tablespoons boiling water,
                     2teaspoons of powdered gelatine,
                     500g bought chocolate cake- you can make a chocolate cake yourself as a cheaper alternative but the bought cake cuts down time-
                     1/4 C brandy- this is optional but I have made this trifle with and without and it tastes better with. The only issue is if it is going to be eaten by children as the trifle is not cooked and the alcohol content remains.
                     2/3 C cornflour
                     2/3 C caster sugar
                    2 1/2 C milk
                    200g dark chocolate- homebrand works just fine
                    2 x 250g packets of cream cheese softened- this will make it easier to work with
                    300ml thickened cream
                    1/2 C dry-roasted hazelnuts, chopped- I usually just crush them against my chopping board with the potato masher.

Okay- so here's how you make the trifle:-
           Drain the cherries, keeping 1 1/2 cups of the syrup in a bowl. Mix the boiling water, in a separate heat proof jug, with the gelatine and stir till disolved. It's important that you make sure it's all disolved otherwise it gets all chunky and rubbery in the trifle. Then stir this mixture in with the syrup.
            If you've bought a cake remove the icing and discard- or let the kids eat it, or eat it yourself. Cut the cake into chunks about 3cm squared- don't be too pedantic- and then spread them over the base of a large baking dish. Sprinkle over the brandy, spoon over the cherry syrup mixture, top with cherries and stick in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
           While you're waiting, combine the cornflour and half the sugar in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the milk until smooth and then place over medium heat. Cook, stiring, for about 5 minutes or until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and place half of the chocolate, roughly chopped into the mixture until melted. Congratulations you have just made chocolate mouse. (Not that hard is it?) Then pour over your cherry syrup cake mixture that you put in the fridge. Set aside for about 15 minutes.
           Using an electric mixer- I used a hand whisk but it takes forever even if it is a great cardio work out- and beat the cheese and the remaining sugar until smooth. Add the cream and beat to combine. Spread the cream mixture over the chocolate mouse and cover. The recipe says to refrigerate for about 4 to 6 hours but I have eaten this fabulous creation a lot earlier than that due to poor time managemnet on my behalf. (I was just putting the trifle into the fridge as my guests turned up but it tasted just as good and hour or so later as it did the next day)
          Using a vegetable peeler cut leftover chocolate into long curls and sprinkle over the trifle before topping with nuts. Sometimes I roast the nuts sometimes I don't. It doesn't really matter much either way. And there you have it. You have just made Black Forest Trifle.

           I have to say that this recipe has now become one of my repertoire deserts. It's always popular and because its quite rich a large dish of this will serve a lot of people. It doesn't always come out of the dish in an elegant way (what trifle ever does) but it tastes so good that no one cares. The great thing is that if you like trifle you'll like it. If you like chocolate mouse, you'll like it. If you like Black Forest Cake, you'll like it.          
         As a cook you'll be able to present a variation on what is considered quite a difficult cake to make but without all the effort and the fuss and yet it will stand alone as a desert in its own right. But what I like the most about it is that it is so easy. Okay, yes, there are three different stages of layering the trifle, but none of them are hard or particularly fiddly or even time consuming. Take this to a dinner party and you'll find people are astonished that, yes, you did make the chocolate mouse all by yourself.

I've always maintained that cooking great things is not all that hard as long as you have the right recipe. This one in particularly shows that a recipe doesn't have to be complicated to be a hit.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Toffee Coated Camembert with Toasted Almonds.





I don't know who wrote this recipe (I think I got it out of one of the free Coles Magazines) but whoever came up with this idea was a genius. This simple recipe can have you turning up to a dinner, a BBQ or a party looking like a Gourmet Chef even if you have trouble boiling water.

I've tried this recipe three times now and each time I've come home with an empty plate. It doesn't get much better than that. And its so simple.

All you need is some Camembert- or Brie if that's your preference- 1/2 C Caster Sugar, 2 Tablespoons of water and about a tablespoon of toasted flaked almonds (you can toast these yourself with a minimum of fuss) and some seasonal fruit to dress up your plate.

The cheese needs to be at room temperature before you drizzle the toffee on it so place it on a plate on the sink about 30minutes before you plan to use it. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and then boil without stirring until the colour goes a lovely caramel colour.

Here's a tip:- Toffee burns very quickly and it will continue to cook even after you've taken it off the heat. It's best to take the toffee off the heat when it is just beginning to go a caramel colour and let it continue to cook off the heat rather than get the colour right before removing the saucepan from the stove. It may not look burnt but if it goes a really dark whiskey colour it will probably taste burnt.

Having said that, I burnt my toffee the first time around and nobody seemed to notice at all.

Drizzle the toffee over the cheese. This may sound simple but take care not to put too much toffee on. It will spill over the sides of the cheese and pool at the base. While a little of this looks fine it makes it difficult later on when your guests go to cut the cheese.

Overall a fabulous, simple recipe that looks amazing on a plate with some cherries, grapes and strawberries or even just some wafer biscuits.

It just goes to show that you don't have to be a qualified chef or even follow a complicated recipe to come up with an amazing dish.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Christmas Cake you make when you don't like Christmas Cake


I've never been particularly fond of Christmas Cake. I have to say that dried up bits of fruit, citrus rind and glace cherries all mushed together in a cake. . . not overly appealing to me I'm afraid. But I revised my opinion when I hired out a DVD from the local library called 'Nigella's Christmas'. Watching her make this decadent, moist cake. . . even I wanted to eat it. And it looked so easy. But first I had to get a spring form pan.

I've neglected- actually more like- deliberately avoided buying a spring form pan as I believed them to be unnecessary for the home cook. Spring form pans, in my opinion, were for Chefs and those who cooked in a commercial capacity. However, after watching this DVD and seeing how easily Nigella's cake slipped from that spring form pan I decided to invest in one- from the local supermarket.(No expense spared).

And I am in love!!!! How could I not have had one of these?Why did it take me so long to buy one?Was I mad?Absolutely! A device that makes baking easier. Who wouldn't want one? It makes cooking cakes so much simpler. Thank the Lord for spring form pans and baking paper, I now say, and I really think the pan had a great deal to do with the success of my Christmas Cake- at least with its final appearance.

Now that I had my spring form pan I had to bake the cake.  The ingredients for Nigella Lawsons boiled Fruit Cake (also to be found on Nigella's Christmas DVD) are:-  In a saucepan place-2 Cups of Raisins, 1Cup of Currants, 1 packet of prunes mashed to pieces, 1 Cup of Tia Maria, 250g butter, 1teaspoon mixed spice, 1 Cup of dark sugar, 3/4 to 1Cup Honey,  the grated rind and juice of one orange and 1 Tablespoon Cocoa or chocolate and melt it all together.
Please note:- these ingredients are approximate as I had to guess as I watched the DVD- but the cake turned out fine.
Also:- a friend suggested changing prunes to figs if you have a preference for them but I haven't tried that yet.
Once this is all melted into a delicious gooey mess turn the heat off and add to the mixture 4 eggs, 2 Cups Plain Flour, 1/2 Cup of Almond Meal, 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder and 1 teaspoon of Bicarb Soda and stir in well. Then spoon the mixture into your spring form pan (or cake tin) that has been lined with baking paper- or as Nigella suggests reusable baking parchment- and bake on a low oven for approximately two hours.(Remember to preheat the oven).
Nigella's tip, which I plan to use for cooking other types of cakes, is to make sure your baking paper goes an inch or two above the rim of your cake tin. This will prevent your cake burning. I can vouch that this works. So simple, yet so practical.
All that's left to do is decorate your cake- not a neccesity but it makes it look fabulous. And all this is created using only one large sauepan, one cake tin and a few utensils. If you're like me and are cook and dishwasher all rolled into one- this is a bonus.

So, for the decoration:- some chocolate coated coffee beans (chocolate coated anything if coffee beans aren't available but I stuck to the recipe and hunted down some coffee beans- not easy in a small country town- and was pleased that I did) some gold edible glitter (available online or at Spotlight) and some gold cachous(edible gold balls). The coffee beans go in the centre of the cake- hiding any hint that the cake may have sunk upon cooling- go Nigella! (What a great idea. I could have used this tip many a time)- the glitter goes all over the top and the little gold balls go amongst the coffee beans. Larger stars or large gold edible decorations can top this off but are hard to find in some areas and can be a tad expensive. I bought my decorations online and they weren't cheap. Granted I have enough to make probably another 15 or so Christmas Cakes so I know what I'll be taking to family Christmas dinners for the next decade!

Overall, this cake was a great success. My family loved it on Christmas Day and my colleagues at work, on whom I inflicted my first, trial run cake, also liked it. Some of the ingredients can be a little pricey but you can substitute if you like. For example if you don't want to go out and buy a bottle of Tia Maria- or have a preference for other liquers, they would also work but the coffee taste does add to the cake.

Or you could do what I did and make your own Tia Maria. No not the illegal way. I found a recipe in one of a local club's fundraising cookbooks that uses a base of rum and coffee to create a coffee tasting liquer. More on that another time.

If, like me, you've never been a fan of Christmas cake- either the taste or the extended cooking times, the soaking etc etc- then maybe this is the Christmas Cake for you. Given that it tastes wonderful and moist it's sure to be a crowd pleaser and if you take a little bit of time to decorate it the cake can become the centrepiece of your table. Above all its simple and- apart from the slow baking in the oven- is relatively quick to make which is great around the Chrisrtmas season when time is often hard to come by.

Nigella Lawson, you have converted me. I think I'll borrow that DVD again and see what else I can make!!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

In the beginning there was the CHERRY RICOTTA STRUDEL

I love to cook and I love to experiment with new recipes but I cannot count the amount of times that I have followed a recipe and have ended up with complete disasters.
Like the time I decided to cook Cherry & Ricotta Strudel from a magazine recipe. I read it through thoroughly before I began. I made sure I had all the ingredients to hand:- it looked simple, it looked yummy but it ended up in the bin.
You see, (this recipe in particularly helped in my discovery of this) some recipes are based on a level of presumed knowledge. Unfortunately, on this particular day, I did not have said knowledge. In my defence I did note that the cherry ricotta mixture looked a tad runny at the time but I rechecked the recipe and I appeared to be right on track. . .until the moment that I placed the mixture onto the pastry which was artfully(if I say so myself) placed on my chopping board. For a moment the mixture behaved as it should and sat in a blob in the centre of the pastry, but I turned away to check the recipe for a split second only to turn back, and to my horror, saw sticky, cherry, ricotta goo ooze over the pastry and begin to slide off my chopping board. I tried spooning some of the mixture back into my mixing bowl but I wasn't working fast enough! I abandonned the spoon and raced to the sink for a dishcloth so that I could mop it up. The goo was working its way down the front of my kitchen cabinets. Would it ever stop!
Yes it did, but it managed to reach my floor before I could get it under control. Since the goo actually tasted nice I decided to continue with my receipe and, after great difficulty rolling my strudel, I managed to get it onto a tray and into the oven.
But my strudel was not done with me yet! It continued to ooze the entire time that it was in the oven- off the edge of the tray and onto the base of my freshly cleaned oven. ( I hate cleaning my oven and, as a result, it doesn't get cleaned very often) so I was not very impressed with my strudel, nor the recipe or the person who wrote the recipe in the first place.
When I called a friend to commiserate over my cooking disaster she informed me, in between wiping away tears of laughter, that Ricoota comes in different consistencies. Apparently some Ricottas are exceptionally runny. I know that NOW!
So this blog is dedicated to all the recipes that I will continue to experiment with- the ones that work and the ones that fail miserably- hopefully more of the former- so that I can share the fun, the frustration and the joy of cooking with other likeminded people.