Just popped out for a sec......

So, after just over a month of no Gourmet Goddess updates I decided that I really needed to check back in and let you know that all is well and that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Life has been insanely hectic over the past few weeks, with work and everything else. This has meant not a huge amount of blog worthy cooking and even when there was, no time to sit down and write up anything that might have been of interest. Food at our place has been back to basics, with a few notable exceptions, which I did snap pictures of with Instagram on my mobile phone - so here are the highlights to bring you up to speed.

I acquired an almost new bread machine from a friend who discovered she can't eat bread anymore (boo!) but who passed her bread maker on to me (yay!) I have now gotten into the habit of baking bread every Saturday morning. Have experimented with a few different recipes for a basic loaf and think I will venture into the realm of grainy breads and fruit loaves soon. A few weekends ago we had some bread left over by Sunday morning, so I decided to make us a batch of French Toast with my day old, homemade bread. This loaf was made with organic unbleached flour. I teamed the golden bread up with some fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries - and maple syrup of course. It was a delicious treat and the best French Toast I had ever made. The home baked bread was a real winner.

French Toast and Mixed Berries

Made with GG's Home Baked Bread

A road trip down to Canberra one weekend yielded an esky full of fresh produce that we picked up in our travels - including a beautiful big pumpkin, organic garlic, berry vinegar, locally made sausages, chicken terrine, organic beef mince and a small pheasant. Although I have eaten pheasant a few times before, I had never cooked it and thought it was time I had a go. I decided to go with a very old technique for cooking game, which was to soak it in milk overnight before roasting it. To the milk I added fresh thyme and bay leaves from my garden, along with crushed peppercorns and juniper berries. The pheasant soaked in the milk for a good 12 hours, then I drained the milk off, patted the pheasant dry and roasted it with seasonal vegetables. I made a gravy with the pan juices and served it as a traditional roast.

The pheasant was not a large one - just under a kilogram - and it came already plucked but with the head still intact. I removed the head to roast it, although if I was being really old school it would have been left on during the roasting process. The enzymes in the milk help to tenderise the flesh, and the herbs and juniper I added gave it a lovely herbal aroma and flavour. The meat was not overly gamey and came out quite soft and juicy, with the exception of the legs where the meat was darker and not as tender. This is almost always the case with game, or any meat for that matter - the parts of the animal that do most of the work tend to be tougher than the less active parts. The flavour though, was fantastic. I am a fan of game meat - rabbits, pigeon, duck - and I was very happy with my first attempt at cooking pheasant.

Roasted Pheasant with Bay, Thyme and Juniper

Served with Autumn Vegetables

Fast forward to this week, where my work colleagues and I hosted Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, which raises money for The Cancer Council - a very worthy cause. My contribution was a couple of dozen rather kitsch looking pink cupcakes. The cake and icing was spiked with lemon, which gave a little freshness to them and balanced out the sweetness. I went a bit mental with the decorations - lots of sparkly stuff and coloured baubles and flowers. Thought a bit of whimsy in the workplace can't be a bad thing! They were a big hit, and along with the contributions from my workmates who baked their favourite recipes to share, raised over $500 for The Cancer Council. Not bad for some tea and cake!

Pink-a-Rama!

My fundraising cupcakes - 

for Australia's Biggest Morning Tea

 

So, what is in store in the coming weeks? Well, tomorrow our bookclub meets and we have decided that instead of our usual Sunday afternoon gathering with coffee and cakes we would do a Saturday version and everyone would bring along a dish so we could have dinner and some wine instead. It's my turn to host so I will have a full house Saturday evening. The weather is quite chilly, so my contribution will be a leg of sustainably produced local lamb from Feather & Bone - my favourite meat supplier here in Sydney. They are fussy about how their meat is raised and produced, and boy does it show in the quality of the produce. I'm thinking I might season the meat with garlic, lemon thyme from the garden and native pepperberries that I brought back from out last trip to Tasmania. If it isn't raining we will cook the lamb over coals outside. Delicious.

Speaking of Tasmania, we are only weeks away from heading back there for a ten day holiday and recon mission. We have completely fallen in love with the place and plan to one day make it our home, where we will grow as much of our own food as possible in that very special and pristine part of the world. As well as having a break there, we are planning to further explore the area where we think we would like to settle eventually. We also thought it would be good to visit in winter so we know what we are in for. I've been watching the weather forecasts and it's going to be freezing. Good thing we both like the cold!

Now you are all up to date, I'm hoping that we will be resuming normal transmission, with more regular Gourmet Goddess installments - so watch this space. The coming weeks look like they are going to be less of a frenzy than most of May has been - thank the Goddess! The weather has really cooled down, it gets dark a lot earlier and that seasonal change just cries out for cosy, comfort food with seasonal ingredients I think. Maybe I will check out out local farmer's market this weekend and see what inspires?

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Rustic Coconut Banana Bread

As most of you know, I'm not really into baking that much. It is quite an exact science and I'm much happier creating dishes on the fly, tasting as I go and not slavishly measuring every ingredient. I made an exception this weekend when I realised that we had forgotten to eat the bananas that had been sitting in the fruit bowl since the beginning of the week. We had a handful of very ripe bananas that were crying out to be put in some kind of recipe asap. I decided to make banana bread with a couple of my own twists. Having never attempted banana bread in my life, I took a basic recipe and swapped all white flour for a mixture of white and wholemeal flour, as well as adding a little nutmeg and good quality vanilla.

I realised that I also had a pack of threaded, dessicated coconut in the cupboard (originally purchased with the intention of making coconut prawns that have not, as yet eventuated) so I thought I would add the coconut to the banana bread and see how it turned out. I was happy with the result - a home style banana bread that has a rustic, dense texture due to the wholemeal flour. If you wanted a lighter style bread, you could replace the wholemeal component with all white flour. My banana bread is not the light, highly processed style that you will find in cafes, however it has a great robust flavour that is really lovely toasted and served with some salted butter.

Just out of the oven

 The recipe below makes a small sized loaf - if you are using a larger sized loaf pan (similar to the sized loaf you would need to make the banana bread you see in cafes) then do what I did and double the amounts. I actually started with the amounts listed below, but when I looked at the large loaf pan I had chosen, I realised that I would need twice the amount to fill it. If you are using a standard loaf pan, the quantities below should be just right. Remember too that a bigger loaf will mean longer cooking time.

The coconut and banana combination works really well, both in terms of taste and texture. The bread is very moist, with a slightly crunchy outside crust and a sweet coconut aroma that smells just beautiful. I'm certainly not a baker, but I was happy with my first attempt at banana bread.

Coconut Banana Bread

You will need: 1 cup plain white flour, 1 cup wholemeal plain flour, 2/3 cup caster sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 cup dessicated or threaded coconut, 2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract,3-4 ripe bananas, a few pinches of freshly grated nutmeg.

Method: Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease a loaf tin (or spray it with cooking spray) and line the base of the loaf pan with baking paper.

Mash the bananas well and add the vanilla, nutmeg and the eggs.

In a separate bowl, sift the flours and baking powder. Add the sugar and the coconut and combine well.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the mixture into your prepared loaf pan.

Bake for about 60 minutes - the cooking time is going to vary depending on your oven, the sized pan and your ingredients (size of eggs, moisture in the bananas etc) The loaf is cooked when you insert a skewer in the centre and it comes out clean. Your loaf may take a little more or a little less time - just keep an eye on it and do the skewer test.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool for 10-15 minutes before turning it out on a wire rack to cool.

Serve as is, or toasted with butter.

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Scrumptious Sunday Sensations

Summer isn't usually when we think about cooking a roast, but I have a favourite that is just perfect for a lazy Summer Sunday like today. Who doesn't like a roast dinner with piles of beautiful baked veges and a lip smacking gravy? Love it. But when the temperature is steamy you want something lighter right? Well, one of my favourite summer meals is slow cooked shoulder of lamb, served not with the usual roast accompaniments but with the delicious rustic Italian salad Panazella. This dish is so easy to throw together, and a great way to use up day old crusty bread that you may have left over. It is a very earthy, peasant dish popping with loads of flavour, colour and texture.

Panazella is a salad made mainly of tomatoes and chunks of crispy bread. Make sure you use the very best tomatoes - and the trick is to ensure that they are at room temperature for maximum flavour. Also try to use a variety of tomatoes for this dish - different colours and sizes look and taste fantastic. I used yellow pear tomatoes from our garden, along with romas, kumatos (the gorgeous dark fleshed variety) and a couple of heirloom varieties. The result was a riot of colour and wonderful vibrant tomato flavours.

What about the lamb? Well the lamb is ridiculously simple to cook (seriously, if you are the type of person who burns water, then you could still pull off this recipe!) and the prep work takes about 15 minutes. Then comes the "slow" part (I did say it was slow cooked). It takes about 4 hours to cook - which is why it is a perfect Sunday dish. You put it in the oven, then enjoy the rest of the day - watch a movie or read a book or have a snooze and the oven does the rest. It requires very minimal supervision and the result is spectacular. If you want the lamb to be ready for lunch, put it on when you get up in the morning and and it will be succulent and gorgeous in time for lunchtime. If you plan on making it you dinner, then put it in the oven just after lunch.

When you are buying lamb shoulder, make sure that it is on the bone - not the rolled boneless shoulder of lamb that you will also see in the butcher shop window. If you can't see lamb shoulder with the bone in, ask the butcher - they will be sure to have some out the back and can cut it for you. It is a cheap cut of meat, so if you are on a budget it is a great substitute for the more expensive leg of lamb. The catch though, is that it needs very long, slow, loving cooking to be just right. The end result is so tender you don't even really require a knife to cut it - it will just come away from the bone in juicy morsels.

So, tonight's dinner consisted of the lamb that had been cooking all afternoon and the beautiful Panazella salad and it was a big hit. So tasty and lip smacking was this combination, that we actually abandoned cutlery all together and ate the whole meal with our hands, tearing the meat off the bone and licking our fingers. Uncouth? Sure. But lots more fun. I did say it was a peasant dish, didn't I? Anyway, food always tastes better when it's eaten with your hands I say. Here was the dish before it was devoured....

Slow Cooked Shoulder of Lamb with Panazella

So, how do you make this lovely rustic creation? Well, for the slow cooked shoulder of lamb, firstly preheat the oven to 220C. Then take the lamb shoulder and pierce a few small cuts into the meat, filling them with halved garlic cloves, lemon rind and rosemary. Rub the meat all over with olive oil and season very well with salt and pepper. Heat a frypan and cook the lamb on a high heat for a few minutes each side, until it is golden.

Place the lamb in a baking dish. To the frypan, add about 1/3 cup verjuice (I love the Maggie Beer one, available from delis, gourmet stores and some supermarkets). If you don't have verjuice, you can substitute white wine. Now add 4 cups of chicken stock to the verjuice in the pan. Stir over the heat for about a minute, then tip the liquid into the roasting pan.

Cook the lamb for 30mins on 220C, the reduce the heat to 190C and allow it to cook for a further 3 and a half hours. Check the meat every hour or so and top the pan up with water if it looks like all of the liquid is evaporating - you want there to always be at least 1cm of liquid in the pan at all times.

Once the cooking time is up, remove the lamb from the oven, wrap loosely in foil and allow it to rest for at least 20 mins. When you are ready to serve the lamb, the meat will be buttery and tender. You may not even want to use a knife to cut it - just pull it from the bone with a pair of tongs. Bliss.


For the Panazella, first tear up some good quality Italian crusty bread into bite sized chunks. Don't even consider using soft sandwich loaf or something similar - you need proper old school bread that has a decent crust and substance to it, or the dish just won't work. I used white Italian bread, but you could use grainy or wholemeal for the extra rustic touch. Put the pieces of bread on a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook them in a moderate oven until they dry out - they should be dry but not browned.

In a bowl, combine chunks of cucumber,red and green peppers or capsicum, thinly sliced red onion, black olives, a couple of tablespoons of roughly chopped continental parsley, and a selection of roughly chopped tomatoes, preferably a few different colours or varieties. Season generously with salt and pepper. Just before serving, drizzle a couple of teaspoons of white balsamic (use white wine vinegar if you don't have the balsamic) and a generous slurp of good quality olive oil over the mixture. Add the dried bread and quickly toss through. Serve immediately. Easy!

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You say tomato... I say bruschetta!

I came across some particularly gorgeous looking baby Roma tomatoes when I was at the greengrocer the other day and they were the inspiration for today's recipe. Very simple but just so delicious -  and perfect for a light lunch, an entree or finger food (if you want to scale it down to smaller pieces). Try to have your tomatoes at room temperature for this dish (or any dish for that matter) as the natural flavour and sweetness of the fruit is much more pronounced. If you don't believe me, try eating a tomato right out of the fridge and then one that has been sitting in the fruit bowl for an hour and you will see what I mean.

This bruschetta is made extra delicious with the addition of Fontina cheese, slices of proscuitto and fresh thyme. Use any cheese you like - even some crumbled feta or soft goat cheese would work well. Don't even consider making this unless the tomatoes are fabulous. I find that often the small cherry tomato are tastier than a lot of the larger tomatoes in supermarkets, so if the larger ones don't inspire you, then check out the smaller varieties. And if you are lucky enough to grow your own tomatoes, then you are well and truly sorted!

Roma tomato bruschetta with proscuitto and fontina cheese

So, what did I do?
I'm not bothering too much with precise measurements here - just use as much bread and tomatoes as you need for the number of people you want to feed and taste as you go. Easy.

Chop the tomatoes and combine with a handful of fresh parsley. Add some fresh thyme (remove the woody stalks so there are soft leaves only), a splash of good extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Taste and add more salt and pepper if required. (Try not to add too much oil or vinegar - you don't want the tomato mixture to have too much moisture)

Now, in a cup,  mix some fresh thyme and a couple of cloves of minced garlic with olive oil. Lightly toast sliced rustic style bread - sourdough or ciabiatta is ideal. Then, brush both sides of the bread with the oil. Top with a slice of the cheese and a slice of proscuitto. Pop in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the cheese has just melted. (I prefer it when the cheese is not browned, but do whatever you prefer)

Top with the tomato mixture, freshly ground pepper and a little extra fresh thyme. Serve right away. Delicious!

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Shopping & Cooking - Sunday Organic Market

I have lived in Marrickville for quite a few years and can't count the number of times I have passed the badly written sign at the Addison Road/Victoria Road intersection advertising the Addison Road Organic Sunday Market. A few times I have thought "Hmmm...must check that out one Sunday" - but never actually got my act together to go (despite it being only a 15 minute walk away from my house - pathetic, isn't it?) I also think that the sign was so crappy and amateur that I had visions that the said organic market would comprise of a few hippies selling some dodgy produce from a sarong draped card table. Well, on Sunday I woke up to a beautiful autumn morning and I needed to buy some supplies anyway, so I thought I would get out in the sunshine and pay the market a visit. The market is situated at 142 Addison Road in Marrickville, New South Wales - which is part of the Addison Road Centre - apparently the largest community centre in Australia. It houses a number of not for profit organisations and community groups, as well as hosting the market from 9am to 2pm each Sunday.

Fresh from the farm

We arrived right on 9am, and already there were groups of people heading down the driveway entrance with kids, dogs and shopping bags. A band was setting up under the trees and the aroma of coffee was completely seductive. I imagine that as the morning wears on, it could get quite busy, so I recommend an early start to ensure ease of shopping, and that you get your pick of the best stuff. The market is lovely to walk around being surrounded by trees and away from the main road. It is also the perfect spot to enjoy breakfast outside in the fresh air, which is what we did.

Actually, I confess to indulging in not one breakfast but two. (Degustation brekky anyone?) I could not resist the lure of beautiful, flaky, stretchy Roti Canai, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_canai) served with a mildly spicy dahl to dip it into. Memories of breakfasts in Singapore came flooding back. The stall that sold these also had a beautiful selection of mostly Malaysian curries and treats - all of which smelt and looked amazing. I'm definitely going to pay them a visit again.  Breakfast number two was from a stall selling a variety of traditional German Sausages - we chose bratwurst that we devoured with saurkraut, onions, mustard and sauce served in a lovely fresh roll. Delicious. There are lots of other breakfast options, including fresh fruit juices, steamed dumplings, bacon and egg rolls, vegetarian treats and a few choices of coffee stalls (including Fairtrade) I plan on working my way around to all of them!

The first stall that caught our eye was Brasserie Breads - a Botany based artisan breadmaker that offered a stunning selection of organic savoury and sweet sourdoughs, pastries and other baked treats. After sampling a number of the breads on offer (and a deliciously aromatic sliver of freshly baked hot cross bun) we settled on a large traditional sourdough loaf, and a garlic loaf studded with masses of beautiful, gooey caramelised garlic. It smelt so good, I wanted to rip into it with my teeth right there! I managed to control myself and explored the rest of the market.

I love mushrooms so a stall specialising in mushrooms got my attention - I have never seen such a range of varieties for sale in one place. I was particularly interested in the lovely orangey, saffron coloured wild pine mushrooms. The lovely bloke running the stall told me that due to the recent rain, the pine mushroom harvest was particularly good. I couldn't leave without buying some of course!

Pretty mushies

Wandering through the stalls, I also picked up some gorgeous Tuscan cabbage (kale), fresh herbs, organic black figs (which I hope to turn into something delicious in the coming days), organic fetta cheese and some duck fat for those times when I want to feel all French and indulgent.

Another great stall I discovered was one specialising in various varieties of potatoes and garlic. I was very excited to see some types I didn't recognise and chose the deliciously named Dutch Cream variety to take home. I decided that those potatoes had a date to keep with my newly purchased duck fat later that evening...

From the potato/garlic man - I chose the Dutch Cream variety

As well as a good selection of fruit and vegetable stalls, the market has much more on offer - fresh flowers, organic cheeses, homemade preserves, herbs, eggs, honey, cakes and pies. There are also some plant stalls, second hand clothing, jewellery and bric a brac for those who like to fossick. The fun and relaxed atmosphere of the market made for a really enjoyable morning. It would be very easy to just sit under those trees drinking coffee, listening to the music and watching the eclectic passing parade all day if you wanted to. All shopping should be this enjoyable. I was impressed by the pricing of the produce on offer at Addison Road - sometimes choosing organic can be insanely expensive, but I felt that it was all pretty reasonable. Some of the trendier organic markets I have visited make choosing organic cost prohibitive for many of us, but this market seems to be more aimed at the local community and was a lot more reasonable. Certainly worth checking out  - even just as a pleasant Sunday morning breakfast excursion if nothing else.

What I bought on Sunday

I had already decided to try the Dutch Cream potatoes cooked in duck fat for dinner on Sunday evening and I teamed these with a salad of organic baby rocket (another market purchase), the organic fetta cheese, grape tomatoes and olives which I just drizzled with some olive oil and balsamic. I also slow cooked a leg of lamb with garlic, olive oil, a touch of white wine, lemon and rosemary (5 hours in my favourite cast iron/enamel pot at 190C) and added some of the gorgeous sticky garlic bread from Brasserie Breads for good measure.

What I cooked on Sunday

Sunday dinner was delicious - and there was plenty of left over lamb which I am already dreaming up plans for. I always like finding ways to create new dishes from leftovers - I'm notorious for over catering so it is a skill I'm trying to work on! I imagine you will see the lamb in some other incarnation in the coming days. The potatoes were a knockout - crispy on the outside and creamy and fluffy in the middle. I scored them all over with knife before I cooked them to maximise the surface area and to allow all that gorgeous duck fat to permeate through the potato. I used a tablespoon of the duck fat, which was plenty and just seasoned them with some sea salt and pepper. The potatoes had great flavour but weren't in the least greasy. If you see Dutch Cream potatoes for sale, give them a try - they are beautiful.

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To Market, To Market....

This morning I finally got around to checking out the Eveleigh Farmer's Market @ Carriageworks. There seems to more and more small farmer's markets popping up around Sydney, and I have to admit that there is a real appeal to buying produce direct from the producers. I also love a market atmosphere. To me , a market environment inspires me and encourages me to try new things. I love the interactions with the stallholders, the opportunity to taste and touch ingredients and the "buzz" that a market always seems to have.

Although the Eveleigh Farmer's Market is pretty small, I really loved what was on offer. Organic fruit and vegetables, artisan breads, organic meat, poultry and smallgoods, freerange eggs, organic milk and dairy products, flowers, stalls selling homemade cakes, jams, confectionery. There is a stall that sells the gorgeous Toby's Estate coffee, as well as food stalls selling pastries, pies and other treats if you haven't got around to having breakfast yet. This morning, I was starving by the time I walked to the market, so I was definitely up for some brekky. I sampled a delicious bacon and egg roll, cooked while you wait with organic bacon, freerange organic eggs and organic bread, topped with homemade BBQ sauce. Yummo!

So, what did I buy? Well, a few things caught my eye, and you will be seeing some of these ingredients in the coming days as I turn them into various dishes. Here they are.....

Today's selection was a bunch of golden beetroot, which you rarely see in your average greengrocer, so just I had to bring home a bunch! The beautiful blue tinged Kale (Tuscan Cabbage), Blood Oranges, A loaf of stone ground organic "La Tartine" sesame/sourdough bread, organic Pecorino cheese from Highland Organics in Picton, a tub of organic salted Jersey Butter, lovely vine ripened Conchita Tomatoes (sold by the delightful Sorbello family, who also sell a range of heirloom tomatoes and zucchini), fresh Rosemary and a massive bunch of Rununculi flowers to pretty up the house.

On the meat/smallgoods front, I tried a truly outstanding spicy goat sausage from Eumundi Smokehouse (made just a few suburbs away in Dulwich Hill) but it was their stunning Chorizo, robust with plenty of chilli and red wine, that won me over. I'm already regretting that I only bought one! I was also rather taken with the lamb on sale from "Mirrool Creek" (a farm near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales) I ended up bringing home 4 frenched lamb shanks from them (not pictured) which I think I will cook tomorrow. They also had lovely looking legs of lamb, shoulder, cutlets, rumps and minced lamb.

The Eveleigh Farmer's Market is only open from 8am to 1pm on Saturdays and is located on the corner of Wilson and Codrington Streets, Eveleigh. It operates rain or shine, as it is undercover. For more info, check out their website: http://www.eveleighmarket.com.au/farmers.html

I really enjoyed my first visit to the market this morning and I will definitely be going back. It is a nice way to start the weekend with good coffee, a delicious breakfast and surrounded by flower stalls and all that wonderful seasonal produce. A helpful hint though, most stalls only take cash, and there is no ATM on the premises, so come cashed up. I got caught out this morning and had to make a detour to the pub in the next street who did have an ATM. If you are someone who loves fresh flowers in the house like I do, this market had a beautiful selection, with really great prices and good quality. I picked up 3 bunches of Rununculi for $15, which is really good value. Generally, I thought the prices were reasonable, considering the quality of what was on offer. Almost all of the produce was organic and all of it is seasonal and direct from the producers. A visit to this little inner city gem is recommended.

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