Fluffy Easter Pancakes

Some of the fluffiest, nicest pancakes I've ever eaten are made with buttermilk. Buttermilk is the liquid that is left from churning butter or cream, and although you can buy buttermilk reasonably easily, it is not something that most people would have as a staple in the fridge. This means that if you decide to make buttermilk pancakes one morning, it is likely to involve a special trip to the shops to get it.

Today I'm sharing a recipe I use for pancakes that give the same result as the buttermilk kind, but is much less hassle to make -  with a technique for lightly souring the milk to create a perfect substitute for the buttermilk. These pancakes are deliciously light and fluffy and not overly sweet. You can of course top them with anything you like, but today I have topped mine with mixed berries and maple syrup.

These pancakes make a perfect Easter brunch, or even a simple dessert served with yoghurt, ice cream or any manner of toppings that you can dream up. I have also made small pikelets from this mixture and topped them with jam and cream to make a sort of Devonshire Tea style treat.

However you adapt them to your taste, this recipe is a keeper, with great results every time. Maybe give it a try this Easter long weekend?

Fluffy Buttermilk Style Pancakes

With Berries and Maple Syrup

You will need: 1 cup milk, 2 teaspoons white vinegar, 3 eggs, 2 cups Self Raising Flour, 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder, 2 cups mixed frozen berries, 2 tablespoons caster sugar, maple syrup to serve.

Method: Add the 2 teaspoons of vinegar to the milk, stir through and allow it to stand for a couple of minutes. This will lightly sour the milk.

Combine the berries and the sugar, microwave them for 1 minute and stir well. You could also do the berries in a small pan on the stove, but I find the microwave is quick and easy - and less cleaning up.

Whisk together the milk and the eggs. Add half of the flour and all of the baking powder to the mixture and whisk until smooth. Now add the remaining flour and whisk through, ensuring there are no lumps. If the mixture feels too thick, add a little extra plain milk. If it is too thin, add extra flour.

Allow the pancake batter to rest in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Cook the pancakes in a lightly greased or non stick pan. When bubbles appear on the surface, they are ready to turn over. The pan should be moderately hot - watch the temperature, as if the pan is too hot, the pancakes will be overcooked and dark on the outside and not cooked in the middle.

Serve the pancakes with the berries and maple syrup - or anything you fancy.

Makes 4 large or 8 medium sized pancakes.

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Too Many Plums!

Well, I got a little over enthusiastic at our local growers market last weekend and came home with a very large bag of sweet, dark plums. Although I've eaten them with my lunch every day for the last week, today I found myself with a fruit bowl full of them, that were super ripe and needing to be eaten pretty much right away. The thought of eating 8 plums today was rather daunting so I decided to come up with a more creative way to use them.

What I came up with is a golden plum cake, that would be lovely for morning tea - or even served warm as a pudding with some cream or custard. I used the same concept as an upside down cake, laying some of the plums on the bottom of the cake tin, so that when you turn the cake out to cool, you get the effect of the gorgeous ruby colour. I also chose to bake the plums with a little sugar first, instead of just chopping them up and adding them to the cake batter. What this does is to intensify the flavour and also the colour of the plums.

I think this cake would work really well with any stone fruit - peaches, apricots or nectarines - or even with mangoes. Just see what you have in your fruit bowl if you don't happen to have plums.

Golden Plum Cake

 

You will need: 8 medium sized plums, 2 tablespoons caster sugar, 250g butter, softened, 1 cup caster sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 3 eggs, 2 1/2 cups self-raising flour, 2/3 cup milk.

Method: Heat the oven to 200C.

Remove the seeds from the plums and cut them roughly into quarters. Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the plums on the tray. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons caster sugar over the plums and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the plums from the oven and allow to cool a little.

Gently spoon the plums into a bowl, trying not to break them up too much. I use a slotted spoon for this, as it helps the extra moisture drain away - you don't want too much of the plum juice in the cake, just the cooked flesh. Set the plums aside.

Reduce the oven to 180C. Grease a cake tin and line the bottom with baking paper.

Using an electric beater, cream together the butter, caster sugar and vanilla until it becomes fluffy and a little lighter in colour.

Add the eggs one by one and beat till all combined. Now stir in half the flour and half the milk (a spatula is good for this) Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk.

Take the plums and place a few of them on the base of your cake tin - this will end up being the top of the cake and the "presentation" side. Now gently fold the remaining plums through the cake mixture.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (this will depend on your oven, so just keep an eye on it) It will be cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake to rest in the pan for 10 minutes.

Turn out onto a wire rack and gently peel away the baking paper. Allow the cake to cool and serve as it is - or with whipped cream, ice cream or custard.

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Festive Season Food Diary

I'm always a bit bemused about the Christmas/Festive Season hysteria. And yes, it really is hysteria. Why people blindly buy in to it and put themselves through the ringer about this time of the year I just don't know. In our household we take a very laid back approach to the whole thing. For us, it's less about parting with large amounts of cash to buy "stuff" most people don't want, or putting pressure on yourself to cook what all the glossy mags or smug TV chefs tell you that you should be cooking - and more about having much valued time off work and enjoying each other's company. Usually we bypass the traditional Christmas palaver altogether, by heading off on our own somewhere quiet, and staying there till new year. The downside to this of course is that it tends to be expensive staying anywhere in December, and as we are currently in saving money mode, (to buy our longed for plot of nature in Tasmania) we stayed home this time around.

Instead, we headed up to the NSW Central Coast to enjoy a laid back Christmas Day with my in laws, Kate and Peter. I volunteered to cook the four of us Christmas lunch, and thought that I would take a "mystery box" approach to the cooking, bringing with us a selection of seasonal ingredients that I liked, and then making up a menu pretty much on the day. Until Christmas morning I wasn't 100% sure what I was cooking - I had a few ideas in my head - but I just ended up cooking according to the ingredients and my mood. The exception to this was the dessert, which I did make the day ahead. Having one of the courses already sorted made the rest quite easy. Only cooking for four people also helped a lot too of course, and I could focus on quality over quantity.

Kate had requested a fairly light menu, so I thought that seafood and a fruit based dessert were obvious choices. We have recently returned from Western Australia, and thanks to my Mum's boyfriend John, had been given some beautiful W.A Rock Lobsters that he had caught for us. These became the basis of the main course. We grabbed some fresh local prawns on Christmas eve from the local fish lady at Ettalong Beach, and along with an esky full of bits and pieces - and what was growing in Kate's garden, created our lunch menu.

First up was a bit of a take on the Prawn Cocktail, but with a salsa of home grown tomatoes, avocado, lime, chilli and herbs from the garden. As I was preparing this, I noticed a leftover bread roll from lunch the day before in the bread basket. I turned this into crispy, oven baked parmesan toast to serve on the side. It was tasty and gave a nice crunchy textural element to the entrée. I served the cocktails in insulated coffee glasses that I found in the cupboard. Great to keep the cocktails nice and cold.

Prawn Cocktail with Avocado Salsa

and Crispy Parmesan Toasts

Main course was based around that gorgeous W.A lobster. I didn't want to mess with it too much, so just sautéed it gently with a little butter, a touch of olive oil, salt, pepper and a small squeeze of lemon. I served this with grilled asparagus, a super velvety cauliflower puree spiked with a little cream, and Red Oak and Sorrel micro herbs. I drizzled the pan juices over the lobster just before serving. It was really delicious and a big hit with the family.

Sauteed W.A Lobster

with Cauliflower Puree, Asparagus and Micro Herbs

My do ahead dessert was based on mangoes and passionfruit, which are great at the moment. I made a passionfruit and mango mousse and layered it in a big bowl, with fresh mango and Savoiardi sponge fingers soaked in Limoncello (from New Zealand, that I had picked up at the Sydney Food and Wine Show last year.) I served the dessert with some fresh cherries and raspberries for a bit of a festive touch.

Mango and Passionfruit Mousse

with Italian Sponge and Limoncello

 

 

So that was Christmas day. Two days later, we ended up having what looked a lot like a traditional Christmas dinner when I decided to cook some free range, organic turkey breast that we had bought from our favourite meat supplier, Feather and Bone. I stuffed the turkey breast with some left over zucchini and parmesan stuffing I had in the freezer (I always do a big batch of stuffing when I make it and freeze some. Really worth doing, and it freezes very well) Served it with all the trimmings - vegetables, cauliflower and broccoli gratin and gravy -  and also invited friends over to share it with us. It was really delicious and made us all ponder why we don't eat turkey more often.

 

 Stuffed Turkey Breast

with all the trimmings

 

 

Andrew has been asking me for what feels like forever (years!) to a make pavlova, so I thought I would finally give it a try. I was a bit unsure about it, so consulted Stephanie Alexander's "The Cook's Companion" (aka "The Bible") to find out what to do. I was really thrilled with the result - crispy on the outside, marshmallow on the inside, just as it should be. Stephanie rules. I topped the pavlova with a vanilla cream, and more mangoes and passionfruit.

 

Stephanie Alexander's Classic Pavlova

Only down side to my pavlova success is that now I think I am going to have to add it to the regular cooking repertoire. Andrew loved it. I have an idea to do one with a salted caramel and fresh fig topping at some stage.

Ready to eat - Summer Pavlova

Now, I really hate wasting food, and I am the queen of recycling ingredients and turning leftovers into another meal. After our turkey dinner, we had turkey and some of the cauliflower and broccoli gratin left, so I turned it into brunch the next day - made into fritters with the addition of sweet corn and herbs from the garden. Served with a quick tomato salsa and a spoon full of light sour cream, it made a lovely tasty summer dish.

Turkey and Corn Fritters

with Tomato Salsa

So that is what I have been cooking and eating over the festive season. There is a whole lot of really wonderful produce in season at the moment, and I would encourage you all to enjoy it while you can. The season will be over before you know it. My favourites are stone fruit, berries, cherries, mangoes and fresh pineapple - and seafood of course.

New Year's Eve is only a few days away, and we have a tradition of ringing in the new year by having dinner at Restaurant Atelier, our favourite local eatery and an exceptional place to dine. This year will be a little sad as the evening of 31 December will be their last service ever, after over a decade of consistently serving magnificent food and wine. This restaurant is very special to us, as they have shared in so many celebrations and great meals - we even visited on the night before we were married. We will be sitting at our favourite table on New Year's Eve and raising a toast to Chef Darren Templeman and his wife, Maitre d' and Sommelier extraordinaire Bernadette in gratitude for the amazing meals and evenings we have spent at Atelier. They will be sorely missed. Word is, they may be heading south to Melbourne. Lucky Melbourne!

I wish all of my Gourmet Goddess readers a very happy, healthy and delicious 2014. May it bring you all of the good things.

Me, enjoying a swim in the rain on Christmas Day,

 while everyone else was having a nap

*********

Pumpkin Pie - Danish/Scottish/Australian Style!

Today's dish has had an interesting journey to get to you - from Denmark - via Scotland, via Australia. The original recipe was passed on to me from my sister, who lives in the Highlands of Scotland. Where she is in the Northern Hemisphere, they have recently celebrated the old festival of Samhain, a celebration marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter on October 31. This old Pagan festival has morphed into what is celebrated around the world in modern times as Halloween. Foods of the harvest are traditionally shared at this time of the year, with pumpkin being a very common ingredient to go into Samhain celebration dishes.

Andrew has been asking me to make a pumpkin pie for a while, and so when my sister sent me a Danish pumpkin pie recipe this week that she had made and recommended - and we had a glut of pumpkin at our house - I thought it was a great time to give it a try. I made a few changes to the original recipe, omitting the brandy (not being brandy drinkers, we didn't have any in the house so I just left it out), tweaking the dairy and spice component and adding vanilla, as well as a pecan/hazelnut pastry base.

You could easily use store bought plain shortcrust pastry for this recipe if you wanted to simplify the preparation, but if you have time, the nutty base is really delicious and adds another taste and texture element to the dish. I used a mixture of ground hazelnut and pecans - just because I had them in the pantry. I blitzed the nuts in the food processor until they were blended finely. You could use almond meal too if you liked.

Pumpkin Pie

with Hazelnut & Pecan Pastry

The pumpkin pie is rich, so I served it in quite small slices, dusted with a little icing sugar and eaten with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, a few walnuts and a drizzle of maple syrup. It would also be great with some thick cream on the side, dusted with some praline.

The very warm, spicy aroma of this dish remind me very much of traditional Christmas flavours. The pumpkin pie would be a great addition to a Christmas dinner - or if you are in the States, Thanksgiving.  Although the flavours are rich, the texture is light, so it gives you lots of taste without heaviness. You could also do little individual tarts which would look fantastic.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween or Samhain - or even if you are not - this is a delicious dish to serve and share.

Pumpkin Pie

served with walnuts & maple syrup

You will need:

For the pastry - 2 1/2 cups plain flour, 1/3 cup caster sugar, 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts, 1/2 cup ground pecans, 175g chilled butter, 2 egg yolks, 2 tablespoons iced water.

For the filling - 500g peeled pumpkin, 175g brown sugar, 4 eggs, 2 cups cream, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Method:

Chop the pumpkin into cubes and steam until very soft (I do this by putting the cubes of pumpkin on a large flat plate, covering with plastic wrap and cooking on high in the microwave for about 6 minutes - you do not need to add any water at all) Place the cooked pumpkin in a strainer for at least 30 minutes and allow the excess moisture to drain away.

In the meantime, make the pastry. Place the flour, sugar, nuts and butter in a food processor and blend until just combined.

Whisk together the egg yolks and cold water. Add to the flour mixture and process until it mixes and then forms a large ball of dough. Do not over process your mixture.

Turn the ball of dough onto a floured board and knead gently until the dough holds together well. Shape into a rough disc shape, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

Once the pastry has rested, roll the pastry flat and line a pie dish. Bake at 180C for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set aside.

To make the filling, put the pumpkin and all of the other filling ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. The consistency will be quite runny - don't be concerned - it will firm up during the cooking process.

Pour the filling into the pastry case.

Bake the pie at 180C for about 1 1/4 hours. Allow to cool before dusting with icing sugar. I serve mine with walnuts, a drizzle of maple syrup and a scoop of cream or ice cream.

*******

Hazelnut Meringue-A-Rama

Whilst sweet things are not generally my favourite dishes to cook or to eat, I do admit that I love anything remotely meringue-like. Whether they are crispy or mallow-ish, creamy like the Italian style meringue, bite size or king size, I love them. I will say no to cake, but always say yes to pavlova, or pretty meringues in a cake shop window. Today I had a day off and thought I would have a go at making a hazelnut meringue, which is my absolute favourite kind.

The nuts add a great texture dimension, as well as that heavenly hazelnut taste. You could make individual meringues, but today I went with a large round one, which I decided to serve with Chantilly cream and fresh strawberries, which are in season now and are particularly good. I confess that I cracked the meringue a bit when getting it from the tray to the serving dish, but the beauty of this sort of dish is that you can hide any cracks under a delicious topping. No dramas.

The Chantilly cream is very easy to make, (you could add some cocoa to it if you wanted a chocolate cream) but I beg you not to use that awful fake vanilla essence in this recipe - or any other for that matter. Invest in proper vanilla extract - it is worth the few extra dollars I promise. Fake vanilla essence is the work of Satan and has no place in the kitchen, except for cleaning the inside of your fridge with.

Although this dish needs over an hour in the oven, it is actually quite simple, so worth giving a go - even if like me , you aren't really the baking type. You could get really creative with the toppings too - roasted nuts, shaved chocolate, different kinds of seasonal fruit. Drizzling it with raspberry or chocolate sauce would be lovely too. You could also shape the meringue to be taller than mine, if you wanted it to be more pavlova like.

Bon Appetit!

Hazelnut Meringue

with Chantilly Cream & Strawberries

You will need: 4 free range egg whites, 1 cup caster sugar, 1 cup ground hazelnuts, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, 2 teaspoons cornflour, 300ml whipping cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons icing sugar, 1 punnet strawberries.

Method: Preheat the oven to 120C. Line an oven or pizza tray with baking paper.

In a very clean, dry, metal or ceramic bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon full at a time and continue to beat until all combined. Add the cornflour and vinegar until mixed through.

Gently fold in the hazelnuts until evenly mixed. Transfer the mixture to the baking tray and using a spoon or spatula, form the meringue to the desired shape. I build up the sides a little for presentation purposes and for ease of serving later.

Wipe any excess off the baking paper. Bake meringue for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When it is done, turn off the oven and allow the meringue to cool there, without removing it. You can leave the oven door slightly ajar to speed up the process a bit.

In a bowl, combine the cream, sugar and vanilla extract. Beat together until firm enough to spread. Use this to top the cooled meringue. Finish with the strawberries and serve.

Serves 6-8 people

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Tasmanian Travels Part 2

It's well over a week since we returned from our Tasmania trip and I thought I would share a few more snippets of food related highlights with you all,  before resuming standard post holiday transmissions.

One of the most exciting and pleasurable parts of the trip for us was heading to Longley, up in the mountains just out of Hobart to meet artisan knife maker and blacksmith John Hounslow-Robinson. We discovered John whilst watching a documentary on Chef Tetsuya Wakuda and were blown away by the beautiful handmade Damascus steel knives that he was making for the chef. My metal obsessed husband did some research and managed to track him down and we commissioned John to make us two knives - a chef's knife and a slightly bulkier Bushman's knife.

We were absolutely thrilled with the result, all handmade by John from found, local materials. The chef's knife has an almost luminous Huon Pine handle with beautiful striped grain - reminds me of  a Thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) pelt. The Bushman's knife was made with a deer antler handle with a natural curve that makes the knife feel so great in your hand. John collects old metal, fallen wood and bones, antler and other material from road kill - which unfortunately you see so much of in Tasmania. I think it makes absolute sense not to waste these precious materials, and John turns them into objects of such practicality and great beauty.

Damascus steel, hand forged knives

made by John Hounslow-Robinson

 

When we arrived at John's house in the bush, he was in the process of smoking his own free range bacon and local salmon in a home made smokehouse he had constructed. We soon discovered that as well a passion and talent for metal work, he is also a cook who loves good food. We even left with a few recommendations for places to eat in Tasmania as well as a gift of 1.5kg of his raw bush honey - the bees had been particularly busy in his neck of the woods!

 

 

John's House in the bush

-The smoke on the right is from the smokehouse.

 

Andrew and I were both so grateful to have had the chance to meet John and spend some time with this remarkable person. As well as a talented artisan, he was a storyteller, and a warm, generous and gracious host. It makes me so happy that in a world of mass production and disposable everything, that John  is up in his mountain home creating such lasting beauty with what he finds around him. To own two examples of his amazing work is such a privilege.

 

 

John Hounslow - Robinson

Longley Tasmania

 

 

Back in town, walking around Salamanca Market in Hobart on Saturday morning, I loved seeing all of the fresh winter produce being sold direct from the farmer to the public. Everything was so vibrant and fresh, particularly the winter root crops. So many ideas for dishes were swimming around my head when I spied all of these beauties......

 

Winter Root Vegetables @Salamanca

 

Such beautiful jewel coloured produce

@ Salamanca

 

Any of you who are fans of the wonderful Gourmet Farmer on SBS will recognise A Common Ground - the tiny shop under the stairs in Salamanca that sells produce from Fat Pig Farm, as well as other small Tasmanian producers. It is the brainchild of Matthew Evans and Nick Haddow who wanted to showcase the very best of Tasmanian food in one place. They stock Bruny Island Cheese,(including Australia's only raw milk cheese -  C2 - made on Bruny) charcuterie, free range pork, small batch artisan wine, whiskey and ciders and all sorts of other gourmet treats made from Tasmanian ingredients, with a focus on sustainability. You can now order from them online, but it was great to be able to visit in person. Check out their website or on Facebook for more information - they really are something special.  http://acommonground.com.au/

 

The shop under the stairs

A Common Ground

 

I'm not much of a drinker these days, but there were a couple of alcoholic treasures that I discovered on our trip. The first was a bit of a fluke - a while ago I had tried to order a bottle of the small batch Sloe Gin that I had seen them make on Gourmet Farmer from the Common Ground website, but it sold out so fast that I missed out. Sloe Gin is made from ripe blackthorn fruit (related to plums) and this gives the gin an extra herbal and fruity character, as well as a lovely pinkish/purplish blush. I had forgotten about it until I got to the shop but the subject came up with the lovely Common Ground lady as she was putting together a dinner hamper for us. We really hit it off with her and the end result was that once the shop was empty and there was no one but us about, she revealed there had been a mix up with an order and because of this she had the very last bottle under the counter - would we like it? HELL YEAH! I am considering having a go at curing salmon with some of the Sloe Gin, as well as drinking it.

 

Another boozy highlight was the discovery of the delicious locally made Pagan Cider. I rather like ciders, and this one is a beauty. Made from a mixture of local apples and cherries I was initially concerned it might be too sweet for me - I'm not a fan of sweet alcohol - but it was perfectly balanced and not overly sweet at all. It comes in two varieties which have different amounts of cherry in it. The one pictured below has the most cherry, but I still didn't find it overly sweet, despite the rich colour. I brought home 4 bottles with me and think I will have to do some research to see if I can buy it online and have it shipped. It really is delicious. The label is pretty too.

 

Pagan Cider

Made from Tasmanian Apples & Cherries

Driving through the countryside around the Huon Valley and Cygnet, many of the apple trees had the last apples of the season still on the branches. They made for a pretty splash of red in the winter landscape. Apples and apple juice was for sale everywhere, at un-staffed roadside stands where you just take what you would like and leave the money in the tin. Love that.

 Winter Apple Fall

Cygnet, Tasmania

 

Dining out wise, here are some of the things I particularly enjoyed.

We visited The Source at MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) to experience Michelin starred chef Phillipe Leban's food. We chose a seven course degustation menu and loved the local ingredients served with technical flair and creativity. We really rated our meal there, particularly the Scallop Gnocchi which was knockout - such a beautiful texture and pure scallop flavour.

 Tasmanian Scallop Gnocchi with Yuzu Foam

@ The Source

The roasted duck course took those rich, robust winter flavours and gave them a light touch. All of the flavour was there, without the heaviness. I really enjoyed this one.

Roasted Duck with Daikon and Winter Cabbage

@ The Source

 

I love the flavour of green tea (yes, I know it can be a bit of an acquired taste) so the green tea dessert was right up my alley. An edible receptacle of green tea "glass" was filled with a creamy, punchy lime mousse that you had to crack open to get to. Great contrasting texture of the creamy mousse and the crackly green tea covering. Served with a Sencha green tea sponge and a sweet and sticky black sesame paste, this was a winner. Only thing I wasn't fussed about was the chocolate drizzle on the sponge - seemed a bit random and not really necessary. The rest of the flavours though were to die for.

 

 

 Green Tea Crust, Lime Mousse, Sencha Cake and Black Sesame

@ The Source

The following night we visited Smolt, a restaurant in Hobart that I had been reading very good things about and was keen to try. (If you are wondering about the name - a smolt is baby salmon)Unfortunately the place was quite dark so I can't share the photos of some of the best dishes - they just don't do the food justice. Although they have an A-La-Carte menu, we wanted to try lots of things - so we asked them if they could possibly do a degustation menu for us with smaller tasting serves. They were happy to oblige and the result was our best meal of the trip! Like The Source, they are very focused on Tasmanian produce but using them in a more rustic, free form way. The menu had a very Italian/Mediterranean influence and the flavours were robust and generous. We started the meal with ultra fresh Tasmanian oysters which I can't get enough of.

 Tassie Oysters @ Smolt

 

A simple salad of winter apples, locally produced prosciutto and salad leaves showed that the very best dishes are those that let the superior produce speak for themselves. We had 7 courses in all - all savoury (we asked them not to do desserts as we aren't huge dessert fans) The dishes were all generous and colourful and full of flavour. Slow cooked pork, dishes of richly roasted vegetables, local creamy goat cheese, perfectly cooked seafood - all delicious.

 

 

Rustic Winter Apple & Prosciutto Salad

@ Smolt

 

The Tassie Cheese Arancini  was decadent and rich, with a creamy, stretchy risotto and cheese centre, but a super crisp shell. Just heavenly. As well as a fantastic meal, the service was very good, relaxed and friendly but efficient. The other big plus was that it was moderately priced and brilliant value for a top notch menu, great service and lovely surroundings. If you are visiting Hobart it is really worth a visit. They apparently do fantastic breakfasts and are open for lunch too.

 

Tasmanian 3 Cheese Arancini

@ Smolt

 

 

For more information, opening hours and sample menus for these restaurants, visit their websites - I've posted the links below. I would recommend both of them. Completely different styles of food, but each do what they do brilliantly. 

 

As to my own cooking - well the weather is wintry and rainy and I have a rostered day off today so I am heading to the warmth of the kitchen in a moment to cook up a big batch of proper Bolognaise sauce (a mixture of half free range pork, half organic beef mince). I plan to freeze some but a lot of it will be destined for a tray of Lasagne for the weekend. This chilly weather makes me want comfort food and Lasagne is comfort personified I reckon. Also thinking that a batch of walnut muffins might be in order.

 

Until next time - stay warm and eat something delicious!

 

The Source  http://www.mona.net.au/mona/restaurant

Smolt  http://www.smolt.com.au/

 

******

 

Autumn Fruit Pudding

I love Autumn. The weather is cooling down (especially the nights), the days are crisp and clear and the season brings a whole new batch of fresh produce. The Summer fruit and vegetables are starting to disappear and the Autumn harvest begins. Today's recipe is inspired by that change of season, using a range of delicious Autumn fruits to create a comforting, warming and flavour filled pudding - just perfect for the cooler weather.

This pudding is comprised of aromatic roasted fruits, given a extra punch with vanilla and a touch of lime - and a light vanilla cake top that is just delicious served warm with something creamy like ice cream or custard. I made mine in one pan, but you could easily make individual serves if that takes your fancy. The recipe is very adaptable. Use whatever fruits you can find wherever you are. In my case, I had some wonderful organic nectarines, black plums, a punnet of strawberries and a big bunch of rhubarb. This combination not only made for a beautiful flavour, but a fantastic ruby coloured result.

Gorgeous Autumn Fruit

- about to go into the oven

 

 

I thought the dessert had an old fashioned vibe about it, so I served the Autumn Fruit Pudding on some gorgeous vintage English china that I picked up last Christmas holidays at a secondhand store in Nowra, NSW. (If you are ever in that part of the world, look up "The Everything Store" - full of all kinds of treasures!) The china really caught my eye with it's beautiful peacock coloured pattern. The set comprised of a large serving bowl and six smaller dessert bowls and was made by Keeling & Company in Staffordshire, England. They produced a range of striking brightly coloured china called Losol Ware from 1886 to 1936. I did a bit of online research and found that my china is the "Rushton" design pattern and circa 1912. 

 

Although this china is over 100 years old, it gets plenty of outings. I have taken to using the bigger bowl as a salad dish. I absolutely hate the idea of having beautiful things locked up in a cupboard and not used. That whole notion is just so stupid and precious. These items were made to be used, so that's just what I do! I do draw the line though, at putting them in the dishwasher - I wash and dry these by hand due to the fine gold edging around the rim of the bowls. I don't think they would fare well being machine washed under extreme heat. Every time I eat off these beautiful dishes, I ponder who may have owned them before, and what kinds of food was served on them. I wonder who brought them here from England, and how they have survived 100 years without a chip or crack. Amazing. Makes me enjoy this Autumn Fruit Pudding even more.

 



Autumn Fruit Pudding

You will need:
For the filling: 1 bunch rhubarb, 1 punnet strawberries, 4 nectarines, 4-6 plums, 1 vanilla bean, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, juice of 1 lime, 1 vanilla pod

For the pudding top: 125g butter, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 1/2 cups self raising flour, 1/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons icing sugar (to dust on the top)

Method: Remove and discard the leaves from the rhubarb and chop the rhubarb stalks into pieces about 3cm long. Cut the stalks from the strawberries and remove the stones from the plums and nectarines. Leave the strawberries whole but chop the plums and nectarines into large chunks. Split the vanilla pod down the middle, scrape out the seeds with a knife.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Combine the fruit, lime juice and brown sugar and vanilla beans (including the pod) and bake on a tray or shallow baking dish for 25 minutes, stirring through once, about halfway through cooking. Set the fruit aside to cool.

To make the pudding top, Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat together until all combined. Now add half of the flour and half of the milk until well mixed. Add the remaining milk and flour and combine thoroughly.

Preheat the oven to 160C. In a heatproof dish, spoon the fruit mixture. Remove the vanilla pod.  Now pour the pudding mixture over the top and bake for around 45 minutes until lightly golden. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before dusting with icing sugar.

Serve warm with cream, yogurt, custard or ice cream.

 

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Berry Nut Tart

I always love entertaining and catching up with friends and this weekend I got to hang out with my good friend Yvette who has been living and working in Cambodia for the last 2 years. As well as being excited to see her after so long, I was also very excited to meet her lovely Cambodian husband Vanda for the first time. It was Yvette and Vanda's first anniversary and they chose to celebrate it by sharing their vows in our back garden, with Andrew and I as witnesses and my celebrant mother in law Kate and father in law Peter in attendance. Celebratory champagne and lunch followed of course!

I decided on a quite simple family style lunch. Yvette had previously commented on the fact that in Cambodia, there isn't the option to indulge her craving for roasted lamb, so I thought this was the obvious choice for lunch. I deboned and butterflied out a leg of Cooma lamb and allowed it to marinate overnight with plenty of garlic, paprika, olive oil, lemon and orange rind, a squeeze of orange juice, rosemary from the garden, sea salt, cayenne pepper and a few crushed up anchovies. I then char grilled the lamb on the BBQ, and served it with crispy golden potatoes, plenty of seasonal vegetables, gravy and a native Pepperberry and Pinot Noir jelly that I brought back from our trip to Tasmania. The Pinot and Pepperberry was a really tasty accompaniment to the grilled lamb as an alternative to mint jelly.

For dessert, I wanted something that I could do ahead. When having lunch or dinner guests, I try to include at least one course that can be made - or at least mostly prepared - the day before. It makes things so much easier. There is nothing worse than feeling rushed and stressed when your guests arrive. I mean, entertaining is supposed to be fun right? My second criteria for the dessert dish was that it also had to be pretty much dairy free. I chose a French style homemade almond tart that showed off the delicious berries that are in season right now. I had a handful of macadamia nuts in the cupboard too, so I used those as part of the topping, for a buttery tasting, golden crunch. Normally I would serve a tart like this with creme anglaise or ice cream, but I chose a dairy free sorbet instead from Cow and Moon, a local artisan gelato shop that make delicious, award winning frozen treats. I chose a blackberry and blueberry sorbet that was lovely and tangy against the sweetness of the tart.

Berry Nut Tart

This tart could easily be adapted for all kinds of other seasonal fruit. I think that peach or nectarine would be lovely in place of the berries - or you could go really classic and use apples or pears. This recipe would also work well as smaller, individual tarts.

Tart served with Blackberry & Blueberry Sorbet

from Cow & Moon artisan gelato @ Enmore

You will need: 150g soft butter (I used salted butter), 120g caster sugar, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon cornflour, 200g almond meal, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup roughly chopped macadamias, 1 punnet fresh blueberries, 1 punnet fresh raspberries, 1 to 1 1/2 sheets sweet shortcrust pastry (the amount will depend on the size of you tart tin)

Method: Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a tart tin with baking paper. I use a metal tart tin with a removable base - I think they give a good result and it is much easier to get the tart out of the tin.

Line the tart tin with the pastry and then place another sheet of baking paper on the top. Fill with baking beads (or if you don't have them, use dry beans or lentils) Blind bake the pastry in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

To make the filling, beat together the softened butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the cornflour and half of the almond meal and beat together thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating as you go. Finally, add the last of the almond meal and beat until all combined.

Spread about half of the raspberries and blueberries across the empty tart shell. Pour the filling mixture into the tart and spread out evenly. Press the remaining berries into the mixture.

Sprinkle the macadamias over the tart and bake at 180C for around 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden. Allow to cool for 20 minutes uncovered before slicing and serving. Can be served either warm or cold.

 

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The GG Test Kitchen: Adriano Zumbo Macaron Kit

 Hi folks - I thought I would share with you a bit of a test kitchen experiment that I did this week with something that caught my eye at the supermarket recently. Normally I'm not a fan of packaged mixes, preferring to make things completely from scratch - but when I saw this Adriano Zumbo macaron kit when out shopping the other day I was really curious to see if they actually worked. Living where we do in the Inner West of Sydney, we are pretty close to Zumbo's flagship Balmain patisserie and sometimes pop over to indulge in something from his sweet treat wonderland. One of our favourites is the delectable salted caramel macaron. The Zumbo macaron kit in the salted caramel variety was the obvious choice for my experiment. The kit comes in a passionfruit variety too if you want something fruity and less rich.

The kit sells for $8.50rrp and contains pretty much all you need to make about 15-20 macarons. For a price comparison, a single macaron from Zumbo's patisserie costs $2.50. Apart from the kit, the only extras you will need are baking paper and a little butter for the filling but everything else is included. As well as the mixture components, there is also a template for when it comes to correctly piping the macaron mixture and two piping bags for the base mixture and the filling. The instructions are very straightforward and I was careful to follow them to the letter, despite my usual tendency to not follow instructions at all and do my own thing. I did as I was told this time I promise!

The Zumbo Salted Caramel Macaron Kit

- it also comes in a passionfruit variety

So, how did I go? The process of making up the two components - the meringue part and the filling - was pretty straightforward and I was happy with that side of things. When it came to piping the macaron mixture onto the baking trays, I found it quite fiddly and I imagine that any self respecting pastry chef looking over my shoulder would have been mortified at my technique - but hey, these kits are pitched at home cooks like us, right? I did notice that the mixture was looking very smooth and glossy, which I knew was how it is meant to look at that point in the proceedings (that Masterchef episode with the Zumbo macaron tower challenge was all coming back to me!) Despite my clumsy piping technique, all was looking good.

The moment of truth, and I took the first tray of macarons out of the oven. Most of them looked pretty good but a few had cracked a little here and there. I don't have the best oven in the world, so I suspect that this may have been the cause of the cracking on some of the macaron shells, as I really was careful to follow the instructions on the box exactly.

Piping the filling and assembling the final product was fun (I think I perfected my piping technique by then and was more confident with it) and for the most part, I was reasonably happy with how the batch turned out - notwithstanding the odd crumbly macaron here and there.

Salted Caramel Macarons - 

the finished product

Taste wise, the macarons were sweet and tasty with a decent salted caramel flavour - but I have to be honest here, they aren't in the same ballpark as the genuine Zumbo article from the patisserie. The filling they make in the shop is a lot deeper and richer in colour, with that slight touch of bitterness that a good salted caramel should have. The kit filling lacked that bitter/salty counterpoint to the sugar/meringue, resulting in the macarons being far too sweet for my taste.

The Verdict
The Zumbo Macaron Kit certainly makes whipping up a batch of macarons pretty easy, with all the equipment the home cook needs. The end result is a very sweet (perhaps over sweet for some)  macaron that you would be quite happy to serve. For me though, they lacked the perfect texture and extra salted caramel punch of the genuine article. I guess the real test is, would I buy the kit again? For me, the answer is no. I wasn't completely won over - maybe I'm too aware of how different they are to what Adriano sells in his shop and it was impossible not to compare. Overall I give the kit a score of 6.5/10.

The kits are available from some supermarkets and from Adriano Zumbo stores. For more info, head to the website: http://adrianozumbo.com/

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A Christmas Choc-Berry Bonanaza!

Every year, my work colleagues and I get together for a big Christmas morning tea. A lot of us really enjoy cooking, so people tend to bake up a storm with all sorts of tasty delights to share (and we always over cater, so we inevitably end up inviting everyone in the building to come down and join us so nothing goes to waste) Usually I make something savoury - a vegetable tart, savoury muffins, little meatballs and dipping sauce - stuff like that.

This year I looked in the fridge and realised I had lots of beautiful seasonal fruit and thought I would base my dish around that and do something sweet. I also wanted something that looked a bit festive, so my first thought was a traditional trifle, made with jelly and custard - just like we always seemed to have at Christmas when I was a kid. Then I was thinking that a rich berry mousse might be nice. In the end I came up with my version of a trifle that merged both ideas - a white chocolate and berry mousse trifle. I was really happy with how it turned it, and it tasted really delicious. It is pretty rich, and you would serve smallish portions, so you could feed quite a big group of people with a trifle the size of mine - not that big.

Although it was really easy to put together, ideally you need to start the recipe a day ahead. This means that everything can set properly. This is important, as the mousse is not one of those super firm style mixtures. It does not contain gelatin, so although the mousse does firm up enough to hold together nicely, it has a fairly soft texture that requires chilling overnight.

So, what did I do? First, I used a couple of packets of good old fashioned Aeroplane Port Wine Jelly and made it according to the instructions. I poured this into a trifle dish and added a handful of berries over the bottom. Then, I let the jelly set until firm.

Next, I made up a big batch of white chocolate mousse. (You will find the recipe below) When it was done, I divided the mixture in half, and to one of the bowls of mixture I added just under a cup of fresh, pureed raspberries. You could probably use frozen ones, but I would drain them really well before pureeing them, as all of the extra moisture may cause issues with the mousse setting. The next step was to cut 2 pieces of sponge cake to the size of the trifle bowl, and gently push it down onto the jelly layer, brushing it with some strawberry liqueur when I was finished.

After the first sponge layer was in place, I poured the raspberry mousse into the bowl - then the second layer of sponge, a brush with the liqueur again, and then the plain white chocolate mousse over that. The trifle then went in to the fridge overnight to set, covered in plastic wrap. I decorated the trifle just prior to serving with fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.

 White Chocolate and Berry Mousse Trifle

 

This would be a really nice do-ahead Christmas dessert - either as a large dish, or in small individual serves. I was thinking of lots of summery variations to this - passionfruit and mango, coconut and lime, peach and raspberry. Alternatively, you could ditch the fruit focus and make it with dark chocolate, kirsch liqueur and cherries, to make a sort of black forest trifle. All of that would be easy to adapt.

Here is my basic white chocolate mousse recipe to get you started. You could easily serve it as a mousse on it's own - or do what I did and make it the basis for another dessert.

White Chocolate Mousse

You will need: 350g White Chocolate, 1/3 cup milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (the good stuff - not the faux "essence"), 3 large eggs separated, 375ml Cream.

Method: Melt the chocolate, milk and vanilla in a double boiler (or do what I do and use a small metal mixing bowl sitting over a pan of boiling water. Make sure the water isn't touching the bowl, or it will be too hot and the mixture may go too far and harden) Allow the chocolate mixture to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

While the chocolate is cooling, whip the cream until firm. Set aside.

Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and whisk together well - the warmth of the mixture will gently cook the eggs to form a sort of custard like consistency.

Take a very clean and dry metal bowl and beat the egg whites until firm. Remember that egg whites will not firm up when beaten if there is even a tiny amount of oil/butter or other fat in the bowl - even some residue in a plastic bowl will ruin them - which is why we never whip our egg whites in plastic. It doesn't hurt to be a bit OCD with your metal bowl either and give it a couple of good washes to make sure it is super clean.

Now fold the cream and the chocolate mixture together until combined.

Next, gently fold through the egg whites through the cream/chocolate mixture. Spoon into dessert cups or use as part of a trifle or gateaux like I did.

Variations: You could of course use dark chocolate or any other kind that takes your fancy for this mousse. You can also turn this in to a fruit flavoured mousse by making up the white chocolate version, but adding about a cup of fruit puree to the mixture. I used just under a cup of fresh pureed raspberries for the raspberry mousse in my trifle. Mango or passionfruit would be a lovely alternative.

This recipe serves 6 people as individual servings. Double the recipe if you are using the mousse for a trifle or dessert like mine, and you want a couple of layers.

 

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Fruity Inspiration

You guys are all aware by now that baking isn't really my bag. I will happily spend 3 days making a master stock, or painstakingly put together a 9 course degustation menu, but setting aside half an hour to make a cake just doesn't do it for me. Well, the Goddess of baking and sweet things must have aligned all the planets of something, because this week I had an idea for a cake recipe buzzing around in my head that just wouldn't go away. I took this as a sign from the universe that I should head to the kitchen and give this cake experiement a bit of a whirl.

I don't eat cake really - but when I do, my sweet thing of choice is lemon syrup polenta cake. I love the texture that the polenta has, and the tang of the lemon. Yum. My recipe idea is a bit of a variation on that type of cake, using fresh lime and lashings of passionfruit. I decided to add some almond meal to the equation, as well as using olive oil instead of butter. The result is a beautifully textured but very moist crumb and a sticky, tangy, fresh tasting syrup.

These cakes are lovely by themselves with a hot cuppa, but I think they would work really well as a do-ahead dessert. I'd serve them slightly warm with some clotted cream, creme anglaise or maybe some marscapone with some fresh lime rind folded into the mixture. You could also use those very small muffin tins and serve them as tiny sweet petit fours after dinner.

Sticky Passionfruit and Lime Polenta Cakes

As this was an experiment, it was all a bit free form. I used the quantities that I hoped would work, based roughly on the proportions I use when making normal muffins - and on the amount of almond meal and polenta I had in the pantry. Once I had that in mind as a starting point, I added some other ingredients and let my instincts take over. I was really happy with the result - the proportions worked a treat and I ended up with the texture I was hoping for. Dealing with the egg whites seperately really helped with this I think. I wasn't going to bother with the egg white thing, but it only took an extra two minutes and was worth it.

These cakes were fast to make and only take about 20 minutes to cook, so they aren't too much of a stretch for someone like me who doesn't usually have the patience or inclination for cake baking. Hell, I whipped up these on a Saturday morning while I stacked the dishwasher and sipped my morning coffee! Very do-able indeed.

You will need:
For the cake - 4 free range eggs, 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1/2 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup fine polenta, 1/2 cup plain flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 tablespoons olive oil, Juice and rind of 1 fresh lime, Pulp from about 3 passionfruit.

For the syrup - 1 cup caster sugar, Juice and rind of 1 fresh lime, Pulp of 2 passionfruit, 2 tablespoons water.

Method:  First, make the cake. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease your muffin tins if you are not using silicone tins like I did.

Separate the eggs and put the yolks in one mixing bowl and the whites in another. With an electric beater, whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Set aside. (Hint - it is always better to beat egg whites in a metal bowl, or a ceramic one as a second choice. Plastic bowls tend to retain grease and oil, which is the enemy of fluffy egg whites!)

Combine the half cup of caster sugar with the yolks and beat until the mixture is lighter in colour and increases slightly in volume.

To the egg yolk mixture, add the almond meal, polenta, plain flour, baking powder, olive oil, lime juice and rind. With a spatula, combine all of the ingredients.

Now gently fold a third of the egg white into the cake mixture. Put in the rest and fold in until combined. Don't be too heavy handed with the mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tins, remembering that these cakes do not rise a whole lot, so you can fill them almost to the top.

Bake at 1080C for 15-20 minutes. The cakes are cooked when they are slightly brown and the mixture springs bak a little when you touch the top of them.

While the cakes are cooking, put together the syrup - just combine all of the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer gently for a few minutes until the sugar is dissolved completely and the syrup thickens slightly.

When you remove the cakes from the oven, spoon over about half of the syrup while they are still warm. When you are finished, run a knife around the edges so that they don't stick to the pan. Spoon over the remaining syrup and allow the cakes to soak up the mixture.

Serve warm or cold with cream, marscapone or icecream. Or scoff them without the extras.

Makes 10-12 small cakes

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Baking Bliss

This week has been rather exciting in the Gourmet Goddess kitchen, as we took delivery of a new fan forced oven to replace the evil, contankerous old beast that I have been cooking with since we moved into our house almost two years ago. I have to admit I was pretty happy to see the demise of the old one, which had a penchant for cremating the bottom of whatever you put in it, whilst leaving the top of everything unpalatably raw. I don't really bake much at the best of times, but the crappy oven really didn't make me want to change that situation!

Well, I am very happy to report that the new oven is a whole other world - one where things cook as they are meant to and your pastry ends up golden and puffed (and cooked evenly!) just like it should. Hell, I may even be tempted to bake a cake - or Goddess forbid - a meringue! Watch this space.

So, my first oven baking experiment was a couple of simple apple, almond and nashi pear tarts. The golden tarts are given a lovely sweetness and glossy finish by an easy maple syrup glaze.

You could actually use any kind of fruit for these - apricots, peaches or nectarines when in season would be gorgeous - cherries, berries or quinces would work a treat too. I used apples and nashi pears because they happened to be in the fruit bowl at the time. Whatever fruit you decide to use,  the result is a delicious, easy to make tart that looks lovely too. This style of tart reminded me a lot of the apple galettes that you would always see in the patisseries around Paris. I confess I enjoyed a slice of mine with a nice big milky Cafe au Lait, and a generous serve of nostaligia -  imagining I was back, sitting in a cafe in St Germain on my honeymoon watching the world go by. Food is always so evocative of past memories and this one really did that for me.

Maple Glazed Apple and Nashi Pear Tarts

You will need: 2 sheets ready rolled puff pastry, 2-3 apples or nashi pears (I used some of both), 1 1/2 cups almond meal, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 2 tablespoons warm water, 30g melted salted butter, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 1 beaten egg.

Method: Preheat the oven to 200C.

Peel and core the apples/nashi pears, cut them in half and slice them thinly. In a bowl, combine the almond meal, vanilla, brown sugar, melted butter and warm water. Mix well to make an easily spreadable paste. Add a little more warm water if the mixture is a little too firm.

Take the two sheets of pastry and cut them in half, lengthways. You should now have four lengths of pastry of equal size. Take two of the pastry sheets and cut a border into them, about 2 cm wide, removing the pastry in the middle. You will be left with two "frames"made of pastry.

Brush the other two peices of whole pastry with a little of the egg. Carefully lay one of the "frames" onto each of the pastry peices. Press the edges down gently. Now evenly spread half of the almond mixture onto each of the tarts, smoothing it up to the edge of the border you have created.

Take the sliced apple/nashi pears and carefully arrange the slices, so that they slightly overlap, until you have covered the tarts. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little bit of the egg wash.

Bake the tarts for 15-20 minutes until they are lightly golden. Remove them from the oven and using half of the mixture, brush the top of the tarts with the maple syrup. Return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes until they turn a deeper golden colour.

Remove the tarts from the oven, and while they are still warm, brush the remaining maple syrup over them.

Serve warm or cold. Makes two medium sized tarts.

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New Year's Day Lunch

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2012 here in the Gourmet Goddess kitchen! It is hard to believe that it is well over two and a half years since I first tentitively put my first post out there, with the intention of just posting recipes and reviews for friends to read. Since that first day, I have been blown away by the response to Gourmet Goddess and how many people from all over the world are now reading it on a regular basis. Thank you all for inspiring me to continue to share my love for creating new dishes, revisiting old ones and exploring the wonderful world of culinary adventures.

To kick off the new year, I decided to create a New Year's Day lunch that included a few ideas that I have had buzzing around my head during this holiday season. The main course and the dessert were dishes that I had decided on before the actual day of the lunch, however the starter just kind of popped into my head as I was doing the prep work for the dessert and noticed that I had a pack of Haloumi cheese in the fridge when I opened it to get the cream out! Inspiration struck and I used other ingredients I had on hand as well as herbs from my garden to make this delicious vegetarian starter. I was so happy with the result, I will be adding it to the permanent Gourmet Goddess repetoire.

The first course used a pack of Haloumi cheese, a handful of pine nuts, some roma tomatoes, black olives, a cucumber and freshly cut herbs. I cut the tomatoes into quarters, seasoned them and roasted them slowly in the oven for about an hour, then let them cool. I combined the cooled tomatoes with a handful of chopped balck olives, diced de-seeded lebanese cucumber, a handful of flat leaf parsley and a handful of mint. I then seasoned it all with salt and pepper, drizzled over a little olive oil and a couple of teaspoons of lemon juice.

Just before serving I pan fried the Haloumi in a touch of olive oil and then layered the ingredients on a serving plate (in this case one of my favourite green dishes from the wonderful Dinosaur Designs - a wedding gift from the lovely Matthew) I topped the lot with a few pine nuts, which I had toasted in a dry pan until they were golden - this gave them a particularly nutty taste and aroma. The result was a very simple but really delicious Summer starter that would be great as a side dish but also a wonderful vegetarian main course. I will definitely be making this again!

Haloumi and slow roasted tomato salad

with mint and pinenuts

For the main course, I decided on a rack of lamb, with a bit of a twist on the popular herb crust technique. I thought a combination of hazelnuts and lemon was worth trying, so I mixed together some fresh breadcrumbs with lemon rind, garlic, fresh parsley, hazelnut meal (I made this by blending roasted whole hazelnuts in the food processor) salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon.

To prepare the lamb, I seared it first in a pan, then covered the bones with foil to prevent them charring during cooking. I then brushed a generous amount of Dijon mustard over the skin. I carefully pressed the crust mixture on to the top of the lamb rack (I used an 8 cutlet or "point" rack) and then cooked it on the Weber over coals, with the lid on for about 30 minutes. After removing it from the heat, I covered it loosely in foil and rested the meat for 20 minutes before removing the foil and carving it. We enjoyed our lamb with sauteed asparagus and creamy potato mash that was tarted up with liberal amounts of butter and Tetsuya's Truffle Salt (drool!)

Hazelnut and Lemon Crusted Lamb

with truffle mash and sauteed asparagus

The result was a delicious, quite decadent dish, with that lovely hazelnut crunch and the refreshing tang of the lemon for that bit of zing. This variation on the classic herb crusted lamb was a hit with my fellow diners, who relished every bite and resorted to grabbing the bones and gnawing every last bit of succulent meat off them! Like the starter, this dish is very simple but is something you would happily serve at a dinner party.

Tetsuya's Truffle Salt

If you want to purchase some of Tetsuya's Truffle Salt (of course you do!! It's fabulous!) you will find it at David Jones' Food Hall, good gourmet stores or from Tetsuya via his website. http://www.tetsuyas.com/page/products.html  This salt is perfect for sprinkling on soft poached eggs, grilled vegetables or for use in sauces. If you do buy some, be sure to keep it in an airtight container, unless you want everything in your whole pantry to smell like truffles! It is sold in 100g jars and keeps for a couple of years.

When I was in Perth just before Christmas, my mother served me her gorgeous old fashioned trifle one night. I haven't eaten this since I was a kid and it was just delicious. Just one bite was a total nostalgia trip and I wondered why we don't really see trifles much any more. Who could resist that luscious combo of sponge, jelly, fruit, custard and cream? I decided I would make one when I returned home, but got to thinking about a new way to serve trifle, that would work as a dinner party dish. Taking advantage of lovely seasonal fruit, and tweaking the flavours, I came up with my own version of trifle. My trifle is based on the old school dessert, Peach Melba. I always loved the pairing of peaches, raspberries and cream and used this as inspiration for my trifle, which is served in individual portions. You can of course just make a large one if you aren't keen on having to assemble one person serves.

Peach Melba Trifle

with Rose Cream

Although there are quite a few elements to this dessert, it can all be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge until you are ready to serve, so don't be put off by all of the steps involved. So, how did I do it?

The night before, I made up a good old fashioned batch of raspberry jelly and left it to set overnight. A few hours before my guests arrived, I then created the components for the various layers. I had everything ready to go and then just assembled the trifles, covering them with clingfilm and chilling for a couple of hours.

Layer 1 - Sponge. Did I make a sponge? Nope. I cut 10 Italian Savioardi sponge biscuits into small chunks and drizzled over some strawberry liqueur to moisten them slightly. You could use rasbperry or peach liqueur if you wanted to.

Layer 2 - Peaches. I took four ripe peaches, blanched them in boiling water for 10 minutes and removed the skins. Then I sliced them into pieces.

Layer 3 - Custard. In a bowl, I whisked together half a cup of sugar, 3 egg yolks and a  tablespoon of cornflour until smooth and creamy. In a pan, I heated 2 cups of full cream milk with half a vanilla pod (I scraped the seeds out and mixed them all through for maximum vanilla deliciousness) When the milk was almost at the boil, I poured in a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking all the time. I kept doing this until half of the milk was mixed in. Then I poured the whole lot back into the saucepan and whisked well, before putting on a medium to low heat and whisking until thickened. I let the custard cool before using it.

Layer 4 - Raspberries. I mixed together 2 cups of raspberries with a splash of the strawberry liqueur and a couple of teaspoons of sugar. There were no decent raspberries at the shop, so I used frozen ones, which worked a treat.

Layer 5 - Jelly. I diced the raspberry jelly I made the night before into small pieces.

Layer 6 - Rose Cream. I beat a carton of thickened cream with half a teaspoon of rosewater and a dessert spoon of caster sugar, until thick.

Topping - Grated white chocolate (optional)

Be sure to have everthing ready before you start assembling your trifle and make sure that your custard has cooled down - it can be warm, but not hot. This dessert is really worth the effort - the combination of the peaches and raspberries with the sponge, fragrant vanilla custard and rose scented cream is to die for.

So, that was our first meal of 2012. Hope that you all come back and visit Gourmet Goddess during the year to share in new recipes, reviews and culinary adventures. I have ideas brewing already, so stay tuned!

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