Did You Know? -Part 9 Cheese

Cheese of this ilk (hard and granular – hence the the name ‘gran’) is a permanent fixture in my fridge.

It’s not usually Parmesan, because that is really expensive…rather I get the equally appropriate and almost-as-tasty Grana Padano.

Or you could use Pecorino or Romano…it all depends on your budget and your taste.

Point is, cheese is good.

It can be used to add a depth of flavour to pasta dishes, stews and egg dishes like frittata and quiche or even the humble cheese sauce.

Or, you can even serve up crumbled chunks on an antipasto platter or with olives when you serve drinks.

Storing Your Cheese

If you get yours grated, store it in a plastic container or zip-lock bag in the freezer.

If you keep it whole, keep in it the cheese part of the fridge, but don’t keep it completely sealed,  because it will go mouldy. Either wrap it in baking paper, a brown paper bag or a loosely in a plastic bag. It needs air flow, and you can always cut the dry bits off if it’s been in there for a while.

Keep the rinds and ask for them if you get yours grated. The rinds are perfect to pop in ragus like my mum’s macaroni or bolognaise to really boost the flavour.

Recipe Alert! – Carrot Cake

I know, I know….we’ve all made carrot cake.

We all love the icing, the delicate spices and nutty flavours.

I can’t let go of a carrot cake that we used to sell at a cafe I worked at in high school.

I remember the owner’s wife used to make it and it was like nothing else on this planet.

I have since tried to recreate that magical moment to no avail.

Until now.

VC’s birthday was last week (Happy Birthday sis!) and we had a family dinner to celebrate on Sunday night.

As usual Mum made a beautiful spread and a lovely birthday cake.

It was carrot cake this year, and it was divine.

So marvelous that I felt I should pop in a link and some kudos on my blog.

It is from the Let Her Bake Cake Blog and the recipe is apparently from the Rose Bakery in Paris that people line up for.

I can see why.

It is the best one I’ve had since the one at Cafe Q. The icing is somehow better than any icing have made before as well.

A note to those who are going to make this beauty, is that it needs a little extra baking time, or a bigger cake pan than suggested. Mum found the middle was raw, even after following all of the rules.

So perhaps try pouring less in your cake pan, or baking a little longer (like at least fifteen minutes) and you should be fine.

Dangerously Delicious Choc-Chip Shortbread

I don’t know why I do this.

Put chocolate in everything.

Make biscuits with unhealthy amounts of butter.

Continue to bake and eat shortbread outside of the festive season.

Forgive me.

But here it is, I must share with you my latest and greatest: choc-chip shortbread cookies.

Chocolate-Chip Shortbread Recipe

Ingredients:

225g butter (or 2 sticks)

1 cup icing mixture (which is icing sugar cut with cornstarch, to keep from getting hard and lumpy)

1 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

choc-chips/chopped chocolate (unspecified amount, it’s up to you)

OVEN @ 160C or 325 F

Method:

Put everything into a bowl and stir until creamy.

Add chocolate.

Roll into balls and press flat on lined baking tray.

Bake.

Eat.

Notes on the Recipe

These cookies can be cut into shapes after they are baked, while still hot (obviously)…but I don’t like to waste food, so I don’t do this.

Also, don’t scrimp on the salt, it’s the salt that MAKES this recipe.

These cookies last for AGES and are possibly THE best choc-chip cookie I have made.

Persian Fetta, semi dried tomato and ham Omelette

I stole this idea from a little cafe I used to go to in Erskineville.

It’s just an omlette, but it’s what’s inside the omlette that makes this dish a little bit special.

I am sure I have not got it exactly the same as the cafe, but you could say its inspired by the one on the menu.
Rather than provide a recipe, I think it’s really only necessary to list what I put in the mixture:

– ham

– semi dried tomtatoes

– Persian , marinated fetta cheese

– oregano

– eggs

Just whisk up the eggs, pour into pan and sprinkle the ingredients (all finely chopped) on top, season. Flip when ready and serve!

Serve with some tomato chutney (a MUST) and some Turkish bread soldiers.

You can easily omit the ham for an equally tasty vegetarian version.

I use Baxter’s tomato and red pepper chutney, and South Cape fetta. Both from local supermarket. This is not a paid bit (I wish), I just really love these products and they taste good.

Strawberry Jammin’

I might be too late here, but strawberries are everywhere and they’re delicious and cheap.

So of course I made jam. Who wouldn’t right?

I’m being sarcastic….I know nobody makes jam anymore and that is why I am bucking the trend and strapping on my apron (not really….I just have a lot of stains on my clothes) to encourage you, my friends to make your own strawberry jam.

It’s not hard at all and the results are better than you might expect.

By simply mashing up and boiling down a few strawberries with some sugar, you get a delightfully tasty, tangy and sweet syrup, rich in colour and flavour.

The recipe I use asks for 6 cups of sugar per 1 kg of hulled strawberries, but who has a kilo strawberries lying around?

So if a punnet is about 250g (1000/4) , that makes it about 1.5 cups (6/4) of sugar per punnet of strawberries.

My recipe also asks for tartaric acid, but I just use a squeeze of lemon juice.

Why lemon juice? To add a little zing, which I like in a jam and also because lemon juice is high in pectin, the setting agent for jams.

Apparently citrus pips are high in pectin too, so if you’re really keen you can collect some lemon seeds and throw those in the pan wrapped in some muslin.

But who are we kidding?

Strawberry Jam Recipe

Ingredients:

1 punnet strawberries, hulled.

1.5 (or a little less) of sugar.

A squeeze of lemon juice.

Method:

Put strawberries in a pan and mash with your potato masher, till they are all broken and bruised and juicy.

Add sugar.

Stir and boil for few minutes.

Add lemon juice and boil another few minutes.

Pour into sterilised jars and seal while hot.

Notes on the Recipe

Don’t worry about how long you stir for….I don’t think you can really over cook strawberry jam…so if you’re a couple of minutes over don’t worry.

And don’t worry if your jam doesn’t end up solid…actually, mine’s always kind of runny and I like it like that.  It still spreads on bread and scones.

And it tastes so good, nobody will mind if it’s a little runny. Besides, you can perfect this sort of thing once you’ve demystified the whole process.

Don’t be afraid of jar sterilisation. It’s as easy as putting them through the dishwasher, or washing them in hot water and soap.

Rinse well.

Stick the jars in a medium oven for a while, along with the lids.

Make your jam, and when you’re finished boiling up the jam, the jars will be ready to go. Dry and hot.

Putting hot jam into hot jars and then sealing up will create a vacuum seal inside the jar, once you’ve put the lid on.

Please use tongs to move your hot glass jars around…and use a tea towel to screw on the lids…or you’ll burn yourself.

Stand the jars upside down to aid even distribution of the fruit and bulky bits inside the jar.

As you can see I got my son to draw me a strawberry for my jar. Just on a piece of paper that I taped on. Simple and yet so charming.

Did you Know? – Part 5 (Oats)

My uncle used to kill pigs for the village when he was a young man.

He told me once how he could tell the difference between the pigs that ate oats and the pigs who didn’t.

The ones who ate oats were healthier in the inside, their intestinal tract and bowels were more lubricated and cleaner.

Of course he didn’t say it in those words, he used his limited English to explain it in much less clinical terms, but I got the drift.

And while we aren’t pigs, my uncle’s story about oats and pig’s guts had more impact on me than any medical or media advice.

And from then on I have made an effort to eat oats.

Oats aren’t really the sort of thing we eat in our diets today…and why should we, when we can eat food that has been processed out of resembling anything like real ingredients?

But we can incorporate oats into our diets. Breakfast is a good one; porridge and muesli or those super delicious oat and buttermilk pancakes I posted earlier this year.

Or into our baking, oat and date slice ( I will post that recipe later this year) muesli slice, add oats to your apple crumble, or put oats in your muffins.

There are plenty of other reasons to eat more oats too.

They reduce cholesterol by releasing certain antioxidants that break down the blood cholesterol, they prevent diabetes by slowing the rise of blood glucose and insulin levels, they can reduce cancer risk with their high levels of phytochemicals that are considered great in reducing hormone related cancers and thought to lower carcinogens in the digestive tract.

Oats can reduce hypertension and blood pressure, they can help you lose weight due to their capacity to swell in the gut and help you feel fuller for longer and they also are proven to improve athletic performance.

And finally, it seems my uncle was right about oats and the bowel. He knew this about oats not from reading it online, but from seeing it with his owns eyes as he prepared the pigs for eating.

Just to be polite I will quote from a website I have resourced; ‘Oats are high in both soluble and insoluble fiber. Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It is spongy and absorbs many times its own weight of liquid. It makes stools heavier and speeds their passage through the gut, relieving constipation.’ (EatMoreOats.com)

Some resources, to read more about oats, if you’re so inclined;
Eat More Oats
Food Watch – Super Foods
Mr Breakfast

Recipe Alert! – Browned Butter Cookies

This is an emergency recipe alert.
I see it as my responsibility to share good recipes, when I find them.
Like the National News for Recipes.
So, I made these today and they are too good, the flavour of the browned butter is so lovely.
I predict a weight gain of 1kg this week, directly in relation to the amount of these buttery beauties I intend to eat.

I am off to further investigate the Bake List Blog.

Click on the link below to get the recipe – it’s on PAGE 2 of the post.

Brown Butter Shortbread Cookies

Corn Succotash

This is a kind of succotash, but I think nature of the dish means that it can be made using what ever is at hand and in season.

It is supposed to be primarily made of corn, which this one is….plus some other goodies.

It is as simple as dicing and frying up your favourite veges.

However, I do believe that this combination is particularly good and worth sharing.

Dice a few shallots, and zucchinis, mushrooms and corn cut freshly off the cob.

Put a little olive oil in a frying pan and throw it all in.

Season well, heavy on the pepper.

It’s ready when the zucchini is done, because all the other vegetables will be cooked through sooner.

I like to serve this side with grilled fish or meat and some roast potatoes for a fairly healthy and low fat dinner.

Caramel Chicken

I got this from a Neil Perry recipe, which I use as a guide but I make some changes to it.

It seems like a variation on the Vietnamese Ga Kho…a caramel and ginger chicken recipe.

This is so easy, and my fussy children love it.

Caramel Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

Chicken thigh or breast sliced into pieces (not too small or will over cook)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 red onion, diced

3 tblsp light soy sauce

4-6 tblsp brown sugar

5 tblsp fish sauce

handful of sliced spring onions

salt & white pepper

Method:

In a little peanut oil, brown the chicken in a hot wok. Set aside.

Fry up the garlic and red onion in some oil, and then add the chicken back in.

Season with salt and white pepper, add soy and fish sauces and sugar.

Simmer until the sauce gets darker and a little sticky.

Careful not to over cook or will become bitter.

Serve on steamed rice and sprinkle with spring onions.

Notes on the recipe:

Original versions of similar recipes might use palm sugar, but I find brown sugar is always in the cupboard and way easier to use. You use about half brown sugar, compared to palm sugar quantities.

Again, original versions use whole thighs or chicken pieces and simmer for about 20 minutes.

I am after quick and easy, so I use smaller piece that cook quickly.

You can always adjust the amounts of sugar in this recipe to suit your tastes.

You can also add chilli to make this dish hot and sweet.

Sort of Scrambled Eggs

I am sure lots of people make eggs like this, but I got the idea from my dad.

He just puts diced tomato in his, but I thought I’d riff on that a bit and add a few little extras.

It started in Rome. I know, don’t you hate people who name-drop?

Anyways, as I was saying, I was in ROME…ha ha ha ha

We were staying in an apartment and with two kids, going out for any meal is not easy, so we would eat in most mornings.

Vegemite toast and pancakes weren’t an available so we ate eggs a lot of the time.

And with my selection of deli goods from the shop, I had prosciutto, cheese and some tomatoes at hand.

So I threw it all in to our scrambled eggs and hey presto!

At home, it’s not quite the same. I don’t have prosciutto lying around or any decent cheese. So I use a diced tomato, finely sliced shallots and some fairly crappy Parmesan from the supermarket (I haven’t been to the deli in a while).

You can put in what ever you like really. Ham or any other cured and salted meat, herbs, cheddar cheese, spanish onion…what ever…

Just whisk the eggs and season, then throw in everything else a stir it up.

Pour into a hot pan and move it around a little till nearly cooked.

Serve on top of toast of any kind and you will be surprised at what a delightful alternative this can be to boring old plain eggs.