April 24, 2010

Tomorrow is ANZAC day. For those who read my blog from outside of Australia and New Zealand, you probably are wondering what ANZAC is. ANZAC stands for Australian & New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC day, 25th April, is a day where we spend time to reflect on what the brave women and men of our armed forces, red cross, other groups and individuals have done/do during war and peace time to protect their homelands and to assist those that are in need in other countries.
ANZAC day means reflection and showing our respect to so many that have seen the To remember those that have fallen. Lest We Forget. I am not going to bore you with military history, how people are expendable and the sad fact that there will always be war in one form another.
I am very proud of these people, have great respect and I thank them for going in to bat for me.
ANZAC day also means dawn services, parades in towns, two up, copious amounts of alcohol and biscuits

I made mine last night and sadly there are only two left out of the 24 at 9pm on the following evening while I type this post. The boys have devoured them. This is a good thing and I will probably make some more over the weekend.
There are so many ANAZC biscuit recipes out there, some completely different to the other and some with only subtle differences.
I don’t like soft chewy ANAZC biscuits, I am a fan of crisp/hard flat ones. I would love to share with you my recipe. Sara’s ANZAC Biscuits
1½c rolled oats
2T (generous) golden syrup
110g butter
½t bicarbonate of soda
1c plain flour
1c (heaped) shredded coconut
3/4c caster sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg white
Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Melt butter and golden syrup (I am lazy and melt them in a bowl in the microwave) then add the bicarb to the mixture.
Stir in the oats, flour, shredded coconut, sugar and salt. Give it a slight mix.
Add the egg white and mix until combined. If the mixture is not holding together enough to roll in to balls add a little water.
Roll the mixture with wet hands into large walnut sized balls and place on a baking paper on a tray. Press the balls down slightly.
Bake in the oven for around 12 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool. This recipe will make approximately 24 biscuits.
Sara xxx

April 18, 2010

What a wonderful way to start the weekend. Friday I was lucky enough to get in early to scoop a seat at the booked out Cocktails & Canapés session at 30 Days of Home and Entertainment which is currently on.

This was a free event held at the “home” which has been designed in a small factory space at Waterloo. They really have done an amazing job. The rooms, which are placed around the walls of the factory, are gorgeous, you just want to go home with their ideas and redecorate.Upon sitting down waiting for the demonstration to start you are offered a beverage of either mineral water, white, red or sparkling wine. I opted for a glass of white. The wine partners for the evening were Cumulus and d’Arenberg wines. Also offered was our first canapé to try for the evening, beef carpaccio on a garlic crouton with radish and a parmesan crisp.The demonstration was presented by Lisa Featherby, Food Editor of Gourmet Traveller and Sean Forsythe from Bacardi Lion.Lisa and Sean formed a tag team for the cocktail and canapé demonstration. We were shown how to make two canapés and three cocktails over the course of 1 1/2 hours. First up was Sean to demonstrate a Bombay Sapphire Collins which he made in a jug. All looks so simple and delicious, why don’t I make cocktails more often? I loved the tips that were given out as he went. Holding a cocktail party? 100 drinks served you will need 20Kg of ice. Ice is important, keeps drink colder and fresher for longer. Ice is our friend.The aim was to match canapés with the drinks and Lisa prepared roast carrot dip and labna on pita. This was also sprinkled with dukkha, very easy and quite delicious. I can’t believe how easy labna is to make. Place yoghurt in muslin and let it strain in the fridge over night. Once done, roll the curds into balls and place in oil with some aromatics and it will keep for a few days in the fridge.Bacardi’s Original Mojito was the next cocktail. More tips offered. Don’t rip/tear/cut mint when placing in a cocktail, smack it instead. This releases the mint flavours, if torn you get an bitter, earthy/woody taste in your cocktail, which you don’t want. The mojito recipe also makes a wonderful sorbet with the edition of two egg whites.It is now about 6.30pm and Keftas are being whipped up by Lisa, let’s just say as soon as I cold smell the onions hit the pan my belly was rumbling. Lisa also showed us how to make a very easy tomato sauce to accompany them.Last cocktail was an interesting one, Cassia bark & Blueberry Collins. Sean explained that it is really easy to make a syrup by just adding equal parts sugar and water, pop in some cassia bark and shake in a jar for 30 seconds. You can also do it the more traditional way of heating your water and sugar and adding cassia in to the pot to infuse.

Another great tip, if you are using citrus in your cocktails, squeeze them when you are ready to use them. The flavour diminishes if the juice is left to sit.

Cassia Bark & Blueberry Collins

45mls Bombay Sapphire gin
30mls cassia syrup
4 blueberries
soda
ice

In a glass place ice and blueberries and gently muddle, add your gin and syrup, stir, top with soda and then gently stir again.To add to the great demos we were all given a goodie bag. Score! More canapés were passed around at the end. 30 Days of home and entertaining is running right through the month of April with lots of great activities going on. Check out their website for more information.Recipes for canapés can be found on the Gourmet Traveller website, along with a multitude of other fantastic recipes, and cocktails at the Bacardi Lion website.

Sara xxx

April 16, 2010

In January I excitedly visited my good bud Madame Iowa in her home town of Marshalltown, Iowa.

Now being a lover of all things edible the first thing I did after booking my tickets was to start searching the web for what Marshalltown had unique to offer in the way of the digestible.

Low and behold I came across the 80 year strong Taylors Maid-Rite and their loose meat sandwich. When I told Madame Iowa of my desire to go to Maid-Rite, she didn’t really understand why I was adamant on going, breathing “bloody Aussie” under her breath and I could feel her shaking her head at me on the other end of the phone.

She finally understood when I said “but Madame Iowa, we don’t have loose meat sandwiches here is Aus, I have to try one!” The promise was made to take me, yay!

When I eventually got to Marshalltown, I happened to arrive during their worst winter in ages. The weather had warmed up slightly when I got there and was no longer –22 degrees C, but it was still freezing. Snow was everywhere, the lakes were frozen and I was in my element, smiling the whole time. Madame Iowa just continued to shake her head at me every time I would go “ooooo look at the icicles hanging off that road sign/building/car etc”, “wow he is salting the street”, “oooo look the water in the gutter it’s frozen” and “ice storm, way cool”. Her response generally was “stupid bloody Aussie………(mumbled under breath), followed by “Sar, just don’t slip on your arse!” as I would try to capture all this on my camera.Trees just covered in ice, just soooo pretty

The day we went to Maid Rite there was an ice storm. Schools had been closed for the day and it seemed that nobody but Madame Iowa and I were out and about. We had to drive at about 20Km/hour around town as the roads were pretty iced up.Now, if you are not aware, Americans call burgers “sandwiches” but you get use to the weird way they speak and how they call things (sticks tongue out at Madame Iowa as she reads this post xxxx). So in fact the loose meat sandwich is a loose meat burger.

We arrived safe and walked in to the diner, it is just so retro USA, I loved it. You are taken back to the 50s. I don’t think they have renovated since then, it is classic. We sat at the counter on our red padded bar stools, very cool. A Taylor’s Maid-Rite is a loose meat sandwich made of finely minced meat or finely ground hamburger if you are American. The mince is cooked and put in a bun, then served with mustard, pickles or chopped onions. You can have your meat either wet or dry. Wet has more juice to it and apparently keeps you more than regular, we went for the dry option.No cheese, no fries but now after 70 years ketchup/tomato sauce is available on the counter to add yourself if you desire.

There are about 6 shake flavours and I went for one that to me screamed USA and was a flavour for shakes we don’t find in Australia, peanut butter. The guy serving us asked me if I liked peanut and jelly sandwiches, “sure” I said, “who doesn’t”. So he said he would put a drop of raspberry flavour in with my peanut butter, assured me that it tastes fantastic and that if I didn’t like it he would make me a new one. The other staff were in disbelief that he was going to make me one.

They have sweet pies as well but we opted just to go for the sandwiches and shakes.The sandwiches and shakes arrived, with our server pouring our shakes for us in to small glasses from their large silver milkshake containers. The weeks heading up to my arrival Madame Iowa had said she would pour my milkshake for me so I wouldn’t make a mess. Errr, think I can do it myself?? Now I understand, the shakes are what we would call a thick shake. These shakes are pretty solid so there is a bit of technique to it, shimmy and shake and you are right, get the technique wrong and you have ice cream mess everywhere. I am proud to say I was able to refill my glass and impressed the locals.The sandwich/burger was actually really nice. I sprinkled a little salt on the mince, seemed to be the thing to do, and it did actually need it. They don’t add flavour or spices to the mince and they grind their own.

My peanut butter and jelly shake tasted as described, the raspberry syrup they use is really like a jam, thick and sweet and I think it actually was peanut butter not a syrup that was used. They are a meal on their own and very filling. The guy who made my shake was happy I liked it and did a bit of a “told you so” to his fellow work mates. If you get to Iowa, it is worth a visit. There are a few franchises around beside the one in Marshalltown. They also deliver anywhere in the USA, seriously!

Sara xxx

Taylors Maid-Rite, 106 Sth 3rd Ave, Marshalltown

April 13, 2010

This was “the” restaurant on my eat list for New York and when bookings opened 1 month prior to my arrival I booked.

I was surprised when I mentioned to foodie friends of my excitement of visiting WD-50, that a few of them had not heard of the restaurant nor it’s chef Wylie Dufresne. I first caught wind of Wylie on Top chef where he introduced contestants to molecular gastronomy. To me he is the American version of Heston Blumenthal, he is part scientist, part artist and pushes the boundaries to create incredible food.

Since then I have seen him appear on many programs including Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, where Anthony commented he was quite surprised that Wylie was working in the kitchen still as he could quite easily have his own tv show, book deals etc. He is a hands on chef and is generally at the pass of his restaurant most nights. He loves what he does and that is reflected in his food.

Wylie Durfresne (on left)

WD-50 was awarded a Michelin star in 2006 and has retained that through to the present day and has many other accolades.
The toilets, just don’t drink too much or you will never find the doors! BTW you are looking at them.

Bathroom mosaic by Tim Snell

I was early for my reservation, you put it down to being eager and getting a cab no problems or my need for a drink after nearly not arriving in NYC (that story to come in another post – let’s say Sara was a little stressed). My table was ready but I decided to have a cocktail at the bar to start. WD-50 are just as well known for their incredible cocktails as well as food. Now for the embarrassing bit, for the life of me I can’t remember the name of what I had, but it was delicious and included sake, coconut water and other various ingredients.

While at the bar Wylie came up and started to taste and discuss new editions for the cocktail list with his maitre d’ and mixologist, do they have it with the egg white or not, do they infuse this etc etc, was fun to listen to. It was like watching a bunch of mad scientists which were giggling over their experiments, most enjoyable.
WD-50 offers either a la carte or a degustation menu. I opted for the 11 course degustation as I wanted to try a variety of his dishes. I chose to have the wine pairing as well. The other wonderful thing about WD-50 and the degustation menu, is that it is explained to you that if there is something on the menu that you don’t want they will substitute it for you, they are flexible, nice.

Sesame Crisp Bread

This was brought at the start of the meal. I am not sure what they officially call this, but wow it tastes sensational. Paper thin, crisp sesame bread that is just so moreish. You can’t help but continuously break pieces off to nibble on knowing you have lots of courses coming. Hey, lets face it I have no self control either if something delicious is sitting in front of me.

Sweetbread
Sadly no picture as when I started the meal I was a little overwhelmed and nervous (had been a journey getting there), but by the time the third course arrived I had composed myself.
Coated and fried veal sweetbread with pickled turnip, ginger dipping sauce, dusted with carob and olive powder. A lovely and light start to the degustation menu. Wine: Prosecco Bortolotti NV (Veneto, Italy)

Everything Bagel
The above image was taken by Niall Kennedy

This dish totally blew me away. You are presented with a mini bagel which is actually made out of ice cream, it has poppy seeds on top, coloured for looks and it tastes like a bagel. It LOOKS like a bagel, incredible!!! This is accompanied with smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese and pickled red onion. When you put the combination of the above in your mouth you are eating a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel. The textures are amazing. The method of making the bagel is the inspiration for my hot cross bun ice cream
Wine: Prosecco Bortolotti NV (Veneto, Italy)

Foie Gras
The above image was taken by Niall Kennedy

This was actually the first time I have ever eaten foie gras, and I have to say it wont be my last. The foie gras is served with a centre of passionfruit sauce on a bed of Chinese celery (both fresh and freeze dried) and topped with shredded green onion. When you cut in to the foie gras the passionfruit centre just oozes out. The foie gras was so smooth and tasty. The passionfruit sauce was a very interesting pairing with it, I enjoyed it, it was sweet, but I can see how some would not be too thrilled with it paired with the foie gras. Again the textures of the freeze dried celery danced in your mouth, that crunch, wow.
Wine: Riesling Spatlese Selbach 2008 (Saar, Germany)


Scrambled Egg Ravioli
The square ravioli is served with charred avocado, kindai kampachi and teeny weenie crispy fried potatoes (may not have been fried, most probably another scientific technique). It is not only Wylie’s paring of foods but the textures he creates, amazing. Ok I will stop raving on about the textures, promise.
Wine: Riesling Spatlese Selbach 2008 (Saar, Germany)

Cold Fried Chicken
The chicken is cooked sous vide, made into a terrine and then cold fried, this makes it incredibly tender and tasty. Served cold with with warm buttermilk ricotta, hasselback caviar, fried chicken skin and honey tabasco sauce. Again a lovely taste and texture combination, crispy chicken skin with soft buttermilk ricotta, oh yes please! Then add the saltiness of the caviar…… Homer drool.
Wine: Pinot Noir Torii Mor (Oregon)

Langoustine
This was accompanied by red bell pepper threads, shiso puree, sourdough breadcrumbs, black vinegar sauce and red pepper with black sesame seeds. The red bell pepper threads were so fine and candied, amazing.
Wine: Pinot Noir Torii Mor (Oregon)

Beef & Béarnaise
I must admit when this dish was set down in front of me I must of looked a bit confused as it was not what I was expecting from the description. It was in fact large béarnaise gnocchi in a beef broth, this was accompanied with crisp snow peas, micro herbs and soft caramelised onion. The gnocchi was so soft and tasty, the beef broth beautifully rich and clear.
Wine: Bandol Domaine Tempier 2007 (Provence, France)

Wagyu Beef
This was not actually part of the degustation, I asked for a substitute for the lamb loin, black garlic romesco. soybean and pickled garlic chive. I am not fond of lamb. Saying that I did see the lamb dish and asked the person next to me what they thought, lamb tender and beautifully cooked to perfection with amazing tastes.
What I ended up having was wagyu skirt steak, long bean, tamarind and peanut butter “pasta”. The wagyu was rare, tender and flavoursome, the noodles and flavour combination worked well. I was very happy with the substitute.
Wine: “Doyenne, Aix” DeLille Cellars 2006 (Columbia Valley, Washington)

Now on to pastry chef Alex Stupaks’ dessert section of the degustation.

Vanilla Mango Ice Cream
The ice cream is frozen using liquid nitrogen, it is then shattered and served with finely diced mango, spruce infused yogurt, yuzu foam. liquid nitrogen makes for an extremely smooth ice cream due to the quick freezing. At this stage I am full, the dessert beautiful, but I knew I had 2 more following and therefore did not finish it all. It was hard sending a unfinished plate of perfection back to the kitchen.
Wine: No matching with this course.

Hazelnut Tart
Hazelnut & chocolate cream on top of coconut cream, candied hazelnuts, chicory foam, coconut powder and hazelnut streusel, sprinkled with salt. This was so melt in the mouth and creamy, heaven on a plate.
Wine: Commandaria St John Keo NV (Lemesos, Cyprus)

Caramelized Brioche
The brioche had a centre of apricot puree and was served with a butter cream ribbon dotted with thyme, almond foam, almonds and lemon thyme sorbet. I think they should serve the hazelnut tart last as it is the star of the three desserts, for me anyway. The brioche, a lovely dessert, was just out shone by the tart.
Wine: Moscato d’Asti “Biancospino” La Spinetta 2008 (Piedmont, Italy)

Cocoa packets & Chocolate Shortbread, Milk Ice Cream
This would have normally come with coffee but due to being extremely tired from travel and waddling full, in my case it was with the bill. Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow! Chocolate leather surrounding what I understand was chocolate feuilletine, loose crispy filling of yummness. I wish you could buy these by the packet. The milk ice cream was mint and rolled in the chocolate shortbread.

Overall I had an incredible first night in New York. At the end of the meal I asked my waitress if it would be okay for me to go and take a photo of Wylie at the pass. She went to talk to him and I ended up meeting him and having a small tour of the kitchen. He really is a nice down to earth guy that has incredible skill, imagination and pure passion for what he creates.

It must be a wonderful place to work as all the staff are just so friendly and delightful, you are made to feel right at home.

I wish I could share with you more on the techniques Wylie uses for each dish, because the textures and flavours are just amazing. Yes the textures………. I do suggest you have a look at the WD-50 website as there is a nice bit of food porn on there, and I know how us foodies love a bit of food porn

Sara xxx


WD-50, 50 Clinton St, Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York

April 12, 2010

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I decided for my Orange Tian to make a single large one. The only variation I made to the recipe that we were given to work with was to add dark chocolate to the cream. I just love the flavour combination of orange and chocolate.

Pate Sablee

2 medium sized egg yolks at room temperature
6T granulated sugar
½t vanilla extract
100gms Unsalted butter ice cold, cubed
1/3t Salt
1½c + 2T plain flour
1t baking powder

Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. If you don’t have a food processor you can use the old fashion method of rubbing the butter in to the flour and baking powder by hand until it resembles bread crumbs (this is what I did)

In a separate bowl, add the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor (or bowl).

Process (or mix) until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.

Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle.

Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

Sara’s notes: Sadly my base turned out quite thick and this spoilt the texture of the end Tian as it was a bit of an effort to cut through. Take care in rolling out and make sure it is no thicker than 1/4 inch.

Marmalade

¼c + 3T freshly pressed orange juice
1 large orange
cold water to cook the orange slices
5 gms pectin
granulated sugar: use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked

Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.

Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.

Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.

Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).

Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.

In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).

Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

Sara’s Notes: I used CSR’s jam sugar instead of adding pectin. I actually have never added pectin to marmalade when making it before due to the way I was taught by my My Aunty Tilly. She made a tart marmalade not a sweet one so pectin was naturally received through the peels in the cooking method, and only normal sugar was used.

Orange Segments

8 oranges

Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

Caramel

1c granulated sugar
1½c + 2T orange juice

Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it.

Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments.

Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon (about 10 minutes). You can then spoon it over the orange tians.

Whipped Cream

1c heavy whipping cream
3T hot water
1t gelatine
1T icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
1T orange marmalade (see recipe above)

In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream, then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

Sara’s Notes: I added 100gms of melted dark chocolate to my cream.

Assembling the Dessert

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer. If you are using a spring form pan a tray is not needed.

Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone or line your tin to ensure nothing seeps out.

Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.

Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.

Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter/or tin. Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps. Make sure they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart.

Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.

Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough.

Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream). Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.

Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.

Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter/tin to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

Sara’s Notes: As I used the one larger tin, slices of the tian were served.