Roast curry chicken, something strong and something milder

As I started reading the news about the books bound in human flesh discovered in Harvard I immediately thought of Sam Raimi and The Evil Dead, only to discover at the end of the piece that the writer had thought of them, too. :)

Movies are a matter of taste, just as food is: this über simple roast chicken, tenderized by the buttermilk and spiced by the red curry paste, is a nice idea even for busier days, since the oven does all the work – you just need time to let the marinade do its thing while the chicken rests in the refrigerator. However, not everyone likes super spicy food, and since curry pastes vary in heat, strength and intensity of flavor taste the one you have at hand before adding it to the marinade: it might be super strong as the 1981 movie, or a lot milder like the 2013 version. ;)

Roast curry chicken
adapted from the delicious and stunning Feed Me Now!

3 tablespoons whole milk
juice of 3 large limes
3 tablespoons red-curry paste*
2 garlic cloves, pound to a paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 chicken pieces – use the ones you like the most

In a large shallow bowl, combine the milk and lime juice and set aside for 10 minutes (you’ll get buttermilk). Add the curry paste, garlic, salt and pepper and mix to combine. Add the chicken pieces, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat the oven to 190°/375°F. Line a large roasting pan (large enough to hold the chicken pieces without overlapping) with a triple layer of foil and brush it lightly with oil. Arrange the chicken pieces side by side on top of the foil and pour over the marinade. Bake for about 60-70 minutes or until deep golden brown (cook it to your liking).
Serve immediately.

*curry pastes vary in heat, strength and intensity of flavor, so taste it before using it and adjust the amount accordingly – I used this one

Serves 4

Coconut and apricot bars to shake off the sadness

My sister and I take turns choosing the movies we watch together at the theater, and last Saturday it was her turn to pick it: I wanted Robocop, but she went with The Book Thief.

I haven’t read the book, therefore can’t verify if the movie is faithful to it, but in general I liked the story and I’ll watch anything with Emily Watson and Geoffrey Rush, actually. However, the movie made me feel really sad at the end – movies about the Nazism are never easy to watch, but I’d seen more graphic ones on the subject, and up to now I haven't been able to figure out why Liesel’s story had stuck in my head like that.

I went home thinking about it and tried to shake it off by spending some time on the treadmill, with no success. Then I decided to bake something, something sweet, and all that sugar and coconut and apricots took my mind off the sadness for a while – by the time I removed the cake pan from the oven I was feeling a little lighter already, and then I had something tasty to munch on while I watched another episode of House of Cards – the Underwoods make me so nervous I could have chewed all my nails off.

Coconut and apricot bars
slightly adapted from a Bill Granger recipe published by The Independent

Crust:
120g unsalted butter, melted
120g granulated sugar
50g sweetened flaked coconut
150g all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
180g ready to eat dried apricots, chopped

Topping:
150g sweetened flaked coconut
50g granulated sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons apricot jam

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square cake pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.
Crust: in a large bowl, mix the melted butter, sugar, coconut, flour, baking powder, salt and egg. Spoon into the pan and spread the mixture out into an even layer. Dot the chopped apricots over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges.
Make the topping: in a medium bowl, mix the coconut, sugar, egg, salt and vanilla until combined. Remove the pan from the oven, spread over the jam and use 2 spoons to spread out the coconut mixture in a rough, even layer.
Return to the oven and cook for a further 20-30 minutes or until top is golden. Cool completely in the pan, then cut into bars to serve.

Makes 16

Indian spiced potatoes with fried egg

Those of you around here for a while now know about my love for all things sweet, but I like savory dishes, too, and I’m always searching for tasty lunch or dinner ideas.

As a kid, our family lived in a tight budget – especially after my mom got cancer – but food was always something important: she made sure we had fresh veggies and fruits every day, and fish once a week, and would always bake a cake so my father and I would have something to snack on at work and at school, respectively. Eggs were an important staple at home and mom (and years later, my grandmother) would cook them in different ways for our meals – I especially loved her omelets and fried eggs, and those are dishes I still adore eating – to be honest, except for raw I’ll eat eggs in any way possible (I bet that reminds you of something). ;)

That is why this dish, a recipe from this lovely cookbook, caught my eye: the spiced potatoes looked yummy already, but topping them with the fried egg won my heart over. After I made this dish I saw Bill Granger cooking a similar version on TV in which he chopped the potatoes in slightly larger pieces – I’ll be trying that next time.

Indian spiced potatoes with fried egg
slightly adapted from the beautiful and delicious Bill Granger Easy (I bought mine here)

800g Desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon freshly ground Sichuan pepper
25g unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper
handful parsley leaves, chopped
4 large eggs

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, reduce to a simmer and cook for 13 minutes, or until just tender. Drain in a colander and leave to cool for a few minutes.
Place a non-stick frying pan over medium–high heat. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil, add the garlic, curry powder, turmeric and Sichuan pepper and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly.
Drop the butter into the pan and as soon as it has melted, add another tablespoon of oil and the potatoes. Fry for 5 minutes, turning often. Scatter the salt and black pepper over the potatoes and toss together for a minute more. Remove from the heat, add the parsley and toss to combine. Divide the potatoes among warmed plates.

In a clean large non-stick frying pan, add another tablespoon of oil and place over medium–high heat. Once hot, fry the eggs for 2–3 minutes until cooked. Place the fried eggs on top of the potatoes and serve.

Serves 4

Baked sausages with tomatoes, peppers and onions, a movie, many tears and a wish

The subject of traveling in time has produced a handful of movies, some interesting, some hideous. Last night I watched another movie about it, by far the most beautiful one: a movie that made me cry like a baby (there were so many tears I had to dry them on my cardigan sleeve), that made me think of many things in life and that made me wish I could, too, go back in time.

I kept thinking of how incredible it would be to go back to my past and started imagining my mother and I in our kitchen – with the table where I used to do my homework while she did the dishes after lunch – and pictured us both cooking: I was chopping some onions, she was grilling a steak. And the funny thing is that in my head I wasn’t a kid: I was a 35-year-old adult, as I am today, standing next to her, who looked like she did when I was five. And another funny thing is that I don’t know why I thought of her grilling a steak since I hated it as a child – I usually ate my steak stone cold after seating on the table for hours, forbidden to leave as long as there was food on my plate. :)

Because Richard Curtis made me think of my mom a lot more than I already do every day, I decided to share this delicious recipe with you today: as a good German descendant, she loved pork (and cabbage – boy, she just loved the stuff) and I am sure she would go crazy for sausages cooked this way – the meat portions get golden and crispy on the outside, while tender and juicy within, and the thyme adds a wonderful touch.

Baked sausages with tomatoes, peppers and onions
from Bill Granger’s TV show “Bill’s Notting Hill Kitchen”

2 onions, peeled, halved, and each half cut into 4 pieces
1 large red pepper, seeds removed, cut into chunks
6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
200g cherry tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 sausages
5-6 fresh thyme sprigs
handful black olives

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Place the onions, pepper, garlic and tomatoes in a medium roasting pan or ovenproof dish, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix to coat. Remove the sausage from their skins in portions (about the size of a meatball) and place over the vegetables. Scatter with the thyme sprigs, drizzle with a little more oil and bake for about 1 hour, turning the sausage halfway through cooking time so the pieces are golden all over. Remove from the oven, scatter with the black olives and serve.

Serves 2 generously

Quinoa fritters with harissa mayo - starting 2014 in a healthy way

Happy New Year everyone! :)

I hope you all had an amazing holiday period, full of great food and great people. The husband and I indulged a little – or should I be honest and say a lot? :) – during the holidays, and now it’s time to start eating properly again: less alcohol, more healthy grains and greens. These quinoa fritters are super easy to make and they’re good for you, while the harissa mayo gives them a bit of a kick – I’ve become addicted to this spiced mayo since it tastes delicious with other things, too (it turns a regular burger into a mean one, for example).

Thank you for your comments and emails, I’ll be answering them soon. xx

Quinoa fritters with harissa mayo
slightly adapted from Bill Granger (fritters) and Nigella (mayo)

Fritters:
100g quinoa (I used red quinoa)
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
30g freshly grated parmesan
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
salt and freshly ground black pepper
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1 large egg
canola oil, for frying

Harissa mayo:
5 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon harissa paste (or to taste)
1 teaspoon lemon juice

arugula leaves and extra-virgin olive oil, to serve

Fritters: place the quinoa and 200ml water in a small saucepan, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for about 12 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Cool. In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, spring onion, parsley, oregano and parmesan. Add flour, salt and pepper, lemon zest and egg. Stir well to combine.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat and 2 tablespoons of mixture per fritter (cook them in batches). Cook for 2-3 minutes each side, or until browned. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
Mayo: place all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine.

To serve, top each fritter with a dollop of mayo, arugula leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

Makes about 10

Coconut, lime and macadamia cake - a surprising cake

I bought a bag of limes especially to make this cake – the idea of mixing them with coconut and macadamias sounded really good. Like many Saturdays, I removed the butter from the fridge very early in the morning so it would become soft for my baking section. Then, reading the recipe and placing all the ingredients on the sink I stopped, read it again and then again – there’s no butter in the cake. There’s no oil either. Ok, so the fat will come from the nuts, fine. Stop worrying and carry on, Patricia.
I placed the cake in the oven and started thinking: will it be dry? I hate dry cakes. Well, it was too late for that – all I could do was wait for it to be ready.
After spreading the deliciously sharp icing over it I could no longer resist: I cut a rather small slice of it and tasted it. One bite and I was in heaven: not only was the cake extremely tender but it also tasted wonderful. Absolutely rich. I should have known all along: it’s one of Bill Granger’s recipes after all. :)

Coconut, lime and macadamia cake
slightly adapted from the great Bills open kitchen

Cake:
150g unsalted macadamia nuts
3 tablespoons (30g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs, separated
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (124g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 2 small limes
1/3 cup (34g) sweetened shredded coconut
pinch of salt

Lime icing:
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 lime
1 ½ tablespoons lime juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Place the macadamias, flour and baking powder in a food processor and process until the nuts are ground. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Fold through the lime zest and coconut, then the nut mixture. Place the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, add the salt and whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold lightly through the nut batter.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until risen, golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan – a skewer inserted in the center of the cake should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan, over a wire rack, for 15-20 minutes. Carefully unmold onto a rack, remove the baking paper, invert onto another and let cool completely.
Make the icing: combine the icing sugar, lime juice and zest in a small bowl and mix until spreadable (add more juice if needed). Add more juice if necessary. Drizzle over the cooled cake to serve.

Serves 8-10

Iced cinnamon snail rolls and when less is more

I hadn’t made cinnamon rolls in ages and this recipe, from Bill Granger’s "Sydney Food", seemed easy and quick to put together. It was – I watched TV all afternoon and yet finished baking the rolls before dinnertime.
I tried to restrain myself and not eat one of the rolls right out of the oven, but ended up giving up the fight after 5 minutes: the warm, tender rolls, deeply perfumed with cinnamon and freckled with raisins were irresistible. And I must say that as much as the rolls look beautiful with the icing on top I prefer them without it, still warm.

You know what they say: “less is more” - but some people take the idea to a whole new level... :)

Iced cinnamon snail rolls
from "Sydney Food"

Dough:
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter
4 cups (560g) all purpose flour, plus extra if necessary
pinch of salt
¼ cup (50g) superfine sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup (104g) golden raisins

Filling:
¾ cup (132g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon warm water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Start by making the dough: in a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside. Place milk and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Add sugar and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Mix to combine roughly, and then add the milk and yeast mixtures. Stir until a dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or until dough is flexible and smooth – add more flour if needed, but be careful not to add too much flour or your rolls will turn out tough. Add the raisins to the dough in the last 2 minutes of kneading – I used my Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment in the whole process and needed to add 2 tablespoons extra flour. Turn dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size – 40-60 minutes.
Make the filling: combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 23x60cm (9x24in) rectangle. Brush generously with some of the melted butter and sprinkle the filling evenly over the surface.
Roll the dough up from the short end, swiss roll style, to make a log. Pinch seams to seal. Cut the roll, seam-side down, into 2cm thick slices and place onto a large baking sheet lined with foil, 5cm (2in) apart. Brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter , cover loosely and leave to rise until doubled, 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan over a wire rack; drizzle with the icing.*
Make the icing: mix the sugar, water and vanilla together in a small bowl until fluid enough to be drizzled over the rolls. Add more water if necessary. Drizzle over the rolls.

* I cooled the rolls completely before drizzling with the icing

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above and got 8 rolls

Cinnamon crunch muesli and an important question for the readers

I have finished reading "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest", therefore finishing the Millennium Trilogy – the books are fantastic and it’s a pity that Lisbeth Salander’s adventures have come to an end. My idea now is to go for one of the classics, maybe "Moby Dick", but I’m not sure yet. That is why I ask you for suggestions: would you help me out choosing the next book I’m reading? I’m all ears. :D

Now, if you’ll excuse me, it’s rather early and I haven’t had breakfast yet – this delicious muesli with some yogurt will be perfect.

Cinnamon crunch muesli
from the gorgeous Feed Me Now

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (58g) light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ¾ cups (316g) rolled oats
1 cup (150g) almonds (with skin), roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Place the butter, sugar and cinnamon in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the butter has melted and sugar dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the oats and almonds and stir to coat evenly.
Spread the mixture evenly on the prepared sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Serve with milk, yogurt or/and fruit.

Makes 16 portions

Ginger cookies with lemon icing and acquired tastes in life

Certain things we learn to love really early in life, while others are an acquired taste. I remember going crazy for Scorsese right after watching “Goodfellas” (the first of his movies I ever watched), but not until I was a young woman I fully appreciated the beauty of “The Godfather”. Go figure.

Not a ginger fan until my late twenties, I can eat a bag of crystallized ginger in no time nowadays – its striking flavor became such a favorite of mine. Go figure. ;)

Ginger cookies with lemon icing
from the beautiful Holiday

Cookies:
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
5 tablespoons (40g) icing sugar
70g crystallized ginger, finely chopped
200g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing:
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, ground ginger and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the crystallized ginger and stir to combine. Add the melted butter and vanilla extract and, using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, stir until everything is well combined.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of dough per cookie into a ball, squeezing so you have a compact ball. Place onto prepared sheets, 5cm (2in) apart, and lightly flatten with a fork dipped in flour. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are lightly golden. Cool on the pans over a wire rack.
Make the icing: mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and glossy. Add a bit of water if necessary. Drizzle over the completely cooled cookies.

Makes about 35

Gooey chocolate cake with raspberries and something positive about getting old

Getting older is not a walk in the park – gray hair, anyone? – but there is definitely a positive side to it. I’ve become a more patient person, and let me tell you, patience was never one of my virtues.

After baking and unmolding this delicious cake – oh, it was really delicious and I’m no chocoholic – the result almost made me cry: the poor thing looked ugly as hell on the plate. A glance at the book and frustration started building in. In the past I would have gone mad about it, but I took a deep breath and decided to watch TV instead. As the cake cooled down, the ganache topping got firmer and I could smooth it down with a palette knife, making it shiny and beautiful.

I guess that in my case calm came with age – and a couple of hours with Detective Goren *sigh* can’t hurt, either. ;)

Gooey chocolate cake with raspberries
from the beautiful Feed Me Now

Topping:
100g dark chocolate
150g raspberry jam
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream

Cake:
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup (30g) good quality cocoa powder
½ cup (120ml) boiling water
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
½ teaspoon natural vanilla extract
90g raspberry jam
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (66g) caster (superfine) sugar
2 large eggs
80g raspberries, plus extra to serve – I used frozen, unthawed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously grease a 22cm (9in) round cake pan*.
For the topping, put the chocolate, jam and cream into a small pan over a medium heat. Stir until melted and smooth, then pour into the prepared pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder with the water, stirring until smooth, then add the milk, vanilla and jam, whisking to combine.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Using a large spoon, fold the sifted ingredients and the cocoa mix into the creamed mixture, alternating the two, then gently fold the raspberries through.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, ensuring you spread it right to the edge and cover the topping completely. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until firm. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 15 minutes (if not serving straight away you can refrigerate the cake in the pan, but you will need to warm it in the oven before turning it out).
Turn the cake out onto a plate. You may need to scrape some sauce out of the pan and spread it over the top of the cake – my cake looked rather ugly when I unmolded it; I waited for it to cool down a little and the topping became firmer; then I was able to spread it evenly with a palette knife and the cake looked a lot prettier. :)
Serve warm or cold, with fresh raspberries.

* I made the exact recipe above and used a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom – I placed it on a baking sheet to catch any drippings

Serves 8

Mini raspberry cheesecakes and trusting your instincts

Something I’ve been trying to do more often is to trust my instincts, but sometimes I fail miserably at doing so – and deeply regret it afterwards.

Take this recipe, for instance: the mini cheesecakes looked adorable on the book, but after reading the recipe I wasn’t so keen on the idea of making the batter using an electric mixer – it would add too much air to the mixture, so a food processor would be a better choice. I decided to trust Bill Granger instead of my instincts and the result was that the cheesecakes, while in the oven, puffed up and looked beautiful, but after cooling they sort of collapsed – too much air in the batter.

Let’s hope the cheesecakes teach me a lesson. :)
Anyway, they tasted delicious, that’s why I’m posting the recipe here.

Mini raspberry cheesecakes
adapted from Feed Me Now

Base:
100g digestive or shortbread cookies
½ cup (50g) ground almonds
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
400g cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) sour cream*
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
120g raspberries, fresh or frozen – I used frozen, unthawed
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line a 12-hole, 125ml capacity muffin pan with paper cases.
Process the cookies in a food processor until you have fine crumbs. Transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl, add the ground almonds and melted butter and stir to combine. Press 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the base of each paper case. Refrigerate.
Make the filling: beat the cream cheese, sour cream and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the egg yolk, vanilla and lemon zest, beating well after each addition. Spoon the mixture over the bases, then divide the raspberries on top.
Bake for 20 minutes or until puffed and starting to color. Cool completely then refrigerate.
Carefully remove the cheesecakes from the paper cases, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.

* homemade sour cream: mix ½ cup (120ml) heavy cream with 2 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in room temperature for 1 hour or until it thickens

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity muffins pans and got 9 mini cheesecakes

Mini buckwheat pancakes

For some people, retail therapy means lots of clothes, shoes, DVDs... To me, it means ingredients for my recipes. :)

After buying this beautiful book, I went crazy and started buying lots of different types of flour: buckwheat, barley, rye... Time went by and I haven’t baked with them as I should have. Not good, Patricia. Not good.

Buckwheat flour begging to be used + Bill Granger’s recipe + my obsession with teeny-weeny food = these pancakes. :)

Mini buckwheat pancakes
from bills open kitchen

1 cup + 2 ½ tablespoons (165g) buckwheat flour
6 tablespoons (60g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons caster sugar
pinch of salt
4 eggs, separated
2 cups (480ml) buttermilk
butter, for greasing the pan
to serve: yogurt, maple syrup, honey, fresh fruit or jam

Preheat the oven to 120°C/248°F. Place the buckwheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Place the egg yolks and buttermilk in another bowl and stir well to combine. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour and mix lightly until just combined. A few lumps are fine, so do not overmix. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gently fold them into the batter.
Heat a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and brush with a small portion of butter. For each mini pancake, ladle 1 tablespoon of batter* into the pan and cook for 30-40 seconds or until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake. Turn the pancakes and cook for another 20-30 seconds. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven while you make the remaining pancakes.
Serve with whatever strikes your fancy.

*to make larger pancakes, use ¼ cup of batter per pancake

Serves 4

Linguine with peas and lemon - and our 6th anniversary

Joao and I celebrated our sixth anniversary last Saturday with a magnificent dinner – great food, some wine... Just beautiful. But all that indulgence called for a simple lunch on the following day – and this recipe instantly popped in to my mind: it’s so good – and quick – I’ve made it three times already.

Linguine with peas and lemon
from Holiday

1½ tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons (28g) butter
2 garlic cloves, crushed
¾ cup (180ml) white wine
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
½ cup (120ml) heavy cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
400g linguine
2 cups fresh shelled peas – I used frozen
freshly grated parmesan, to serve

Heat the oil and butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
Pour in the white wine and simmer until reduced by half. Stir in the lemon zest and cream and simmer for a further 3-4 minutes until slightly reduced; season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of slightly boiling water according to the packet instructions or until al dente, adding the peas for the last 3 minutes of the cooking time. Drain well and toss the hot pasta with the sauce.
Serve immediately with grated parmesan.

Serves 4

White chocolate mousse with passion fruit

When I was a teenager I had this big dream of going to Australia to learn English; unfortunately, $$ was an issue then and I had to study the language here.

My love for Australia hasn’t changed – Joao and I plan to go there for vacation someday; while that doesn’t happen, I go on listening to Aussie bands and cooking recipes from Aussie mags and fabulous foodies. :)

White chocolate mousse with passion fruit
from here

250g good quality white chocolate chopped
1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, separated
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (375ml) heavy cream
6 tablespoons passion fruit pulp

Place the white chocolate, milk and vanilla in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Heat until the chocolate is just melted, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside.
Whip the cream in a bowl until soft peaks form then fold through the chocolate mixture until just combined.
Whisk the egg whites in a large, dry, clean stainless steel bowl until soft peaks form. Using a large metal spoon, fold through the chocolate mixture in two batches.
Divide the mousse between six 1 cup (240ml) capacity serving dishes/bowls.
Cover and chill for 3 to 4 hours, or until set.
Spoon passion fruit on top of the mousse just before serving.

Serves 6

Bill’s cherry tart

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas series!

I thought that this delicious tart would be perfect as my last post before Christmas: it’s pretty much a clafoutis with a crust – I am a crust kind of girl – and the recipe comes from one of my all time favorite cooks.

Happy Holidays!

Bill’s cherry tart
from Holiday

Pastry:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (90g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 ¼ cups (175g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons almond meal (finely ground almonds)

Filling:
170ml heavy cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
550g fresh cherries, halved and pitted – I used only 450g

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 24cm (9 ½ in) round loose-bottomed tart pan*. Make the pastry: stir together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and salt and stir to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan and press evenly into the base and sides of the pan using your fingertips. Put the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the pastry is slightly puffy. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the almond meal over the base.
Now, make the filling: in a large bowl, whisk together the cream, eggs, vanilla and sugar. Add the flour and whisk until well mixed. Arrange the cherries, slightly overlapping, over the pastry base and pour the cream filling evenly over the cherries.
Return the tart to the oven for a further 40-50 minutes or until the filing is firm and golden. Leave to cool and serve with cream or ice cream.

*use a pan with high sides otherwise it won’t hold all the cream mixture

Serves 8-10

Almond and jam bars

You probably won’t believe me, but the universe conspired for me to make this recipe. :D

I was watching one of Bill’s shows – aren’t his daughters the cutest things ever? – and he made these bars. On the following morning, I found the exact amounts of almonds and jam in my fridge; I considered it a sign – you know how much I’m fond of signs – and started baking the bars right away. :D

Almond and jam bars
from Holiday

Almond topping:
4 ½ tablespoons (63g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (56g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g flaked or slivered almonds
2 tablespoons whole milk

Base and filling:
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups + 1 ½ tablespoons (225g) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (40g) corn starch
160g raspberry jam – I used a different flavor, fruits de bois

Preheat an oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly grease a 24x20cm baking pan*, line with parchment paper leaving an overhang on two opposite sides and butter the paper as well – I used foil.
To make the almond topping, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla extract with the almonds and milk in a medium-sized saucepan. Cook over a low heat until the butter has melted, and then leave the mixture out to cool.

Make the base: combine the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Sift the flour with cornstarch into a small bowl and add to the butter mixture in 2 batches, beating on low speed until just mixed – you might want to finish incorporating the dry ingredients with a spatula to avoid overmixing. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Remove the pastry from the oven and leave it out to cool for 10 minutes.
Carefully spread the raspberry jam over the pastry base, and then spread the cooled almond topping over the jam. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until golden.
Cool completely before cutting.

* I used a square 25cm pan and tried to remove the entire baked good from the pan – using the foil hangers – before cutting: it was a complete disaster; I highly recommend it to be cut inside the pan to avoid breaking the bars

Makes 20

Yogurt panna cotta with caramelized tangerine slices

A while ago I told you how much I was enjoying Twitter, but something changed some days ago – I haven’t felt that way anymore. It is probably my fault – I should follow other people, people I might have more in common with. :S

I think I need something sweet – I’ll go have another panna cotta. :D

Yogurt panna cotta with caramelized tangerine slices
from here and from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Panna cotta:
¾ cup (180ml) heavy cream
½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped with the back of a knife
¼ cup + ½ tablespoon (56g) caster sugar
2 leaves gelatin
250g skim milk yogurt – I used regular yogurt

Caramelized tangerine slices:
¼ cup (50g) caster sugar
1 ½ tablespoons water
½ teaspoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon orange-blossom water
vegetable oil, for greasing
2 tangerines, thickly sliced horizontally

Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it comes to a boil. Add the vanilla seeds and bean, stir, cover and let infuse for 30 minutes.
Add the sugar to the cream and reheat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, again just until it boils. Remove from the heat.
Soak the gelatin in a bowl of cold water until soft. Squeeze out the excess water and drop the gelatin into the hot cream mixture and whisk until dissolved. Add the yogurt and whisk until smooth.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve, discard the vanilla bean, then divide between four ½-cup capacity (120ml) ramekins. Set aside to cool, cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours, or until just set.
Make the tangerine slices: combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir to dissolve sugar, then cook until dark caramel (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter and orange-blossom water (be careful as hot toffee may spit), then return to heat and stir until dissolved. Pour onto an oiled metal tray and set aside to cool. When cool, break into coarse pieces and process in a food processor until finely ground. Place mandarin slices on a baking tray, scatter with orange-blossom toffee, then caramelize with a blowtorch (or under a hot grill) until golden (2-3 minutes). Serve immediately with the panna cotta.

Serves 4 - this panna cotta is also delicious served with this blackberry lemon swirl

Apple and passion fruit crumble

Are you tired of my apple recipes yet? :)

I know I’ve been using apples like crazy lately, and must confess that I still intend to make a couple of recipes with them before the end of their season.
Let me tell you one delicious thing I found out the other day: I never knew apples and passion fruit were so good together. Luckily, Bill did. :)

Apple and passion fruit crumble

6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced – I used Gala
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
pulp from 8 passion fruit*

Topping:
1 cup (115g) rolled oats
2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (129g) brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
100g unsalted butter, softened
vanilla ice cream or heavy cream, to serve – yogurt goes really well, too

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 2-liter baking dish. Mix together the apples, sugar and passion fruit pulp and put in the dish.

Using your fingertips, rub together the oats, brown sugar, flour and butter to make a crumbly topping. Sprinkle over the fruit and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden.
Serve with ice cream, cream or yogurt.

* the passion fruit I used were huge (there’s a photo here), so 4 were enough

Serves 4

Cherry friands

I am so disappointed: I used to watch Bill Granger’s videos on You Tube but they are all gone now. :(
At least that reminded me of how little I’d been using his books – this recipe comes from Simply Bill


I thought of my blogger friend Tatiane while baking these friands: like me, she’s mad for ice cream and is always searching for new ways to use her stash of egg whites – Tati, I hope you like these!

Cherry friands
from Simply Bill

1 1/3 cups (134g) ground almonds
1 ½ cups + 1 tablespoon (218g) icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
½ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (85g) all purpose flour, sifted
8 egg whites
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
210g cherries

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour a nonstick 12-hole friand pan*.
Mix together the ground almonds, icing sugar and flour. Stir in the egg whites until just combined. Stir in the melted butter.
Pour the batter in the pans. Pit the cherries and cut in half. Arrange a few cherry halves on top of each friand.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden - the friands should spring back when touched. Remove from the oven and leave in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
Dust with icing sugar and store in an airtight container.

* I halved the recipe, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 8 friands

Makes 12

Crunchy-top pear muffins

I have received several comments and emails regarding the better than brownie cookies I posted a while ago - the recipe worked out fine for some of you but not so much for others... I’m sorry to hear that and have updated the post with info on the chocolate I used and on cooling the chocolate + butter mixture for 5 minutes prior to adding the other ingredients - I hope it helps!

If you’ve had a hard time baking the better than brownie cookies, may I suggest these muffins? A stress-free recipe that will cheer you up. And even if you haven’t baked those cookies, make the muffins anyway – they are really good. :D

Crunchy-top pear muffins
adapted from Holiday

1 ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon (185g) all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
100g rolled oats
½ cup + ½ tablespoon (94g) brown sugar, both packed
2 eggs
1 cup (240ml) plain yogurt
½ cup (120ml) vegetable (light-flavored) oil
1 pear, peeled and diced

Topping:
¼ cup (44g) brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup (50g) unblanched almonds, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF; line six 240ml (1 cup) muffin pans with paper cases (or just grease well).

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a large bowl, add the oats, brown sugar and stir together. Make a well in the centre.
Whisk together the eggs, yogurt and oil. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until just combined. Fold through the pear, being careful not to overmix. Spoon into the muffin cases.
To make the crumble topping, mix the brown sugar and almonds. Sprinkle over the muffin mixture and then bake for 20–25 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 6 – I halved the recipe, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 7 muffins